Branding agency for brand strategy, identity and design systems
As a branding agency, we work out your positioning, design your visual identity and write down how your brand speaks. You get brand guidelines and a design system your own people can use, and we can then build your website or Shopify store with it.
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What we do as a branding agency in Amsterdam
A branding agency decides how your company should come across and designs it: the positioning, the logo, type and colour, the tone of voice and the rules for using them. We do this from Amsterdam for companies in the Netherlands, Germany and across Europe. Recent work includes the livery for the tractor units of TSE, an Amsterdam transport company.
Who our branding work is for
Our branding work suits companies that have outgrown their first logo or are about to rebuild their website or online store. You might be a founder whose brand has to work in several countries, or a marketing lead whose brand looks different on every channel.
What you get from a branding project
You end up with a brand your team can use on its own. The strategy comes first and the identity second, and you see both on real pages and packaging before we hand over the guidelines.
- Brand strategy
- Positioning, audience and the story your brand tells, written down so every later decision has a reference.
- Visual identity
- Logo, typography, colour and motion, designed for screens first and then tested on print and packaging.
- Tone of voice
- How your brand writes, with examples your own team and outside copywriters can follow.
- Design system
- Components, tokens and brand guidelines that keep your website and every future page consistent.
- UX and UI design
- UX research, interface design and clickable prototypes you can test before anything is built.
- Print and packaging
- Printed materials, packaging and signage that match the identity you see on screen.
- AI imagery and motion
- Brand imagery and motion made with AI tools under our own art direction.
Branding in our case studies
These three case studies show a brand in use: on packaging, on a custom site of 52 pages and on the tractor units of a transport company. One is our own brand, two are clients.
For Midoricha, our own brand of ceremonial matcha, we wrote the brand strategy and designed the identity and the packaging.
Midoricha · Own brand
Midoricha went from an idea to a live store in four languages, with the same identity in every language.
Source: the live store midoricha.com.
TSE Transport Services Europa
Identities, print and signage for other clients
Young Entrepreneurs
Goedkoopvloer
Elatik Consultancy
Maarif Europe
How a branding project runs
Each branding project starts with an audit of your current brand and the competitors your customers compare you with. The blueprint sets the positioning and the creative direction, and a prototype with real pages and packaging lets you judge the identity in use. We then finish the identity and the design system and hand over the brand guidelines.
- Kick-off and audit
- Blueprint
- Prototype
- Build and launch
- Automate and improveOngoing
A branding project usually takes 6 to 10 weeks, depending on the scope and on how quickly feedback comes back.
Strategy first, then the logo and the look
We write the brand strategy before we design anything, because it decides what the identity has to say. It describes who you serve, how you differ from the companies your customers compare you with and how you want to sound. Every design choice can then be checked against one document, which keeps discussions about taste short.
In the kick-off and audit we look at your market, your current brand and the way your competitors present themselves. The positioning and the creative direction go into a blueprint, which you read and approve before we design in detail.
The tone of voice comes out of the same work. We write down how your brand speaks, with examples for the website, product pages and social posts. We work in Dutch, English and Turkish, and we add German and French language versions when you need them.
Rebrand or refresh, depending on what you already have
Often part of the brand is already there: a logo without rules, or a website that no longer sounds like the company. We keep what works and fill the gaps. A refresh gives an existing logo proper colours, type and rules around it, and a rebrand replaces the identity when a refresh isn't enough.
The audit shows which of the two you need. We look at every place the brand appears today and where it starts to look different from one channel to the next.
When a new identity is the answer, it can rest on one clear detail. For Elatik Consultancy, an Amsterdam consultancy, we designed a wordmark with a red, handwritten curl on the k. The curl returns as a brand mark and as a large shape on the business card and the letterhead.
A design system your team can use
A design system is the working version of your brand: the colours, type, spacing and components that designers and developers use every day. With it, a new landing page or product page looks right the first time, even when people outside your company start building with it.
We deliver it together with the brand guidelines and set it up so it maps onto the code of your website or Shopify store. For Vergola the design system became the base of a custom site of 52 pages with a catalogue.
It covers interfaces as well. We do UX research, design the UI and build clickable prototypes, and you can try a new flow with real users before a developer writes any code.
Print, packaging and signage
The identity has to work on paper, boxes and shop fronts as well as on screens, and we design those too. For Midoricha, our own brand, we designed the packaging. For TSE Transport Services Europa we designed the lettering for the tractor units and the sides of the trailers, and the livery now runs on its tractor units.
The same work gave TSE its business cards, a six-page company presentation and three forms for its drivers. For Goedkoopvloer, a flooring shop in Amsterdam, we made a new logo and designed the lettering for the windows and the front of the shop. For Maarif Europe, an education centre in Amsterdam, we designed a tri-fold A4 brochure in Dutch and Turkish. We designed and delivered event materials for eBay in Amsterdam.
When the same team builds your website or store
The people who design your brand also build websites and Shopify stores, so the design system goes straight into the code. You don't have to explain your brand to a second agency, and your new product pages use the same type and colours as your packaging.
Midoricha shows how that works. One set of rules keeps its Shopify store, its journal and its packaging in line, in English, German, Dutch and French.
You can also stop after the brand. Strategy only, full delivery and a long-term partnership are all possible, and we'll say which one fits your plans.
What a branding project costs
What it costs depends on what your brand needs: a refresh around an existing logo, a new identity with a design system, or print, packaging and signage as well. Every project gets its own proposal. After a 30-minute intro call, you'll receive a proposal with the scope, timeline and price.
Frequently asked questions
What does a branding agency do?
It does the thinking first and the design second. We write the positioning and the brand strategy, then design the visual identity and describe the tone of voice. Your team gets brand guidelines and a design system to work with, and we design the places where people meet the brand, such as interfaces, print, packaging and signage.
How much does a branding agency cost?
The cost depends on how much of the brand you need. A refresh around an existing logo is smaller than a new identity with a design system, packaging and a website, and the number of languages and the amount of print work count too. Every project gets its own proposal. After a 30-minute intro call, you'll receive a proposal with the scope, timeline and price.
How long does a branding project take?
A branding project usually takes 6 to 10 weeks. The kick-off and audit come first, then the blueprint and a prototype that shows the identity on real pages. The full identity, the design system and the brand guidelines follow after you approve them. If you also need printed materials or packaging, the proposal plans that production time in from the start.
Can you work with our existing logo?
Yes. In the audit we look at what you have, such as a logo without rules or a website that no longer matches how you talk about the company. We decide together what to keep and what to replace. Sometimes the logo stays and gets proper rules, colours and type around it. Sometimes a refresh isn't enough, and then we design a new identity.
What is included in brand guidelines?
Our brand guidelines explain how to use each part of the brand: the logo and its versions, typography, colour, motion and tone of voice, with examples. For digital work they come with a design system of components and tokens that developers use in your website or Shopify store. For Young Entrepreneurs the identity came with 36 logo variants for daily use and templates for the feed and stories.
Do you use AI to create brand imagery?
Yes. We use AI tools for brand imagery and motion, always under our own art direction, and the result follows your identity and your brand guidelines. It works well for product images, scenes and short loops for your website, your online store and your social channels. You see and approve every image before it's used, as with every other part of the identity.