Brand Discovery
Working sessions on what the business does, who it is for, who else is in the market and what you want to be understood for, before anything is.
Branding & Visual Identity
Brand Identity Design for Consistent Recognition
We build identity systems that stay clear across practical brand touchpoints.
NovaCraft defines marks, typography, colour, usage rules and production assets, then documents the system so internal teams can apply it consistently.
- Logo & Marks
- Type & Colour System
- Written Guidelines
- Brand discovery
- Positioning and messaging
- Logo and mark design
- Typography systems
- Colour systems
- Iconography and graphic language
- Brand guidelines
- Marketing and social templates
- Print and stationery
- Rebrand rollout planning
A logo is not a brand
Build the System Beyond the Logo
A brand identity is judged in situations nobody sketches:
A 16-pixel favicon in a crowded row of tabs.
A circular profile picture that crops the wordmark away.
A slide made by someone who has never opened the guidelines.
A photograph, a chart and a caption that all have to look related.
Getting those right is a matter of system rather than inspiration: a mark with a version that survives cropping, type that holds up small, colours with contrast checked, and rules short enough that people actually read them.
We design for the awkward cases first. If the identity holds there, it will hold on the billboard too.
What we can build
Brand Identity Design Scope
A new business needs a workable identity quickly. An established one usually needs a considered evolution that does not discard recognition it already has. These are different projects.
Positioning and Messaging
The words that come before the visuals: what you say you do, how you describe it, and the tone that stays consistent across everything.
Naming Support
Help exploring and shortlisting names, with practical checks on domains and obvious clashes. Trademark clearance needs a professional search, which we will tell you to commission.
Logo and Mark Design
A primary lockup plus the variants real use demands, horizontal, stacked, icon-only, single colour, and a version that reads at very small sizes.
Typography and Colour Systems
Type scales and colour roles rather than a swatch sheet, with contrast checked so the palette is usable on the web as well as in print.
Graphic Language
The supporting elements that make things recognisably yours beyond the logo, iconography, patterns, imagery direction and layout habits.
Brand Guidelines
A document your team will use: clear rules, real examples, and the misuse cases spelled out. Short enough to be read, specific enough to settle arguments.
Templates and Rollout
Social templates, presentation decks, stationery and document layouts, plus a plan for changing everything over in a sensible order.
Our toolkit
Tools for Brand Identity Delivery
Identity deliverables outlive the software they were made in, so what matters is that you receive open, editable, correctly prepared files rather than exports from one application.
Design
- Figma
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe Photoshop
Used for mark construction, layout, type setting and image work, with vector sources kept editable.
Delivery Formats
- SVG
- EPS
- PNG
- ICO
- WebP
Provided so the same identity works on the web, in print and in third-party tools without anyone re-drawing it.
Typography
- Google Fonts
- Adobe Fonts
- Licensed foundries
Selected with licensing checked for web, app and print use. We tell you what each licence covers and what it costs.
Colour
- HEX
- RGB
- CMYK
- Pantone
- WCAG contrast checks
Specified per medium, with accessible pairings identified so nobody has to guess which combinations are safe for text.
Handover
- Figma libraries
- Guideline PDF
- Asset pack
Shared components for teams working in Figma, plus a static document and a folder of assets for everyone else.
Made to be applied
Guidelines Teams Can Apply Consistently
Most brand guidelines fail not because they are wrong but because they are unusable, sixty pages of theory, no answer to "which logo goes on a dark background", and no downloadable file.
We write for the person making a slide on a Thursday afternoon. Rules, examples, files, done.
Every identity we deliver includes:
- Primary lockup plus horizontal, stacked and icon-only variants
- Light, dark and single-colour versions
- A small-size version tested at favicon scale
- Minimum sizes and clear space defined
- Explicit misuse examples, what not to do, shown
- Type scale with weights, sizes and line heights
- Colour roles rather than a loose palette
- Contrast pairings checked against WCAG AA
- Favicon and app icon sets in required sizes
- Social profile and cover assets at correct dimensions
- Font licensing noted, with costs and coverage
- Editable source files in your own workspace
We can check for obvious visual clashes in your market, but trademark clearance is a legal matter, commission a professional search before you commit to a name or mark.
Who this suits
Need a Clearer Brand Identity System?
New Businesses
Launching and needing a coherent identity quickly, without over-investing before the proposition has settled.
Businesses That Outgrew Their Logo
Where the mark was made quickly years ago and no longer matches what the company has become.
Inconsistent Brands
Where four versions of the logo are in circulation and nobody is sure which is current.
Companies Repositioning
A change in market, audience or offer that the current identity actively works against.
Businesses Before a Website
Teams about to commission a site who need the identity settled first, so the build is not designing the brand by accident.
Merged or Acquired Companies
Two identities that need resolving into one, with a rollout plan that does not confuse existing customers.
What you receive
What the Brand System Includes
Deliverables depend on the agreed scope. A typical identity project may include:
- Discovery summary and creative direction
- Positioning statement and messaging notes
- Primary logo and all required variants
- Light, dark and single-colour versions
- Favicon and app icon sets
- Typography system and licensing notes
- Colour system with per-medium values
- Iconography and graphic elements
- Imagery and photography direction
- Brand guidelines document
- Social media profile and post templates
- Presentation template
- Stationery and document layouts
- Print-ready artwork where required
- Editable source files and an organised asset pack
- Rollout checklist and rebrand sequence
Client project management
How we manage branding & visual identity projects
The delivery method stays visible to both teams. Scope, responsibilities, feedback, approvals and handover are documented from the start.
Written scope and responsibilities
We document deliverables, responsibilities, dependencies, review points and exclusions before production begins, so every participant works from the same agreed scope.
One shared project workspace
Files, notes, decisions, links and current priorities stay in one shared workspace, giving both teams a consistent source of project information.
Weekly status and next actions
Each week we record completed work, current tasks, blockers, decisions required and the next review point, keeping progress visible without constant meetings.
Structured feedback and approvals
Feedback is consolidated by the client decision owner, reviewed against the agreed objective, then recorded before the next production stage begins.
Documented scope changes
Requests outside the approved scope are documented with their impact on timing, effort and dependencies before either team commits to the change.
QA, handover and next steps
Before handover, we review agreed acceptance criteria, test required journeys, document remaining actions and confirm ownership for launch or ongoing support.
Working instructions
What we agree with the client at kickoff
- Nominate one client decision owner for consolidated approvals.
- Share required access, brand assets and source material before the relevant stage begins.
- Return consolidated feedback against the agreed review date whenever possible.
- Use the shared workspace for decisions so important context is not split across channels.
- Raise blockers and changing priorities early so timeline or scope impact can be reviewed before work continues.
Frequently asked questions
Branding & Visual Identity questions we are asked most
A logo is one element. A brand identity is the whole system it sits inside, typography, colour, imagery, iconography, layout habits and the rules for using them consistently. A logo on its own leaves every other decision to whoever is making the next thing.
A focused identity for a new business typically takes three to five weeks. A full rebrand for an established company with more applications and more stakeholders usually takes longer, mostly because review and approval take time rather than the design itself.
We usually present two or three genuinely distinct directions rather than a dozen variations of one idea. Each is developed enough to judge properly, shown in use, not floating on a white page. We then refine the chosen direction through agreed rounds.
We check for obvious clashes in your market and for domain and social handle availability. That is not a legal clearance. Before committing, commission a proper trademark search from a qualified attorney, we will always tell you this rather than let it slide.
Vector sources you can edit, plus SVG, PDF and EPS for scalable use, PNG and WebP for screen, ICO and PNG icon sets for favicons and apps, and CMYK or Pantone artwork where you need print. Everything is organised and labelled.
Yes, and often that is the better call. We can refine a mark, build the missing system around it, or add the variants and rules you never had. Discarding recognition you have already earned is rarely free.
Sometimes. We will always tell you what a typeface costs and what the licence covers for web, app and print before recommending it, and we can propose a strong open-source alternative where budget matters.
Yes. That includes templates for the things your team makes most often, a sequenced checklist of what to change and when, and applying the identity to your website or app if we are building it.
Yes. Colours are specified per medium, artwork is supplied print-ready where needed, and the mark is constructed so it reproduces at small sizes and in single colour, which is where print tends to expose weak logos.
Other services
What else we can help with
Start with what you stand for
Let’s work out what your brand should be understood for
Good identity work starts with a conversation about the business rather than a mood board. What you do, who it is for, and what you want people to take away.
Tell us where you are, starting out, outgrowing something, or trying to bring a scattered brand back together.
Real files. Usable guidelines. Straight advice on legal checks.