Rebranding without confusing the people who already buy
Rebrand when the offer or the audience changed, not when the team is bored of the old site. Keep the paths regulars already use while the surface changes.
By Hanabi
Hanabi journal
Archive
Page 7
How brand and interface should share one idea
Brand and UX alignment means one idea survives from the homepage into the product. A quiet site and a loud app are an unfinished brand.
By Hanabi
Photography and illustration direction for a young brand
Brand photography direction is a decision about subject, crop, and what you will not show. A young brand gets consistency from those limits, not from more pictures.
By Hanabi
Naming a product without boxing the company in
Test a product name against the URL, the sentence a stranger will say, and the next product the name must still allow.
By Hanabi
What a client portal is for after the brand is delivered
A brand asset portal keeps logos, tokens, docs, and project updates findable after delivery, so the current file is obvious months later.
By Hanabi
Brand guidelines your engineers will actually open
Engineers open a short page of logo files, hex values, and type settings. A mood film stays closed in the middle of a sprint.
By Hanabi
Verbal identity: the sentences your site should sound like
Brand voice is three sentences you will say and three you will not. Apply them to the homepage, the button, and the error a customer actually reads.
By Hanabi
A brand system small enough that a team will use it
Brand guidelines for startups get used when they stay small: one type pair, a short color list, logo files, and three sentences of voice.
By Hanabi
A logo is not a brand system
A logo has to work small, on a dark surface, and beside type. The system around it is what keeps the next page from inventing a new palette.
By Hanabi
Brand identity when you only have a name
A startup brand can begin with a name if you settle the audience, the offer, and the feeling you refuse. Type, color, and one sentence do the rest.
By Hanabi