BRAND · BRAND CREATION
Launching something new? Give it a brand that holds together
A new business, product or venture needs more than a logo. We build the positioning, the identity and the voice together, so everything you launch looks and sounds like it belongs to the same company.
Starting from a blank page
Founders often arrive with a name they like, a colour they are fond of and a launch date that is closer than it should be. The temptation is to commission a logo and fill in the rest later. The trouble is that a logo without a clear position tends to be redrawn within a year, and every piece of material made in the meantime has to be redone.
We start with the questions a brand has to answer: who it is for, what it promises, why someone should choose it over the obvious alternative, and how it should sound when it speaks. Only then do we design. The result is a brand you can brief a printer, a developer or a new hire on, with confidence that they will get it right.
What’s included
Positioning and brand strategy
A short, written statement of audience, promise, proof points and personality, agreed with you before any design starts.
Name and domain checks
If you are still choosing a name, we check availability of domains and social handles and flag obvious conflicts for your solicitor to review. Trade mark clearance itself is a legal matter.
Visual identity
Logo, colour palette, typefaces, image style and layout principles, designed to work together from a business card to a website header.
Tone of voice
How the brand writes: vocabulary, sentence style and worked examples, so your emails, posts and product copy sound like one company.
Launch applications
The first set of real materials, chosen with you: typically a website homepage design, social profile assets, email signature, stationery and a simple presentation template.
Starter guidelines
A concise brand guide covering the rules that matter most, written for the people who will use it rather than for a shelf.
AI AT WORK
Where AI does the work
AI DOES
- Researches how competitors and adjacent brands in your market present themselves and summarises the patterns, gaps and clichés
- Generates long lists of name ideas and taglines from the agreed positioning, for a person to shortlist
- Produces quick concept boards and mock-ups so you can see a direction on a van, a phone screen or a shop front before it is finished
YOUR SPECIALIST DECIDES
- Your director runs the positioning workshop and writes the strategy with you
- A designer selects the directions worth pursuing and does all the final drawing and typography
- You choose between a small number of finished routes and approve the final identity
How we work
- 01Discovery and mandateA workshop with the founders or leadership team, followed by a written mandate: what the brand must achieve, what is in scope, the budget and the sign-off points.
- 02StrategyWe present the positioning, audience and personality in writing. Nothing is designed until you agree this page.
- 03Creative routesTwo or three distinct identity directions, each shown applied to real materials, with the reasoning behind it.
- 04RefinementWe develop the chosen route in detail: logo versions, colour values for screen and print, typography and the tone of voice.
- 05HandoverFinal files in every format you need, the starter guidelines and the launch applications, with a walkthrough for your team.
HOW WE MEASURE
How we measure it
A new brand cannot be judged on sales in its first week, so we agree practical measures in the mandate and report against them in plain English.
- Brief met: each agreed objective in the mandate marked as delivered or outstanding
- Usability: whether your team and suppliers can produce correct materials from the guidelines without asking us
- Early recognition signals you choose to track, such as direct and branded search traffic after launch
Is this right for you?
- You are launching a new business, product line or sub-brand and want it right from the start
- You have a launch date and need the identity, the voice and the first materials ready together
- You want one accountable person rather than a chain of freelancers
An indication, not a quote.
Questions we are asked
How long does it take to create a new brand?
It depends on scope and on how quickly decisions are made. A focused identity with strategy, logo, palette, typography and starter guidelines usually runs over several weeks, indicatively. Adding naming, a full website or a large set of applications extends it. We set out an indicative timetable in the written mandate before work starts, with your sign-off points marked.
Do you check whether our brand name is available?
We check domains and social media handles and look for obvious conflicts with businesses already trading under similar names. We are not solicitors, so formal trade mark searches and registration should be handled by a trade mark attorney or solicitor. We can share what we find with them to save time and help you choose a name that is less likely to run into trouble.
Will we own the logo and brand assets?
Yes. Once the project is paid for, the final logo, identity files and guidelines are yours to use. The terms are written into our agreement before work starts, so there is no ambiguity. Any third-party elements, such as a licensed typeface or stock photography, come with their own licence terms, which we explain and keep to a minimum.