Business cards, website and Instagram profile in three different shades of blue. That is how many young companies present themselves after their first year, because every supplier worked from a different file. If you develop your corporate identity before the first print order goes out, you avoid that sprawl entirely.
Who we build identities for
Many of our clients are founders who have just received their trade licence in a free zone and now need a domain, a logo and letterhead. Just as often, established businesses from Germany, Austria or Switzerland come to us because they are entering the UAE and want to sharpen their brand for an international audience. With the second group, it is rarely a fresh start. We usually sort out what already exists and remove the contradictions. Starting from scratch is easier in one respect: there are no old business cards or templates still in circulation.
What a corporate identity includes
Most enquiries begin with a request for a logo. Before any design work, we define the brand core: what the company stands for, who it speaks to and how it differs from two or three named competitors. That shapes the tone of voice: how you write and how you speak. It covers questions such as how formally you address clients and how much technical language your audience will tolerate.
The corporate design comes after that: a wordmark or pictorial mark, a colour palette with fixed HEX, RGB and CMYK values, a house typeface licensed for both web and print, and rules for imagery and layout.
Four stages from workshop to handover
- Workshop. In person in Dubai or by video. We collect goals, audiences and examples you like or dislike.
- Directions. Two distinct design approaches, each shown on real items such as the website header and a business card.
- Refinement. The chosen direction is worked up until it holds at small sizes on a phone and in a single colour on a stamp.
- Style guide and handover. A PDF with every rule, plus organised files in SVG, PNG and PDF.
Mistakes we design out
Logos that only work in colour on a white background. Fonts the designer happens to have installed but that carry no web licence. RGB colours that glow on screen and turn dull once converted to CMYK for paper. And names that sound fine in German but read awkwardly in English. For companies in Dubai, we also check that the mark holds its own next to Arabic script, on signage or in contract documents for example.
After the handover
A style guide on its own does not print a single business card. We can also apply the new identity to your website through our web design and CMS service and build templates for presentations and social media. Our reference projects show what that looks like in practice.
We run the workshop at our office in Meydan or by video, depending on whether you are in Dubai or in Europe at the time. If you are ready to develop your corporate identity, send us a few lines about your company via our contact page. After the initial consultation you receive an individual proposal.