Writing on brand narrative, identity, positioning and the systems that keep brands recognizable, from repositioning without losing loyal customers to bilingual Urdu and English identities. 11 articles from the studio. See our Branding & Identity service.
Narrative debt: what a brand owes every time it changes the story
Every story a brand tells is a loan against trust. What happens when the story changes.
Repositioning without amnesia: changing a brand without losing the people who loved it
How to move a brand forward without erasing the reasons people chose it.
Logo or brand? What you're actually paying for
A logo is one piece of a brand. Here is what the rest is, and why it matters to your budget.
The origin story problem: founding myths in a market that can smell invention
Why the best origin stories are smaller, stranger and truer than the ones brands usually tell.
Rebrand or refresh: how to tell which one your business needs
A refresh polishes what works. A rebrand changes who you are. Most businesses need the first and ask for the second.
What the category won't say: finding a brand's voice in an industry's silences
Every category has topics it avoids. The brands that speak there first own the conversation.
Pride, price and the haggle: positioning for a market that negotiates everything
In a market raised on bargaining, price is a conversation. Positioning has to account for it.
Nastaliq is not a font choice: designing bilingual identities that respect both scripts
Urdu and English do not behave the same on a page. A bilingual identity has to be designed for both from the start.
Distinctiveness before differentiation: building brand assets recognizable in half a second
Being different matters less than being instantly recognized. How brands build the assets that do the recognizing.
What brand guidelines are, and why your printer needs them
Brand guidelines are instructions for using your brand correctly. Without them, everyone makes it up.
Identity systems die in WhatsApp groups: designing for the people who will misuse your brand
Brand identities are not broken by competitors. They are broken by forwarded JPEGs, stretched logos and well-meaning colleagues.
Ideas need good company.
Tell us what you're building.
Send a short brief. We'll reply within one working day with next steps, or an honest note if we're not the right fit.