Brand Strategy & Identity
Building your Brand Strategy and Visual Identity, so you can tell your story.
Services
Purpose, Vision, Mission
Brand positioning and narrative
Tone of voice
Brand Messaging
Brand name
Logo design
Visual design systems
Brand guidelines
Copywriting
Related Case Studies
Balfour Winery
Ruxley Manor
Kioku by Endo
Overview
At the heart of every good brand is a story. They say that ‘beginnings are always the hardest’, but from our years in the industry, we’ve learned that careful preparation makes all the difference.
Through thorough research and open conversations, we ensure every aspect of your brand is thoughtfully planned and meaningful. This groundwork not only makes the creative process smoother but also helps us build a brand that truly connects with your audience right from the start. Building a strong foundation of knowledge, connection and understanding allows us to make informed decisions going forward. We use all of that information to create a coherent approach that goes far beyond the (mind you, very good) looks. It establishes the position of the brand in the market and quite literally sets the tone for how your brand interacts with the target audience.
Once your brand strategy and identity is out in the world, our partnership continues. New marketing materials, update to your visual assets, engaging email campaigns, or compelling video content — we’re here to support your ongoing marketing needs.
We want to keep working together to ensure your brand continues being the best version it can be and ultimately connected with your audience.
‘Brand Biology’ Workshop
Our Brand Workshops are as much about learning who you and your audience are, as they are about finding the right tone and visual aesthetic.
To gain as much information as possible we go through any relevant information or data you may have that relates to your business. This could be analytics, examples of work, old photos or just the thoughts in your head. Anything and everything is useful for us to know, even if it feels like something little — it could spark a big idea.
It’s important that everyone’s voice and opinions are heard during the workshop as only a complete understanding from multiple viewpoints can be the foundation of a successful, authentic brand strategy and visual identity.
The Anatomy of your Visual Identity
Just like a body, we believe that a brand’s identity is built from separate parts and only combined can it realise its full potential. This is why the workshop is split into four main sections; Heart, Mind, Voice and Vision with each section representing a different, but crucial, part of the brand. In order to find out who your brand is, each category contains a number of questions and ‘tasks’ that we ask you to take part in (don’t worry, there’s no charades!).
The ‘games’ are designed to invite discussion and opinions, and while they also break up what can be an intense session, they are all about finding that first very thought without overthinking it; the first gut feeling that is rarely wrong, but is often overlooked. After years of working with different people, industries and sectors, we have learnt one thing about our methods: they work.
Analysis and process
Once we have all the information we need from you, the Brand Creation Process, and the real fun, begins. We analyse and process anything and everything from the Brand Biology workshop, pull it together and share all of our findings with you in a follow-up document. This effectively becomes the creative brief to work from.
It’s important to us that you are part of the process every step of the way — your brand is an extension of your business after all — which is why we encourage transparency and open communication from both sides. This is where we all agree on the route and strategy going forward.
Designing a Brand Identity
The best way our designers’ brains work is by putting them together. With everyone sharing information, resources and skills during this early collaborative brainstorming process, the outcome is a collection of concepts that have already been thought over by different minds.
We expand on the core ideas, creating the first visuals and systems. Seeing a brand presented nicely is one thing, but seeing it in the ‘real world’ and how it will be applied, is another. To ensure that the concepts not only work in theory, we will include relevant mock-ups, always considering the environment it will sit in.
Open communication
Once the whole team is happy, this document gets shared with you. We prefer to present these first ideas personally to you as we like to share the enthusiasm and thinking behind each idea. We can also answer any questions, discuss your first impressions and note down any feedback that you might already have right there and then. For us, the personal and honest communication between the team and you is the secret ingredient to a smooth brand creation.
The goal is to narrow it down to one definitive route and develop the concept further based on your feedback, polishing up those finer details with each round of feedback from you until we have arrived at the final version.
On-going support and brand marketing
Delivering the Visual Identity and final Brand Guidelines is a big, and probably the most exciting, part of a project.
Once you have received your final brand guidelines, the new look is nearly ready for the world to see. With everything having been planned out from the very beginning and with you being involved at every step, this final stage of the process tends to be fairly straight forward. We finalise your extensive brand book, creating an online portal that allows your team to access it from any browser and with the latest files always at hand. The guidelines include everything that you would need to bring your new identity to life, tailored specifically to your business’ needs.
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