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Brand & Creative Direction

An identity is not a logo file. It is the set of decisions that make everything after it easier: what the brand sounds like, what it looks like next to its competitors, and what to do when a situation comes up that the logo does not cover.

This discipline usually sits under the other two rather than being bought on its own. It is what a site and a shoot both get made against, and it is the reason they end up looking like the same company.

03 · Identity

What you get

Deliverables.

  1. 01

    The mark

    A primary wordmark or symbol with the variants a real business needs: small, single-colour, on a dark ground, as a profile picture.

  2. 02

    Type and colour

    A typeface pairing and a colour set chosen for legibility at the sizes you actually use, with contrast checked rather than assumed.

  3. 03

    The rules

    A short document covering spacing, what not to do to the mark, and how the pieces combine. Short enough that someone will read it.

  4. 04

    Art direction

    The visual brief a shoot, a site or a campaign gets made against, so the work stays recognisable when someone else executes it.

  5. 05

    Files that work

    Vector source, web formats and export-ready assets, organised so your printer and your web developer both get what they ask for.

Ways to work together

Formats.

Process

How an identity project runs

It starts with the business, not the moodboard: who you are competing with, what you want to be read as, and where the identity has to survive. Directions are presented as complete worlds to react to rather than a sheet of logo options to pick from.

The full process ↗
Chica, live siteChicaAn editorial identity, built to lead somewhere.

Questions

Before you send a brief.

Can I get just a logo?
A mark on its own is usually a bad purchase. Without type, colour and a rule for how they combine, the next person who touches the brand makes those decisions by accident. Small scopes are possible, but the recommendation is to include the minimum that makes the mark usable.
How many directions do you present?
Few, developed properly. A wall of options moves the decision onto the client and tends to produce a compromise rather than a choice.
Do I own the identity?
Yes. Final identity assets are transferred to you on completion, including editable vector source.
Do you handle trademark registration?
No. That is legal work and the studio does not do it or advise on it. A search before committing to a name is worth doing with someone qualified.

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