Brand identity work that produces a document people actually use
Brand strategy, logo design, and brand guidelines for U.S. businesses. Focused engagements that end with a working system your marketing team references, not a moodboard nobody opens twice.
Overview
Branding work tends to either over-promise (a 200-page guidelines document for a 12-person company) or under-deliver (a logo and a coffee-table presentation that vanishes two months after launch). Useful branding work sits in the middle. Enough strategic clarity to make defensible decisions. Enough visual system to apply consistently. Enough documentation that the marketing intern in 18 months knows what to do.
We engage in three sizes (logo project, brand strategy, full brand identity) and tell you up front which one a given business actually needs. Most companies are over-served by the largest engagement and under-served by the smallest. Matching the scope to the moment is most of the value.
Final deliverables are designed to be useful documents. Color tokens that map to design tools and CSS variables. Type scales that are actually achievable with a Google Fonts setup. Logo guidance that names the situations the team will hit, not the abstract ones.
Brand vs. logo vs. visual identity
Brand strategy is the upstream work. Who you are for, what you stand for, what you sound like, what you compete against. It is mostly written, not drawn.
Logo design is the visual signature. A mark and its lockups in formats and dimensions you will actually use.
Visual identity (and brand guidelines) is the system that connects the two. Colors, typography, spacing, photography treatment, imagery, voice, and the rules for using all of them. It is what turns a logo into a recognizable brand across many touchpoints.
Focused service pages
Three engagements depending on what your business needs first.
How we work
- Scope conversationBefore quoting, we figure out which engagement size you actually need: logo, strategy, or full identity. Most businesses come in asking for the wrong size. We say so honestly.
- DiscoveryStakeholder interviews (founder plus 2 to 4 others), competitor visual audit, and a written brief that becomes the reference document for the rest of the project. Approved before any visual work starts.
- Concept and refinementTwo directions for the first significant deliverable, narrowed to one for refinement. We avoid showing five options and asking you to pick. That produces design-by-committee output.
- System and documentationFinal visual system documented in a working brand-guidelines PDF, or a web-based reference for clients who want one. Every rule is paired with an example of when to break it, because rules without exceptions do not survive contact with reality.
- Handover and rollout supportAll source files, optimized exports, and a one-hour rollout call. Optionally, 30 days of light touch-up support as the brand starts being applied across surfaces.
What this service includes
- Stakeholder discovery and competitive audit
- Written brand brief approved before visual work
- Logo system with primary mark and lockups
- Color, typography, and spacing tokens
- Imagery and illustration treatment guidance
- Voice and messaging principles (for strategy scope)
- Brand guidelines document (PDF or web)
- Source files and full ownership at handover
Engagement example
A 14-person consulting firm came to us asking for "a new logo." After a 30-minute scope conversation it became clear the real problem was that nobody in the firm could agree on what they did or who they did it for. We started with a 5-week brand strategy engagement (positioning, audience, voice). The logo work that followed reflected the strategic decisions instead of arguing them.
Representative engagement. Client identity withheld for privacy.
Frequently asked questions
Brand drift, or a brand worth committing to?
Tell us where you are. Pre-brand, mid-rebrand, or living with one that no longer fits. We'll write back with a scope honest about which engagement you need.