VISUAL IDENTITY DIRECTION
The territory defined, briefed and reviewed — direction and decisions, not a logo package.
This is the direction layer, and the word is load-bearing. I define the visual territory, brief it, review what comes back and make the call on what ships. That is a different job from drawing the finished identity system. If you want a full logo-and-asset production, say so early — this page is about the decisions that make such a production worth commissioning at all.
Direction starts with constraint. A board of attractive references is not direction, it is a mood. So every reference I put up is annotated with what to take from it and what to ignore, which is the only version of a brief that survives contact with a designer. Typography, colour, photography and motion each get a stated rationale that traces back to the positioning.
Then I stay in the loop while it is made. Work comes back, I mark it against the brief and the agreed approval criteria, and say which version is right and why — including the rounds where none of them are. I have spent a couple of years doing graphic design work, so the notes land on this weight, this crop, this spacing, not on making it feel more premium.
WHAT I DO
- Art-direction board — the chosen territory in annotated references, each one labelled with what to take and what to ignore.
- Identity brief — the written brief whoever executes works from: logo intent, typographic direction, colour rationale, photography and motion rules, and what is out of scope.
- Typography and colour direction — specific families and palette intent tied back to the positioning, rather than a page of swatches.
- Approval criteria — the checklist a submission has to pass before sign-off, agreed before any work starts, so feedback is not taste.
- Review notes — marked-up feedback per round covering weight, crop, spacing and hierarchy, with the decision and reason recorded.
- Decision log — what was chosen, what was rejected and why, so the next designer to arrive does not reopen settled ground.
HOW I WORK
- 01
TERRITORY
Translate the position into a visual territory and rule out the adjacent ones in writing, before any reference goes up.
- 02
BRIEF
Build the annotated board and the written brief, specific enough to work from without a long explanatory call.
- 03
REVIEW
Mark each round against the brief and the approval criteria, and say which direction is right and which is not.
- 04
DECIDE
Sign off the direction and record the decisions so the identity does not drift when someone new touches it.
BEST FOR
- Companies with a designer or studio lined up who need the strategic brief and someone to judge the work coming back.
- Brands whose visual output is inconsistent because every project gets art-directed by whoever happens to be free.
- Businesses with an agreed position that needs translating into a visual direction before anything gets produced.
- Clients commissioning AI-generated visuals who need the output held to a brief instead of accepted as-is.
NOT THIS
- Not a full identity execution package. Final logo files, every lockup and the complete asset library are a production job; this is the direction above it.
- Not the brand guidelines document. Writing the finished system up as documentation is a separate deliverable on this service.
- Not photography or film production. Shoots and AI campaign visuals are produced under the production services, directed against this brief.
THE PROOF
Published case studies from brand solutions work. Each one names the client and shows what was delivered.
STRAIGHT ANSWERS
REST OF BRAND SOLUTIONS
MAKE A
WISH.
Tell me what you're building. I'll tell you how loud it can get.
- /01
YOU WRITE
Tell me what you're building and what's in the way. Two lines is enough.
- /02
WE TALK
A 30-minute call, booked within 7 days. Real questions, no pitch theatre.
- /03
YOU GET A PLAN
Scope, timeline and an honest number, usually within a week.