Is your company hard to explain?
Whether you're building something new or taking an established business in a new direction, your brand needs to make sense of what you do and why it matters.
And getting there shouldn't be complicated. I've spent my career using design to solve business problems, and I've learned that the best approach is the most straightforward one.
That's the thinking behind Clear Brand. Five steps, about ten weeks, and a clear way of working together. You'll see the work take shape, understand the thinking behind it, and have a voice in the decisions that move it forward.
The result is a brand that makes your business easier to understand and gives you the confidence to move forward. If I were the client, this is the process I'd want.
Since client work is confidential, I created Second Water, a sample company, to show the process.
Five steps to a clear brand
-
Agree on who you are and what you stand for.
Before any design work starts, we get on the same page. You'll do some quick pre-work on competitors, brands you admire, what's wrong with your brand today, and what success looks like. Then we meet for a workshop to define who you're talking to, what you believe, what you stand against, and the personality your brand should have. I come back with a distilled strategy and a short brand manifesto. That becomes the foundation for everything that follows.Includes 1 round of revisions
Timeline: 1 to 2 weeks. -
Locate the brand world before designing it.
I build three visual territories, each a different direction for your logo, color, typography, and imagery. They're built fast, with momentum over perfection, because the goal is to react and choose, not to judge finished work. Seeing them side by side shows quickly what feels right and what doesn't.Includes 1 round of revisions
Timeline: 1 to 2 weeks. -
Choose from three crafted brand design directions.
Each direction is built from the approved strategy and territory, with its own logo and its own take on color, typography, and imagery. You'll see each one in real-world mockups, so you choose based on how it works, not how it looks on a blank pageIncludes 2 round of revisions
Timeline: 2 weeks. -
Turn the one you pick into finished files.
Once you've picked a direction, I build the production files: a pixel-perfect logo suite in modern formats and color codes validated for accessibility. If your brand needs licensed fonts or imagery, you'll see those costs up front for approval, before anything is bought.Timeline: 2 weeks.
-
Give your team everything they need to use it.
Your guidelines are sized to how your team works, from a 10-page essentials guide to a 100+ page system for more complex brands. You get every logo file, color swatch, and image, plus a recorded walkthrough of the guidelines so your team can pick it up and run.Timeline: 2 weeks.
We start with probing questions and a collaborative workshop to get to the heart of your business, align on priorities, and make sure we're solving the right problem.
Understanding who your customers are and what matters to them helps us create a brand that connects with the people you need to reach.
We define why you exist, what you believe, what you stand against, and the principles that guide you. This gives your brand a clear foundation for every decision that follows.
We explore multiple visual territories using found artifacts, giving you a chance to see different possibilities and identify the right creative direction before design begins.
We develop three distinct design directions, each exploring logo, typography, color, imagery, and graphic elements. Seeing different approaches side by side helps you make a confident, informed decision about your brand.
You receive all your final brand assets in the formats you need, along with clear guidelines and a video walkthrough, so you and your team can put your new brand to work with confidence.
