Brand Design · Capability 02 of 6 · Logo, colour, type and voice

Brand identity, recognisable everywhere.

An example mark for “Your brand”: a circle, a square and a quarter-disc on a six-unit grid, shown in four colourways and three type pairings.

We design brand identities for enterprises and growing brands: logo, colour, type, voice and motion. Your teams get guidelines and templates that keep the brand consistent on every touchpoint.

Start an identity brief Try the voice tuner
Typical length
6–10 weeks
Scope
Visual · verbal · behavioural
Approach
Designed together

Plate 01 · What it coversSeven layers

Seven layers of identity, from mark to sound.

We design each layer with the others in view. Behaviour covers how the brand moves, sounds and responds when something goes wrong.

Plate 02 · What we offer6 specimens

Six identity services from one team.

We design how the brand looks, sounds and behaves at the same time, so the three stay consistent with each other.

Close-up of metal letterpress type locked in a forme
Fig. 02A type case: every piece made to combine with the others, like the six services below.

Specimen 01Mark · colour · type

Visual identity

Mark, wordmark, colour, type, layout and imagery, designed as a kit of parts that also fits touchpoints you add later.

Visual identity: See it on Plates 03–05

Specimen 02Voice · tone · vocabulary

Verbal identity

Voice, tone, vocabulary and the words to avoid, written as rules with examples so anyone can write on brand.

Verbal identity: See it on Plate 06

Specimen 03Moments · principles

Behavioural identity

Principles with worked examples for how the brand behaves at key moments: first use, an error, a cancellation.

Behavioural identity: See it on Plate 06

Specimen 04Motion · audio

Motion & sound

Timing and easing for how the brand moves, plus a short sound signature where the brand needs one.

Motion & sound: See it on Plate 07

Specimen 05Online · versioned

Identity guidelines

One searchable online reference for the visual, verbal and behavioural rules, versioned so everyone works from the current edition.

Identity guidelines: See it on Plate 10

Specimen 06Templates · training

Rollout & handover

Templates for your first touchpoints, a walkthrough for your team and a review after the first month in use.

Rollout & handover: See it on Plate 09

Plate 03 · Mark constructionFive steps

A mark drawn once, with rules for every size and use.

We construct the mark like an engineering drawing, with the grid, optical corrections and size limits written down. That keeps it intact on a favicon, a shopfront or in a file someone else exported.

Grid

Every part of the mark sits on a grid six units wide and four high, so anyone can redraw it exactly at any size.

Grid
6 × 4 units
Unit
1u = width ÷ 6

Geometry

Three basic shapes (a circle, a square and a quarter-disc) and a counter, the open space inside. The construction lines become the rules for icons and layouts.

Parts
3 + counter
Radius
2u

Optical corrections

Correct geometry can look wrong to the eye. The circle overshoots the flat top so both look level, and the counter is widened so it stays open in print.

Overshoot
+4%
Counter
+6%

Clear space

The empty space around the mark equals the counter’s radius, x. No headline, screen edge or other logo may enter it.

Clear space
1x on all sides
x
1u

Minimum size

Below 24 pixels the counter closes up, so a solid version is used. Each size is checked on screen and in print before sign-off.

Digital
16 px minimum
Print
6 mm minimum

Plate 04 · ColourContrast, checked

A palette of tested pairings, with a role for every colour.

Each colour comes with its share of the page and the pairings it may be used in. Pick any two below to see the contrast ratio checked live against WCAG 2.2.

  1. Ink --ink · #19191D Primary text
  2. Graphite --ink-2 · #2A2A31 Dark surfaces
  3. Slate --txt · #4A4A52 Body copy
  4. Pewter --muted · #75757E Secondary text
  5. Signal blue --blue · #0082FB Action · accent
  6. Deep blue --blue-d · #006CD0 Pressed · links
  7. Mist --line · #E7E7EA Rules · borders
  8. Paper --paper · #FFFFFF Ground
Text colour
Background

17.53:1 contrast

  • AA · body text 4.5:1Pass
  • AA · large text 3:1Pass
  • AAA · body text 7:1Pass
  • AAA · large text 4.5:1Pass
  • UI parts & icons 3:1Pass

Agent · export checkAn agent runs the same test on every file exported from the templates and flags failing pairs. A designer decides on any exception, and the decision is logged.

Share of the page, by areaIllustrative

58%Paper 22%Ink 10%Signal blue 6%Mist 4%Deep blue

Plate 05 · TypeOne base, one ratio

Nine type sizes, from one ratio.

Every size is calculated from a ratio. Pick one and the scale recalculates from a 16 px base, keeping headlines and captions in proportion.

Close-up of worn wooden and metal printing type in a case
Fig. 05Wood type, set by hand: every size a separate decision. A digital scale makes the same decision once, by ratio.

Scale ratio

Base16 px

  1. +6 Display Recognisable 61.0 px 3.815 rem · Outfit
  2. +5 Headline Everywhere it shows up 48.8 px 3.052 rem · Outfit
  3. +4 Heading 1 One brand, every touchpoint 39.1 px 2.441 rem · Outfit
  4. +3 Heading 2 Rules written with examples 31.3 px 1.953 rem · Outfit
  5. +2 Heading 3 A kit of parts for any format 25.0 px 1.563 rem · Outfit
  6. +1 Lead Leads introduce a section in a sentence or two. 20.0 px 1.250 rem · Montserrat
  7. 0 Body Body text is set for reading, at a measure of sixty to seventy-five characters. 16.0 px 1.000 rem · Montserrat
  8. -1 Caption Captions carry sources, credits and figure notes. 12.8 px 0.800 rem · Montserrat
  9. -2 Label LABEL · STEP 02 · STATUS 10.2 px 0.640 rem · JetBrains Mono

Outfit500 display · 400 large

To be seen: headlines, titles, statements.

Montserrat400 · 500 · 600

To be read: body, leads, buttons, forms.

JetBrains Mono400 · 500

To be scanned: labels, figures, codes, data.

Plate 06 · Voice & toneTry it: the voice tuner

One brand voice for refunds, launches, errors and price rises.

Voice stays fixed; tone changes with the moment. An agent redrafts each line to your settings and checks it against the voice rules. A brand lead approves what goes live.

Voice agent
Redrafts to the settings using the voice rules and lexicon, then runs the checks. It cannot approve.
Brand lead
Reads the draft and the flags, then approves the line or sends it back.

Draft readySupport reply · Neutral · Balanced

Your refund went out today, so it should land within five working days. Not there by then? Reply here and we’ll look into it.

25 wordsIllustrative lines

  • Length for the settingPass
  • Lexicon: never-use wordsPass
  • No blame on the readerPass
  • One exclamation mark at mostPass

All four checks pass. Your call.

Approved lines · this session

  1. Nothing approved yet. Only a person can add a line here.

Plate 07 · Motion & soundTiming · easing · signature

Motion and sound, set by four curves and one signature.

Four curves and their timings cover almost every movement, from a button to a film title. Pick one and drag the timeline: the spacing of the frames sets the character.

Long-exposure light trails streak along a dark road at night
Fig. 07Movement has a character too: how fast it starts and how softly it lands.

Easing curvecubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1)

Onion skin · nine framesIllustrative · shown 3× slower

600 ms · 100%

Used forPanels, cards and page content arriving

Sonic signature

Three notes, 1.2 seconds.

For moments that are heard, such as an app opening, a payment confirmed or a film ending. A short brief sets where it plays, where it never does and how loud.

Plays a short, quiet tone synthesised in your browser. A sketch, not the final signature.

Plate 08 · Touchpoints6 surfaces

Identity directions tested on signs, screens, packaging and vehicles.

Every direction is mocked up on touchpoints like these before one is chosen, so you judge each in use.

  1. A blank rectangular sign on a pole against a pale blue sky, with the “Your brand” identity applied
    Wayfinding Site signage Mark · Ink panel · Outfit
  2. Two hands holding a phone with a blank white screen over a pale wooden desk, with the “Your brand” identity applied
    Product App launch screen Mark · Signal blue · Montserrat
  3. An empty poster frame on a terrace between apartment buildings, with the “Your brand” identity applied
    Out of home Poster Signal blue ground · Outfit display
  4. A plain white shipping box with open flaps on a white table, with the “Your brand” identity applied
    Packaging Shipping box Lockup · Ink on kraft white
  5. A plain white van parked on a city street, with the “Your brand” identity applied
    Fleet Vehicle side panel Lockup · Signal blue accent
  6. A person in an apron beside a closed metal shutter, in black and white, with the “Your brand” identity applied
    Retail Storefront shutter Mark at architectural scale

01 / 06

Plate 09 · How it worksA print run in 4 sheets

Four phases, from first sketch to launch.

Over a typical ten weeks, each phase shows what agents prepare and what people decide before work moves on.

Discover Wk 01–02

We review your brand foundation, audience and competitors to set what the identity must carry and avoid.

On this sheet

  • Identity brief
  • Category audit
  • Audience review
Agents help
Agents gather and sort examples from across your category, so the audit goes beyond the first page of search results.
People decide
What the identity must carry and what it must never look like.

Define Wk 03–05

We create two or three directions and show each on your touchpoints, then you choose one.

On this sheet

  • Direction boards
  • Touchpoint tests
  • Decision session
Agents help
Agents mock up each direction on dozens of touchpoints overnight with image tools such as Flux or Adobe Firefly, chosen per task.
People decide
Which direction goes forward, in one decision session with the people who own the brand.

Design Wk 06–08

We develop the chosen direction across visual, verbal and behavioural identity, writing the rules as we design.

On this sheet

  • Visual identity
  • Voice & tone
  • Behaviour principles
Agents help
Agents draft rule examples and check contrast, clear space and voice across every template as it is built.
People decide
The design itself and the final wording of every rule.

Build Wk 09–10

We produce the guidelines, templates and asset library, then walk your team through them.

On this sheet

  • Guidelines
  • Asset library
  • Team walkthrough
Agents help
Agents export assets in every format and check each file against the rules before it reaches the library.
People decide
Sign-off for release and what changes after the first month in use.

Plate 10 · What you get8 chapters

Identity guidelines and every file they refer to.

Each chapter comes with the files your teams use. The guidelines live online and export to PDF, so the book and the asset library stay in step.

Your brandIdentity guidelines · v1.0

Contents

iiIllustrative pagination

Chapter 01SVG · PDF

Logo & clear-space rules

  • Master mark, wordmark and lockups
  • Clear space and minimum sizes
  • Misuse, drawn rather than described

Delivered asSVGPDF

Chapter 014

Chapter 02Figma · JSON

Colour palette & tokens

  • Palette with roles and proportions
  • Approved contrast pairings
  • Tokens named for design tools and code

Delivered asFigmaJSON

Chapter 0210

Chapter 03Figma · font files

Typefaces & type scale

  • Three typefaces and the job each one does
  • Scale, line height and line length
  • Fallbacks for Office and email

Delivered asFigmafont files

Chapter 0318

Chapter 04Guidelines

Voice, tone & vocabulary

  • Voice principles with before-and-after lines
  • Tone for the moments that matter most
  • Words we use and words we never use

Delivered asGuidelines

Chapter 0424

Chapter 05Guidelines

Behaviour principles & moments

  • Principles for first open, errors and goodbyes
  • Worked examples for each moment
  • What to do when two principles conflict

Delivered asGuidelines

Chapter 0532

Chapter 06Video · Lottie

Motion principles

  • Four curves and their timings
  • The mark in motion
  • Do and do-not clips

Delivered asVideoLottie

Chapter 0638

Chapter 07Web · PDF

Identity guidelines

  • Searchable online reference
  • Versioned PDF export
  • Change log and named owners

Delivered asWebPDF

Chapter 0744

Chapter 08Figma · Office

Launch templates

  • Presentation, document and email templates
  • Social and advertising frames
  • Signage and merchandise artwork

Delivered asFigmaOffice

Chapter 0850

Plate 11 · What changesAfter launch

Three signs the identity works in the months after launch.

Each one is noted in the margin beside the line it explains.

People know it is yours before they read the name.1 Teams produce on-brand work without long review queues,2 and new touchpoints fit straight in3.

  1. Recognisable at a glance

    Remove the logo and the brand is still recognisable from its colour, type, tone and behaviour.

  2. Consistent across teams

    Rules come with worked examples, so teams can follow them without asking the brand team each time.

  3. Ready for new touchpoints

    Built as a kit of parts, so new signs, screens and formats use the same pieces.

Questions4 entries

Services & packages

Brand identity services, bought alone or as one programme.

Commission a full identity, refresh the one you have or add a single part, such as voice, motion or packaging. Each part is designed to the same rules, so it fits with the rest.

Categories
04
Services
19
Packages
05
Not sure what you need? Describe the problem

How to buy

  1. 01Pick services. Enquire about one, or add several to a brief.
  2. 02Choose a package. A sprint, a fixed project or an ongoing team.
  3. 03Send the brief. We reply within one working day.

Browse by category

Timelines are typical. Every quote follows a written scope.

01Visual identity

6 services
Typical timeline: 2–3 weeks

Identity health check

An audit of your identity across live touchpoints: what works, where it has gone off-brand and whether to refresh, rebuild or write clearer rules.

What’s included

  • Touchpoint audit across channels
  • Equity review: what to keep
  • Consistency report by channel
  • Recommendation: refine, refresh or rebuild
  • Entry point
  • Sprint

Best forBrands unsure whether they need a new identity or a refresh

Typical timeline: 6–10 weeks

Logo & identity system

A logo, wordmark and the supporting elements around them, drawn on a construction grid and tested on your touchpoints from the first concept.

What’s included

  • Primary logo, wordmark and monogram
  • Construction grid and clear-space rules
  • Colour palette with roles and pairings
  • Master artwork in every format
  • New brand
  • Rebrand
  • Figma

Best forNew ventures and brands whose logo no longer fits the business

Typical timeline: 4–8 weeks

Visual identity refresh

An update to an identity customers already recognise. We keep what they know and fix what has gone off-brand, so the change reads as progress.

What’s included

  • Equity audit of current assets
  • Refined mark and lock-ups
  • Updated colour and type system
  • Transition plan for live materials
  • Evolution
  • Keeps equity

Best forEstablished brands that look dated or inconsistent but are still recognised

Typical timeline: 3–5 weeks; custom faces longer

Typography & custom type

Typefaces chosen or drawn for your brand, with custom fonts where licensing or character calls for them.

What’s included

  • Typeface selection and licensing advice
  • Type scale and hierarchy rules
  • Custom or modified display face, if needed
  • Web and app font files
  • Type system
  • Custom option

Best forBrands whose type is generic, over-licensed or unreadable on screen

Typical timeline: 4–6 weeks

Iconography & illustration

An icon set and illustration style built to your identity’s grid, stroke and colour rules, with guidance so your team can extend them.

What’s included

  • Core icon set on a shared grid
  • Illustration style with examples
  • Construction and extension rules
  • SVG library for product and web
  • Visual language
  • Extensible
  • Figma

Best forProduct and content-heavy brands that need many icons and illustrations

Typical timeline: 3–6 weeks

Photography & art direction

Photography rules for subject, light, crop and treatment, so shoots and stock images look like one brand.

What’s included

  • Photography principles and brief
  • Crop, colour and treatment rules
  • Curated reference and stock library
  • Art direction on first shoots
  • Imagery
  • Art direction

Best forBrands whose imagery comes from many sources and looks inconsistent

02Verbal identity

4 services
Typical timeline: 4–8 weeks

Brand naming

A name for a company, brand or flagship product: territories, long list, shortlist and linguistic checks in your markets, screened with your legal counsel.

What’s included

  • Naming brief and territories
  • Long list with creative rationale
  • Linguistic checks in target markets
  • Preliminary trademark screening
  • Naming
  • Multi-market

Best forNew companies, flagship launches and brands forced to rename

Typical timeline: 3–5 weeks

Voice & tone

How your brand sounds, written as rules with examples anyone writing for you can follow. Voice stays fixed; tone adapts to the moment.

What’s included

  • Voice principles with do and don’t examples
  • Tone map across key moments
  • Word list, including words to avoid
  • Rewrites of priority copy
  • Verbal
  • Rules with examples

Best forBrands with many writers, agencies or markets and no shared voice

Typical timeline: 2–4 weeks

Tagline & signature lines

A tagline and the signature phrases around it, written from your positioning and tested in the layouts where it will appear.

What’s included

  • Tagline routes from the positioning
  • Testing in your layouts
  • Final line with usage rules
  • Supporting signature phrases
  • Tagline
  • Fixed scope

Best forBrands launching or relaunching that need one line to carry the idea

Typical timeline: 3–5 weeks

Product & UX voice

Your brand voice inside the product: buttons, errors, empty states and onboarding, as reusable patterns with the hardest messages already written.

What’s included

  • UX writing principles
  • Patterns for errors, empty states and prompts
  • Rewrite of core product flows
  • Content guidance in the design system
  • Product
  • UX writing

Best forDigital products where the interface does most of the talking

03Behaviour & motion

4 services
Typical timeline: 3–5 weeks

Behavioural identity

How your brand behaves at key moments, such as first use, an error or a customer leaving, with worked examples your teams can apply.

What’s included

  • Behaviour principles
  • Key-moment map across the journey
  • Worked examples for each moment
  • Team workshop to apply them
  • Experience
  • Principles

Best forService and product brands where the experience is the brand

Typical timeline: 4–6 weeks

Motion identity

How your brand moves: easing, timing, transitions and a signature animation, specified so product, film and social teams animate the same way.

What’s included

  • Motion principles and curve library
  • Animated logo and signature sting
  • Transition and UI motion specs
  • Lottie and video source files
  • Motion
  • Product-ready

Best forBrands seen mostly on screen: product, film and social

Typical timeline: 4–8 weeks

Sonic identity

We compose and mix a sonic logo and a small set of sounds for product, film, events and voice, with usage rules.

What’s included

  • Sonic logo in several lengths
  • UI and notification sounds
  • Music direction brief
  • Mastered files and usage rules
  • Audio
  • Sonic logo

Best forBrands heard as often as they are seen: apps, broadcast and voice

Typical timeline: 4–6 weeks

Digital identity for product

Your identity’s colour, type, icons and motion mapped to your product’s design tokens, so product teams build with the brand instead of redrawing it.

What’s included

  • Identity mapped to product tokens
  • Core screens and UI kit
  • Accessibility checks against WCAG 2.2
  • Handover to the product design team
  • Product
  • Tokens
  • Figma

Best forBrands whose product is the touchpoint customers see most

04Application & rollout

5 services
Typical timeline: 6–10 weeks

Packaging design

Packaging designed from your identity: structure, hierarchy, range architecture and artwork, tested on shelf and on screen before print.

What’s included

  • Range architecture and hierarchy
  • Primary pack design and key variants
  • Shelf and e-commerce testing
  • Print-ready artwork and specifications
  • Physical
  • Range

Best forConsumer brands launching, extending or refreshing a range

Typical timeline: 6–12 weeks

Environmental & signage

The identity in physical space: signage, wayfinding, fascias and interiors, designed with your architects and fabricators and specified to build.

What’s included

  • Signage family and wayfinding rules
  • Fascia and interior applications
  • Fabrication drawings and specifications
  • Supplier and installation liaison
  • Spaces
  • Specified to build

Best forBrands with offices, stores, campuses or event spaces

Typical timeline: 3–6 weeks

Brand guidelines

Your visual, verbal and behavioural rules in one searchable online guide, versioned and linked to your asset library, with a PDF export.

What’s included

  • Online guidelines site
  • PDF export for partners and suppliers
  • Linked asset library
  • Version history and a named owner
  • Online guide
  • Web · PDF

Best forBrands whose rules live in an out-of-date PDF, or nowhere

Typical timeline: 3–6 weeks

Launch & rollout kit

Templates for your first touchpoints, a phased rollout plan, a team walkthrough and a review one month after launch.

What’s included

  • Templates for priority touchpoints
  • Phased rollout plan and checklist
  • Team walkthrough and training
  • First-month review
  • Rollout
  • Templates · training

Best forAny new or refreshed identity going live across teams and markets

Typical timeline: Ongoing · monthly

Identity retainer

The team that designed your identity, on hand after launch for new applications, reviews of partner work and guideline updates, under a named lead.

What’s included

  • New applications and extensions
  • Design review of agency and partner work
  • Guidelines kept current
  • Monthly planning session
  • Retainer
  • Ongoing

Best forLaunched brands that want the original team to keep the identity consistent

Your brief

Tick “Add to brief” on any service, choose a package, then continue. Or enquire about one service directly.

How we work with you

Ways to engage, from a question to an RFQ.

Ask a quick question, send a project brief or issue a formal RFQ. The lead for the work reads each one in full, and any services already in your brief go with it.

Or book a thirty-minute call

What are you sending?

  1. 01

    About 2 minutes4 required answers

    For a first conversation, a press request or anything that does not need a scope yet.

    You get A reply from a named lead

  2. 02Recommended

    About 8 minutes5 short steps

    Goals, audiences, a budget band and timing, so our first reply can outline the work.

    You get Options and a first scope after one call

  3. 03

    About 15 minutesYour documents attached

    Your documents, deadlines and the procurement and security rules the work must meet.

    You get Receipt confirmed and a named bid lead

How it is priced

Each package shows its pricing model. Work starts once a written scope and quote are agreed.

  • Typical length
    1–3 weeks
    Pricing
    Fixed fee

  • Typical length
    4–12 weeks
    Pricing
    Fixed price

  • Typical length
    3–9 months
    Pricing
    Fixed price per milestone

  • Typical length
    Ongoing · 6-month minimum
    Pricing
    Monthly fee

  • Typical length
    6–18 months
    Pricing
    Programme fee · by statement of work
Compare what each package includes
What each package includes and who it suits
PackageEvery engagement includesBest for
SprintA short, fixed-scope engagement that answers one defined question.
  • Scope and outcome agreed before day one
  • A senior lead plus the specialists needed
  • A working review every week
  • A decision-ready answer or prototype
 Discovery, a diagnostic, a prototype or a decision you need to make soon
ProjectA defined scope, delivered for a fixed price.
  • Statement of work with deliverables and acceptance criteria
  • A named project lead and a fixed team
  • A shared plan with dated checkpoints
  • Source files, yours once paid for
 Work you can describe up front: an identity, a platform or a set of tools
MilestoneA larger build in phases you approve and pay for one at a time.
  • Phases with their own scope, output and sign-off
  • A go or no-go review at every gate
  • Re-planning between phases as you learn
  • Payment tied to accepted milestones
 Programmes too large for one contract, where you want control at each step
RetainerReserved monthly capacity to run, improve and extend what we built.
  • A reserved block of team time every month
  • Agreed response times for requests and fixes
  • A monthly review and a rolling backlog
  • Planned improvements as well as upkeep
 Live brands and products that need a steady team without hiring one
EnterpriseA multi-workstream programme with a dedicated team, governance and agreed service levels.
  • An engagement director and a steering group
  • A dedicated team across several workstreams
  • Service levels, reporting and a risk register
  • Security, legal and procurement reviews in the plan
 Large organisations running change across markets, portfolios or business units

Colophon · Related capabilitiesBrand Design · 6 volumes

More Brand Design capabilities to explore next.

Brand Identity is one of six Brand Design capabilities. The two bookmarked are the ones it relies on most: Brand Foundation, which it expresses, and Brand Systems, which keeps it consistent.

  1. 01 Growth Strategy The customers and markets to pursue next, chosen from research and market data. Open volume
  2. 02 Brand Identity Visual identity, tone of voice and brand guidelines for every touchpoint. You are here
  3. 03 Brand Foundation Positioning, values and principles, written as the brand platform every team works from. Pairs with identity
  4. 04 Brand Systems Design tokens, templates and rules that let a brand adapt and stay recognisable. Pairs with identity
  5. 05 Brand Architecture Structure and naming for products and sub-brands that keep the portfolio clear. Open volume
  6. 06 Brand AI Tools Automated brand checks on every asset, before a named person approves it. Open volume
  7. Index Back to Brand Design All six capabilities, how a programme runs and how we work with enterprise teams. The hub

Tell us what you need built.

You will speak to a lead who would run the work, and get a straight answer on fit.

Book a call

Three ways to start

Every engagement starts with a written scope and a quote agreed before work begins.

Choose one of the three ways above
See the work Explore our services Industries we serve Meet the team Email us Read our approach