done for you

Brand design

An identity with personality, from logo and wordmark to a full visual system and a brand board you can actually use.

Start a brand project See a finished identity
Services / Brand design

What it is

Not just a logo file. The full set of decisions that makes everything you create afterward faster and more consistent.

A logo alone can leave the everyday decisions unresolved. Which blue should you use? Which font goes with it? Why do posts look slightly different every time? The useful part is the system around the mark.

A proper identity answers those questions once, so you stop relitigating them weekly. It gives you a palette with rules, type with a job for each weight, and enough worked examples that anyone, including a future contractor, can make something that looks like you.

A system, not just a logo

A logo on its own leaves you guessing every time you make a post. A system tells you which colors, fonts, and layouts to use, so everything you make afterward is easier.

Recognizable at a glance

Consistent color and type can help people recognize a post before they read the handle. That familiarity supports a clearer brand experience, but recognition alone doesn't create a sale.

Built to survive real use

Designed to work small on a profile photo, wide on a website header, and in one color on packaging, not just beautiful on a presentation slide.

Accessible on purpose

Core color pairings are checked against defined contrast targets, with guidance on which combinations are appropriate for text. Final readability still depends on type size, content, and how the system is applied.

Completed client output + Tide-owned system

Inspect the finished work and the system behind it.

Palm Coast Co. shows a completed client identity published with permission. Tide's own identity shows the same system thinking in a live environment. Both demonstrate the design output; neither is presented as proof of sales or conversion results.

  • Palm Coast Co. logo in coral orange on a warm cream background
    Completed client output

    Palm Coast Co. identity system

    A completed visual identity for Palm Coast Co., shown as finished client output with permission and without an implied sales or conversion result.

    Evidence type
    Completed client output
    Scope shown
    Logo family, palette, typography, graphics, and photography direction
    Outcome evidence
    Not published

    No published outcomeThis case documents the completed design output; it does not claim a sales, conversion, audience, or growth result.

    Published with permission.

    Inspect the completed identity system
  • Tide-owned live demonstration

    Tide’s visual identity system

    The live brand-design page shows Tide’s own palette, type roles, and usage rules working together across the site and supporting materials.

    Owner
    Tide Social Studio
    Evidence type
    Live brand specimen
    Scope shown
    Color, typography, hierarchy, and usage rules

    No published outcomeThis live specimen demonstrates Tide’s own design system; it is not evidence of an external client outcome.

    Inspect the live brand system
Built by Tide

The system you're looking at

Five colors, one type family used three ways, and a single script accent. Everything on this site, in the course PDFs, and in the emails comes from these decisions.

Navy#0C1B33
Cornflower#41658A
Ocean#A6BFDB
Linen#F3F1EB
Limoncello#F9F59B
Headlines
Brand design
Stack Sans Headline, sentence case, tight tracking
Chrome
What's included
Stack Sans Text, sentence case, natural tracking
Accent
ride the tide
Mr Dafoe, used sparingly so it stays special

Your brand gets built to the same standard, and handed over so you can run it yourself.

What's included

Everything needed to start using the brand the week it's delivered.

The identity

  • ✓Primary logo plus a secondary mark and favicon
  • ✓A full color palette with accessible contrast
  • ✓A type system for headings, body, and accents
  • ✓A brand board you can hand to anyone
  • ✓Simple usage guidelines, written in plain English

Ready to use

  • ✓Social profile images and highlight covers
  • ✓One print piece, such as a business card
  • ✓Files set up for Canva so you can build from day one
  • ✓All source and export files, yours to keep
  • ✓Two weeks of support after handoff

How it runs

Four phases, roughly four to five weeks, with two clear decision points.

01

Discovery

A brand questionnaire and a kickoff call to get at the real material: who you serve, what you want to be known for, and what you never want to look like.

Week 1
02

Two directions

You see two genuinely distinct routes, each shown in context rather than as a logo floating on white. You pick the one that feels right.

Week 2
03

Build the system

The chosen direction becomes a full system: palette, type, marks, and applications, refined over a round of feedback.

Weeks 3 to 4
04

Handoff

You get every file, the brand board, the guidelines, and a walkthrough so you know exactly how to use it without me.

Week 4 to 5

What it costs

A clear starting point, and an honest list of what moves it.

From $2,800

for a full identity system, built and handed over

That covers discovery, two design directions, the full system built out from the one you choose, all the applications and files listed above, the brand board and guidelines, and two weeks of support after handoff.

What moves the price
Extra logo variations or a sub-brandfrom $400
Packaging or label designfrom $700
Brand voice and messaging guidefrom $500
Additional print collateralquoted per project
A website to launch it onfrom $4,000

Split into two payments, half to book your slot and half at handoff. You get a fixed quote before anything starts, and full ownership transfers on final payment.

Questions

Two, and that's deliberate. Two well-developed directions shown in real context beat six half-finished logos on a white slide, which mostly just makes the decision harder.

If neither direction fits, we talk about what missed and I develop a new direction at no extra cost. That's included, not an upsell.

Completely. On final payment, full ownership transfers to you along with every source file. There aren't any licensing fees or ongoing usage terms.

Vector files for print and scaling, PNGs with transparent backgrounds for everyday use, favicon and social sizes, plus the brand board and guidelines as a PDF.

Yes. The handoff includes Canva-ready files so everyday brand work doesn't depend on professional design software.

If your name and positioning still fit and only the visuals feel dated, a refresh is often enough and costs less. We'll work out which one you actually need on the first call rather than defaulting to the bigger project.

Around four to five weeks. The main variable is feedback speed, since the project pauses twice for your decision.

No, that's a legal matter and I'm not a lawyer. I'll design something distinctive and can point you toward the process, but any trademark search or filing should go through a professional.

Let's build your look

Tell us about your business and what you want to be known for. You'll get a clear scope and a fixed quote before anything begins.

Start a brand project