Send the link without the apology.
You write the newsletter, run the label or sell the clothes you picked yourself. People already pay for it, and your website still says what it said three years ago.
You have typed one of these.
Five people received five versions of the same apology.
- To a clientIgnore the website, it is old.
- To an editorThe logo is from years ago, the work is better.
- To a podcast hostI am redoing everything soon.
- To someone newIt does not really show what I do now.
- To yourselfI will fix it after the next launch.
The work moved ahead.
Your website, your logo and the way you describe yourself belong to an earlier version of you.
You hesitate before you send the link, and you add a sentence so nobody judges the work by its frame.
Work this good should arrive without an excuse.
The frame sets the price.
People judge you from the outside, because that is the only place they can stand.
The people who would pay you well look, feel a doubt they cannot name, and leave without a word.
The people who do write ask for a discount, because the frame told them it was reasonable.
You quote from inside a frame that was built for a smaller version of you, so the number comes out smaller too.
We sold before we designed.
We built three brands in e-commerce, grew the company to seven figures and sold it. After that we designed for people who sell.
That is why we do not believe that taste and revenue are enemies. They only look like enemies when one of them is done carelessly.
It is also why every identity we make starts from what you believe, because a design can only fit you if it was drawn from you.
We start with you.
Before a single mark exists, we spend time with you and your work.
For you.
- What you stand forWritten down in your own words, so you can read yourself back.
- What is worth signingThe parts of your work that carry your name with pride.
- What comes nextOne clear recommendation, with the reasons behind it.
We ask what you believe about your field that others do not, what you would never do for money and what people actually pay you for. We read what you have written and look at what you have made. Then we write it down, and you tell us where we are wrong. The place where you disagree is where the real answer sits.
Everyone has already designed one logo, which is their signature. We start there.
The Study stands on its own. You keep what we wrote, and if you carry on with us, it counts toward the project.
We cut what is not you.
Everything you have built is still in the room, including the parts you have grown out of. Try it.
What is left is you.
A shorter business is easier to sell, because nobody has to guess what you do.
- A shorter list of what you offer
- One sentence you can say out loud
- The reasons behind every cut
We shape the form.
Two or three directions, each with its reasons, and one clear recommendation. You choose from a short list, because ten options would mean that nobody believed in any of them.
Recommended
The name and the symbol sit on one line in wide letters. It reads as quiet luxury from across a room and from up close.
- Name, mark, type and color
- The rules that keep them together
- A written reason for each direction
We put it to work.
An identity only counts once a stranger meets it at the moment of deciding. We design those places: the website, the shop, the newsletter and the invoice.
Ignore the website, it is old.
Here is the link.
The first call starts further along, because the website already said what you would have said.
The people who write are the ones you hoped for, and they write as if the decision were half made.
The number you quote feels like the work, and nobody needs an apology to go with it.
Three things you can have us make.
Each one begins with The Study.
- A
Strategy
What you stand for, who it is for, and the words that say it.
Includes The Study
- B
Identity
Name, mark, type and color, with the rules that keep them together.
Includes The Study
- C
Presence
Your website, shop and publications, designed to look like one person.
Quoted per project
Before you ask.
Is this for me?
If people already pay for what you make and the way it looks no longer matches, yes. If you are still working out what to make, finish that first, and come back when the work has an audience.
Do I have to commit to the whole project?
No. The Study is complete on its own, and you keep everything we wrote. If you carry on with us, it counts toward the project.
What does it cost?
The Study has one fixed price, which we tell you before you commit to anything. A full project is quoted after the Study, when both sides know what it needs.
Will this make me more money?
It removes the reasons people hesitate and the reasons you discount. We do not promise revenue, and if revenue tactics are all you want from a design, we are not the right studio.
Do I need to know what I want?
No. You bring the taste and the honest answers, and we bring the hands.
How many logos will I see?
Two or three directions, each with its reasons, plus one recommendation. More options would mean less conviction.
Who will I work with?
With the people who do the work. Nobody sits between you and us.
Where do you work?
From anywhere, in English and German.
Begin with The Study.
Two lines about your work are enough to start.