What a branding agency should deliver
A brand identity is the set of decisions that make a company recognisable: its name, mark, typeface, colours, tone of voice and the rules for using them. A good identity looks the same on a screen, a bottle, a stand and a vehicle, and can be applied by someone who has never met the designer.
We deliver the identity and the guidelines that let your team and your suppliers use it properly.
Designed by people who make things
Most agencies hand a logo to a printer and hope. We have a factory. The designer who draws the mark can walk to the workshop and see how it looks routed into timber, sprayed onto fibreglass, printed on a banner or cut from steel. That feedback changes the design before it is final, and avoids the common failure of a mark that looks good on a pitch deck and badly on the real thing.
What the work includes
Logo and wordmark, type system, colour palette, tone of voice, photography and image direction, and brand guidelines. Label and packaging graphics are part of the work, because that is where an identity first meets a customer. Product design and concept visualisation sit alongside: sketches, form studies and the render that a client signs off.
How a branding project runs
We begin with a short strategy phase to agree who the brand is for and how it should feel. Then comes the creative route: a small number of strong directions, not a long list. You choose one. We develop it, test it at real sizes and in real materials, and finish with guidelines and the files your suppliers need.
At each stage you see work in context, applied to the things your customers will see.
Testing an identity at real sizes
A mark has to work smaller than a thumbnail and larger than a shop front. We test every direction at both extremes, in one colour as well as full colour, on light and dark grounds, and reversed out of a photograph. We check that the type stays legible on a curved bottle, a small label and a banner seen from across a room.
We also print and make physical samples: a routed sign, a sprayed panel, a printed carton. Seeing the mark on a real surface exposes problems that a screen hides, and it lets you approve the identity with confidence.
What goes into the guidelines
Guidelines should be short enough to be read. Ours cover how the mark is used and how much clear space it needs, the colours with their reference values for print and screen, the typefaces and where to get them, the voice with examples of good and poor writing, and the style of imagery. They also show the identity applied to the things you will make.
We add a one-page quick guide for people who need to get it right without reading the rest, and a clear note of what must never change.
What we need from you
Tell us who the brand is for, what you want people to feel, and which brands you admire and why. Bring any existing material, even if you plan to replace it. Tell us where the identity must appear first, so we design for those places and not for an imagined list.
Confirm who signs off the work. A single approver, or a small group with one lead, keeps a project moving and keeps the design coherent.
From identity to launch
Once the brand is agreed, the group can make everything it touches: packaging, displays, shops, stands, film and a launch event. Because the identity was designed with those in mind, nothing needs reinterpreting.
What you receive
Questions
How much does a brand identity cost?
It depends on scope, from a mark and guidelines to a full system with packaging. We price from a short brief.
How long does it take?
Usually several weeks from brief to guidelines, depending on the number of applications.
Do you also make the packaging and displays?
Yes. That is the advantage of a group with its own factory.
Can you refresh an existing brand?
Yes. We start by finding what already works and keeping it.
Who owns the work?
Ownership and usage rights are set out in the proposal before work begins, so there is nothing to discover later.
How many design directions will we see?
A small number of strong, distinct directions, usually three at most. Each is shown applied to real items, such as a label, a sign and a page, so you judge it in use. Fewer, better directions make decisions quicker and results clearer than a long list does.
Can the identity work in other countries and languages?
Yes. We check that the name, colours and imagery carry no unwanted meaning in the markets you plan to enter, and we choose typefaces that support the languages and accents you need. Guidelines show how the identity adapts without losing its character.