Design
Graphic design
and visual identity
A logo has to be legible on a business card, an invoice, a shop sign and a small phone screen. We design it with these uses and with the company's customers in mind.
We start every project with a brief
Logos are often ordered like this: the company asks for a few proposals, the designer sends a set, and the owner picks the one they like best. The result is random, because nobody agreed how to judge whether the mark is the right one.
We start with a conversation about the company, its customers and its competitors. If everyone in the industry uses blue and the same symbol, another blue mark with that symbol will be correct and invisible. That is why we look at the competition before the first sketch.
We also ask about practical matters: where the mark will be used, whether it will be embroidered, put on a vehicle wrap or a rubber stamp, and whether it has to work in a single colour. These constraints shape the form of the mark.
What we design
We work on building brands from scratch and on refreshing existing identities.
- Logo and full visual identity with a brand book
- Business cards, letterheads, folders, presentation templates
- Leaflets, catalogues, posters, banners and trade fair materials
- Packaging and labels prepared for a specific printing technology
- Social media graphics and post templates
- Interior signage, shop signs and point-of-sale materials
- Menus for restaurants and cafés, including versions you can edit yourself
- Website graphics consistent with the rest of the identity
A beautifully designed menu for the restaurant.
Two or three concepts with a rationale
A large number of variants makes the choice harder, because the decision passes to the client, who has no way of judging which mark will work in practice.
We present two or three directions, each with a rationale for the form, colour and typeface. We show each one in real applications: on a business card, a shop sign and a phone screen, because judging a mark only when enlarged on a white background can be misleading.
We refine the chosen direction in further rounds of revisions. At this stage the proportions, spacing and details change. On their own they are barely visible, but together they decide whether the mark looks professional.
Before we hand the design over for approval, we test it at a size of 16 pixels, in a single colour and in negative. A mark that loses legibility in these tests will cause problems in many everyday uses.
Brand book and logo usage rules
Identities often drift apart because there are no rules. Someone in the company makes a leaflet in a different shade, the print shop picks its own typeface, and a year later every piece looks as if it came from a different brand.
A brand book gathers the rules in one document: logo versions and when to use each of them, minimum sizes, clear space, acceptable backgrounds, colours for screen and print, typefaces and examples of use. It also includes a list of prohibited uses with examples.
With a brand book, a designer, a print shop, an advertising agency and an employee preparing a presentation can all work without asking us for details. When you order a logo, the brand book is part of the scope, at no extra cost.
A full set of files at the end of the project
When the project is finished, we hand over a full set of files: editable source files, vector files for print and large formats, raster files for the web, single-colour and negative versions, and colour profiles for the print shop.
You can work on the files with another designer, and you do not pay us for future uses of the mark. The scope of rights is set out in the contract. Before signing a contract with any provider, check that it transfers the rights to the mark.
- Logo supplied only as a raster file, without a vector version
- No single-colour or negative version
- Colours specified only for screen, with no print equivalents
- Typeface without a licence that allows commercial use
- Contract without a transfer of rights to the mark
Preparing a design for print
A design that looks good on screen can disappoint once printed. The most common causes are the different way colour is produced, badly prepared bleeds and margins, and lines that are too thin or type that is too small for the printing technology.
That is why we prepare files to the requirements of the print shop you choose and of the printing technology, and with the first order we help you check the proof.
Packaging and labels bring further constraints: the shape of the die-cut, mandatory information, barcodes and space for legally required markings. We take them into account from the start of the project.
Refreshing an existing brand
Changing the identity of a company with a history is a different project from building one from scratch. You need to establish what is recognisable in the current mark and decide what to keep: the shape, the colour, and sometimes only the arrangement of the letters.
We usually propose an evolution: we tidy up the proportions and refresh the typeface and colour palette, while keeping what customers associate with the brand. A deeper change makes sense when the business profile changes or the brand deliberately breaks with its past.
We also plan the rollout, because the new mark has to be introduced on the website, business cards, signage, social media, document templates and stamps. We put this into a schedule so that everything does not change at once.
What affects the cost of a project
The cost depends on the scope: whether we create the mark alone, a basic identity or a full identity with printed materials, and on the number of materials beyond the mark. We price every project individually, and the quote covers concept work, revisions and handover of the source files.
| Scope | What it includes |
|---|---|
| Logo | 2–3 concepts, refinement, full set of files, brand book |
| Basic identity | Logo plus business card, letterhead and email signature |
| Full identity | All of the above plus presentation, printed materials and social media |
| Packaging or label | Design for the die-cut and the printing technology |
If a website is being built at the same time, the graphic design and the website build run on one schedule, so the website uses the new identity from the start.
Working together
How we work together, step by step
Brief and analysis
A conversation about the company, its customers and its competitors. Agreeing where the mark will be used.
Directions and moodboard
A proposal for the mood, colour scheme and typography before specific versions are made.
Concepts
2–3 proposals with a rationale, presented in real applications.
Refinement
Rounds of revisions on the chosen direction: proportions, spacing, variants, scaling tests.
Brand book and files
Usage rules, a full set of formats, single-colour and negative versions, print profiles.
Implementation
Help with printing, signage and bringing the identity into your existing materials.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Usually 2–3 weeks from the brief to the final files, at a standard approval pace. We give the timeline for a full identity with printed materials in the quote, because it depends on the number of materials.
The project includes three rounds of revisions on the chosen direction. A well-run brief reduces the number of proposals that miss the mark.
Yes: editable, vector and raster files, plus single-colour and negative versions. The scope of rights to the mark is set out in the contract.
Yes. We do graphic design as a separate service or as part of a larger project. See websites and online shops.
We do not handle the proceedings, but we prepare the materials for the application and run a preliminary check of the registers for similar marks in the same class. We recommend filing the application itself with a patent attorney.
Not for logos and identities: we design those from scratch. For recurring materials, such as social media posts, we prepare templates you can edit yourself, so the company does not have to order every graphic separately.
Related services
What else may be useful
Your city
Graphic design in your city
For each of these cities we have a separate page describing the local market and how we work with companies there.
Let's talk about your company's identity
Tell us what your company does and whether you are building an identity from scratch or refreshing an existing one. We will send back the scope, the timeline and a free, no-obligation quote.