Branding
Look like the company you're becoming.
For companies launching something new or outgrowing the brand they started with. Strategy, name, identity and voice, built to hold up from an app icon to a pitch deck.
The problem
Signs the brand isn't keeping up with the business.
- 01
You look like everyone else
Swap your logo for a competitor's and few people would notice.
- 02
Different everywhere
The site, the app and the sales deck each tell a slightly different story.
- 03
You've outgrown it
The brand fitted the company you were. It doesn't fit the one you're becoming.
- 04
Something new to launch
A new product or company needs a name and an identity before anyone sees it.
What's included
A brand system your team can use without calling us.
- 01
Brand strategy
What you stand for, who it's for and how you differ, agreed before any design starts.
- 02
Naming
Names explored, tested and checked. The AfriCred brand began with a naming workshop.
- 03
Identity
Logo, colour, type and the rules that hold them together.
- 04
Voice and messaging
How you sound, with lines your team can reuse.
- 05
Guidelines
One reference, so marketing, product and partners stay consistent.
- 06
Motion and brand applications
The brand in movement and in use: social templates, decks, merchandise and more.
AI in this stage
AI widens the first round of ideas. Designers choose what goes forward.
What AI does
- Generates early moodboards and concept directions to react to
- Explores long lists of name ideas for the team to filter
- Tests voice options against different audiences and channels
What our people do
- Set the strategy the brand has to express
- Design the logo, type and colour
- Decide what goes forward, and why
- Check names for meaning in the markets you serve
You see more directions early, before you're attached to one, and the final identity is still made by people.
How it runs
Five steps from the first workshop to a brand in use.
- 01
Discovery
Workshops with your team on audience, ambition and competitors.
- 02
Strategy
Positioning, personality and the brief the identity has to meet.
- 03
Concepts
A few distinct directions, each shown in real applications.
- 04
Refinement
One direction developed into the full system.
- 05
Guidelines and handover
Files, templates and guidelines your team can use straight away.
Questions
Before you commission a brand.
How is branding priced?
By scope. A full identity with naming is a bigger job than refreshing a brand you already have. You get a written proposal after a discovery call.
Can you refresh our brand instead of starting again?
Yes. Matestlab kept its name, and we redesigned the logo it uses today.
Will we own the brand files?
Yes. You receive the source files and the rights to use them once the project is paid for.
Can you design the website as well?
Yes. Branding hands straight to design and development in the same team, so the brand reaches the site intact.
Start a project
Tell us what you're building. A few lines is enough.
We'll read them, ask what we need to know and suggest a sensible first step.