The journey to our own visual identity

The question

Commissioning a visual identity can take weeks and a sizeable budget. Then it still has to work everywhere: on your website, in proposals and in reports. The choices made along the way often get lost, along with the reasons behind them.

What we built

Our own visual identity, made with AI colleagues:

• a hexagonal symbol with one filled cell, which can also move;
• a fixed colour palette and two typefaces;
• templates that format documents automatically, in the same style as the website.

And the journey behind it, under construction: a route from the first document style to the symbol, showing the choice and image at every step. At the end comes the brand book: the rules, examples and how to use them.

What AI did and what a person signed off

The AI colleagues drew dozens of versions of the symbol and lettering across ten rounds. They built the moving symbol and the templates, and they check pages and documents for typography and layout.

A person guided each round: choosing, removing what did not fit, asking for alternatives and approving the result. The owner decided to remove one typeface everywhere. The automated checks have rejected it ever since. That is a way to stay in control too.

What it achieved

Our own measurements, not representative.

• 9 August 2026: a first document style.
• 27 August: a proposal for a symbol in four directions.
• The weekend of 16 to 18 October: the pace picked up, with the new symbol, lettering, colours and templates for ITARR 3.0.
• 19 October: a document cover and a distinct sharing image for each page.
• Almost 600 images of the journey, kept in our archive.
• The website and Lab are checked for the agreed typefaces after every change. That check is still to come for our document templates.

What it could do for you

The same approach could work for you: a quick process with plenty of alternatives, while you make the choices. You receive templates that give documents a consistent appearance, checks that help keep it that way, and eventually a brand book containing the whole journey. Anyone working with your brand later can see both the rules and their reasons.

Where it stands

Proven in our own work: this website and our documents use the visual identity. The journey and brand book are under construction. We have not done this for a client yet.

Read further

The journey and brand book are under construction.

• In the Lab: Fixed rules, thinking colleagues.