Brand Identity

One brand,
every surface

We design identities as systems: strategy, a mark, colour, type, icons and motion, with the guidelines and templates that keep them consistent wherever they appear.

04 / 07Brand Identity

What's possible
and how

What's possible and how

People meet a company in many places: an app icon, an invoice, a slide, a post, the sign on the door. A strong identity makes all of them feel like one company, so what people learn to trust in one place carries over to the next.

We start with strategy, so every visual choice has a reason. Then we design the identity as a set of parts with rules: how the logo is built, which colours pair, how type scales, how things move. You get a brandbook and ready templates, so your team can keep the brand consistent long after handover.

What we deliver

Capabilities

Six parts, designed together. Each one comes with rules, and every rule is written down.

01

Strategy and voice

Where you stand in your market and how you sound. Agreed before anything is drawn.

02

Colour system

A palette with proportions and tested contrast pairs, so every combination stays readable.

03

Typography

Typefaces and one scale with one ratio, from captions to headlines.

04

Iconography

Icons drawn on one grid, with shared keylines and a single stroke weight.

05

Motion

Easing and timing rules, so the brand moves the same way in every product.

06

Templates

Slides, posts and documents with the brand locked in and the content left open.

Built on a grid,
finished by eye

Logo and wordmark

A logo has to hold at 16 pixels and on the side of a building. We construct it with geometry, then correct it by eye, and we write both down. Here is our own wordmark, taken apart.

A 10-unit grid. A module is about one stroke wide, and the x-height is exactly six modules.Flat letters stop at the baseline and x-height. Round ones cross both by about 1.6 units, so they look the same height.The o and the e share one bowl, 60 × 63.24 units, and one centre line with the crossing of the x.Stems and bowls are 10.08 units thick, the diagonals 10.04. The bar of the e is lighter, 7.92.The gaps are not equal: 9.93 after the o, 7.22 after the n, 3.14 before the x. Spacing follows the white between shapes, not their boxes.Half an o of empty space on every side. Nothing else enters it.
01 / 06

One system,
every touchpoint

Applied

The same few rules run every surface, from a 64 px icon to a printed card. Pick a rule and see where it shows up. The identity here is our own.

Same wordmark, same clear space, sized to the surface.Geist for words, Geist Mono for labels and numbers.Ink and paper do the work. Blue appears once per surface.Every surface sits on columns, with margins fixed before anything is placed.Things arrive with one curve and one duration: 600 ms, ease out.
Web header
Wordmark, 22 px tallGeist 500, 40 / 48Blue on the one call to action12 columns, 12 px gutterLines rise, 600 ms, staggered
App icon
The 01 mark, no wordmarkOnly the name under the iconBlue tile, paper markCircle and square keylinesTile scales in, 600 ms
Social post
Wordmark, top leftGeist 500, Geist MonoOne blue o, cropped4 columns, 20 px marginLines rise, 600 ms
Business card
Wordmark, 6 mm tallGeist 500, Geist MonoBlue edge on the front6 columns, 5 mm marginPrint does not move

How a brand
project runs

Stages
  1. 01DiscoveryInterviews with founders and team, and an audit of what you already use.
  2. 02Market scanHow others in your category look and sound, and where the open space is.
  3. 03Positioning and voiceWho you are for, what you promise and how you sound saying it.
  4. 04DirectionsTwo or three visual routes, each a clear bet, shown on real touchpoints.
  5. 05Logo and wordmarkSketches first, then construction on a grid, tested from favicon to signage.
  1. 06Colour and typeA palette with tested contrast pairs and a type scale built for screens.
  2. 07Icons, imagery, motionThe supporting language: icon grid, photo direction, easing and timing.
  3. 08Touchpoint testsThe system on real screens, documents and posts before anything is final.
  4. 09BrandbookEvery rule with examples and misuses, in one place your team can find.
  5. 10Templates and handoverSlides, posts, documents and source files, organised and named.

Inside the
brandbook

What you take home

Every rule on this page, written down with examples and the common misuses, plus the files and templates your team needs to apply it without asking us.

01StrategyPositioning, personality, voice
02LogoConstruction, clear space, sizes, misuse
03ColourPalette, proportions, contrast pairs
04TypographyTypefaces, scale, pairings
05IconographyGrid, keylines, stroke, the set
06ImagerySubjects, framing, light
07MotionEasing, timing, logo animation
08LayoutGrids and spacing for screen and print
09TemplatesSlides, posts, documents, signatures
10FilesLogos and assets in every format

I want to a.

Tell us where it is today, what you’re trying to achieve and what’s getting in the way.