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04 — Creative

Branding and brand identity

An identity that survives contact with reality

A logo is the easy part. What breaks is everything after it — when six people start making things and nobody agreed what the brand does at small sizes.

Start a conversation What it costs

What this actually is

So we build a system, not a picture. That means the logo in every form you'll actually need it: horizontal, stacked, single colour, tiny, on a dark background, as an app icon. Most identities fail at one of those and it's always found out later, usually by a printer.

Then the parts that do the daily work. A palette with defined roles, so nobody has to guess which blue. Type with a real hierarchy. And written guidance about how it's used — the spacing, the things not to do, what happens when it sits on a photograph.

Voice matters as much as the visual side and gets skipped more often. How you sound in an Instagram caption, in an email, on a price list. We write that down too, with examples, because "friendly but professional" is not guidance anybody can follow.

What it covers

01

Positioning

Who you're for, who you're against, and what you want somebody to feel. A conversation rather than a questionnaire, and short — most of the value is in deciding what you are not.

02

Logo system

Not a logo, a system. Horizontal, stacked, mark-only, single colour, reversed, tiny, and as an app icon. Most identities fail at one of those, and it's always found out later by a printer or a social platform.

03

Colour and type

A palette with defined roles so nobody has to guess which blue, and typography with a real hierarchy. Contrast checked for accessibility, which also stops your captions being illegible on a phone in daylight.

04

Verbal identity

How you sound in a caption, an email and on a price list, written down with actual examples. "Friendly but professional" is not guidance anybody can follow.

05

Usage guidelines

Spacing, minimum sizes, what happens over a photograph, and the things not to do. This is the part that decides whether the identity still looks like itself in a year.

06

Files and ownership

Every format you'll need, source files included, owned outright by you on final payment. We don't licence brand work back to the client who paid for it.

What you get

  1. 01Logo system — primary, secondary, mark, and the small and single-colour versions
  2. 02Colour palette with defined roles and accessible contrast checked
  3. 03Typography with a working hierarchy
  4. 04Voice guidance with real written examples
  5. 05Usage rules, including the things not to do
  6. 06All source files and full ownership, in every format you'll need

How it runs

  1. Step 1

    Understand

    Who you're for, who you're against, and what you want people to feel. A conversation, not a questionnaire.

  2. Step 2

    Design

    Routes explored, then one developed properly with you rather than at you.

  3. Step 3

    Systemise

    Every variant, every rule, every file, documented and handed over.

What it costs

How it's pricedFixed project fee

A fixed fee, scoped to how much you need. A logo system with core guidelines costs a fraction of a full identity with applications, and we'll tell you honestly which one your business actually needs right now.

We don't publish a number for this one, because an honest one depends on the job. Tell us what you're trying to do and you'll get a real figure, in writing, without a sales call first.

Get a figure in writing

Is this right for you?

Probably, if

  • You're starting something and want to look credible from day one
  • Your current identity has drifted and nobody can say what the rules are
  • You're about to spend on marketing and want it to look like one company

Probably not, if

  • You want a cheap logo quickly. That's a real need and we're not the right people for it — a marketplace will serve you better and faster.

Questions we get asked

Do I own the logo outright?

Yes. Full ownership, all source files, on final payment. We don't licence brand work back to clients.

How many concepts do I see?

Fewer than you might expect, and deliberately. We show a small number of properly developed routes rather than a wall of options, because choosing from a wall is how identities end up designed by committee.

Can you just refresh what we have?

Often that's the right call, and it costs less. If your existing mark has equity, throwing it away is usually a mistake.

Works well with

All 16 services

Tell us what you're trying to do

No pitch deck, no discovery call you have to sit through. Describe the problem and we'll tell you whether this is the right service for it — including when it isn't.

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