Case study · Tech / Startup
Founding brand system for a seed-stage tech startup
A complete founding identity, logo, motion mark, type, colour, voice, pitch-deck template and Figma component library, for a seed-stage tech startup that needed to look ten times its size on day one.
The challenge
What we had to solve.
The founders had a working product, a real customer or two, and a logo that had been built in 20 minutes on a free tool. Every investor meeting started with an apology.
They couldn't afford a six-month brand engagement, and they didn't need one. What they needed was a foundation they could build on for the next two years without re-doing.
Our approach
How we tackled it.
We ran a one-day discovery workshop with the founders. The output was a positioning statement, a worldview, not a tagline. Everything visual would later be in service of that worldview.
Identity work compressed: three logo directions, one chosen by week 3. From the chosen direction we extended a full system, primary mark, motion mark, type pair (display + body), colour, geometric grid for illustration, photo direction.
Then we put it into the tools the team actually uses: a Figma component library for product, a pitch-deck template in Google Slides, a Notion home for brand voice and writing principles.
Every component carried a do-and-don't note. Nothing more is more annoying than a brand system that a designer leaves and then breaks the next time someone touches it.
Deliverables
What we built.
Specific, named outputs, not vague "strategy".
Primary identityLogo, motion mark, type pair, colour ramp, geometric grid for illustration.
Voice guidePositioning statement, three voice principles, writing examples per channel.
Pitch-deck templateGoogle Slides deck with 30 ready-to-edit slides matched to the standard fundraise narrative.
Figma component libraryButtons, type, colour tokens and core layout primitives for the product team.
Brand homeNotion-hosted brand hub with assets, voice rules and a quick-reference do/don't.
Outcomes
What it returned.
- Closed their seed round eight weeks after the brand shipped, with investors specifically commenting on the materials.
- The product team adopted the Figma library and shipped a UI refresh in the next sprint, with no design hand-holding required.
- Pitch deck has been re-used at three subsequent fundraises with only content edits, no design churn.
- Two early hires cited the brand as a reason they took the job, it made the company look real.
The takeaway
What we learned.
Seed-stage brand is about earning credibility you haven't earned yet. The right system buys the company room to operate at a level above its stage, and gets out of the way once the company actually grows into it.
Services used
How we got it done.
Related work