The project
Mary Katherine Alemany was starting her own law practice and needed a complete brand: logo, typography, icon, colors and a guide to keep it all consistent.
Font vs. typography
A font is a specific typeface: a set of characters that share one design. Typography is how you use fonts: choosing the typeface, size, color and layout so text is easy to read and looks right. Good typography sets the hierarchy and the identity of a brand.
Choosing the type
We started by setting her name in a range of fonts and arrangements, then shared the options with her. She chose a classic serif, a common and trusted look in the legal profession.
The icon
Icons carry meaning fast. A red octagon means stop. A snake around a staff means medicine. A law practice’s mark needs to be just as clear.
On every first consultation call, we ask clients to share brands and icons they like. It tells us their taste, and it often tells us even more about what they don’t like. With those examples in hand, we sketched icon options for MKA. We added a splash of red to the early mockups for contrast, before the final palette was set.
Color
Grayscale works well for long passages of text, but color gives a brand its personality. We offered several color schemes. She knew what she wanted: a professional navy and blue palette, which also helped her settle on the clean typography version of the icon.
The brand guide
No brand is complete without a guide. We delivered a simple brand guide that keeps every asset, color and font in one easy-to-read document, so the practice can use its brand the same way everywhere.
Here is how we approach brand identity for small practices.
