ENLV

Brand and identity

Your company has grown or changed, but the logo and the look are still the ones from the early days. A new brand starts with your market and your customers, and ends with a logo, colours, type and a voice that look and sound the same everywhere.

Every piece of material looks a little different, because there are no guidelines or nobody can find them. Your competitors promise what you promise, and from the outside it’s hard to tell you apart. Or your last designer handed over a logo with no explanation, and now every business card and sign is left to you.

So we start with your market and your customers: who you compete with, what they promise and what your customers really care about. From there we build a logo, colours, type and a voice that work together, and write it all down in a brand book, so your team, your printer and the next designer use the brand the same way.

Brand discovery

Find the space nobody else owns

We study your market: who your competitors are, what they promise and how they look. Then your brand goes where customers have a real reason to pick you.

  1. Market: Six competitors, and most of them crowd into the same corner. (Busy – Quiet, Basic – Designed)
    • Big hotel
    • Spa resort
    • Holiday flat
    • Guest house
    • Glamping
    • Campsite
  2. Gap: Quiet and designed: nobody stands there yet. Quiet and designed: empty.
  3. You: kalns moves in, with one sentence that says why. Positioning statement: For city people who need a real break, kalns is the quiet forest cabin that is designed down to the last detail.

Logo design and visual identity

Choosing who builds your brand is a decision someone at your company will have to stand behind, because the brand will be on every business card and sign. So you see each step: a few creative directions to choose from, then the system that grows out of the one you pick.

That’s how we worked with Tech Sapiens, an IT company in the UK: from the first visual references and two logo concepts to the colour palettes, typography and brand guidelines. For the Regional Justice Forum in Moldova, we developed three creative directions and two connected identities, one for the forum itself and one for its social initiative. Once your brand is ready, we can bring it to your website with web design.

Colour palette

Colours with a job

Every colour in your palette has a role and a share of the space. We check that text stays readable, then show exactly where each colour goes.

Forest, cool

  • Birch, Background, 60% of the space: #EFE9DC. 13.2:1 with Night pine · AAA. Birch fills most of the space: pages, cards and paper.
  • Pine, Text, 20% of the space: #2F4A3A. 8.0:1 on Birch · AAA. Pine is for words: headings, body text and the wordmark.
  • Lake, Accent, 10% of the space: #4F7EA8. 3.6:1 on Birch · large text only. Lake adds calm in shapes and pictures, never in small text.
  • Ember, Highlight, 5% of the space: #E07A4F. 5.4:1 on Night pine · AA. Ember is rare on purpose: it marks the one thing to click.
  • Night pine, Surface, 5% of the space: #17251D. 13.2:1 on Birch · AAA. Night pine holds the dark areas: headers, footers and signs.

Fireside, warm

  • Oat, Background, 60% of the space: #F2E6D0. 12.1:1 with Smoke · AAA. Oat is warmer than Birch: the cabin feels closer to a fireplace.
  • Bark, Text, 20% of the space: #4A3426. 9.4:1 on Oat · AAA. Bark carries the words, softer than black and still easy to read.
  • Moss, Accent, 10% of the space: #6B7D3A. 3.7:1 on Oat · large text only. Moss brings the forest in, in shapes and pictures only.
  • Sunset, Highlight, 5% of the space: #D9653B. 4.2:1 on Smoke · large text only. Sunset marks the button, so it needs big, bold labels.
  • Smoke, Surface, 5% of the space: #2B2622. 12.1:1 on Oat · AAA. Smoke holds the dark areas: headers, footers and signs.

Tone of voice

One message, three voices

How you say it matters as much as what you say. We write the same message in a few voices, you pick the one that sounds like you, and we turn it into simple rules.

  1. Formal: Formal: correct and polite, but it could be any hotel. “Your reservation is confirmed. We look forward to welcoming you. Check-in is from 15:00. Directions and house rules are attached to this message.”
  2. Friendly (Chosen voice): Friendly: warm and specific. This is the voice kalns chose. “You’re booked! The cabin’s ready and the kettle’s on. Come any time after three, and the sauna will be warm by six.”
  3. Bold: Bold: short and confident. Great for ads, too much for every email. “Phone off. Forest on. See you Friday. Check-in 15:00. Sauna 18:00. Wifi: none.”

We say: “You’re booked”, “The sauna is warm by six”, “Call Anna, she’s on site”. We don’t say: “Your request has been processed”, “Facilities are subject to availability”, “Please contact customer service”. Tagline: Slow down in the forest.

How we work

  1. Discovery

    The first conversation is free. Once we’ve agreed the scope, timeline and price, we look at your market, your competitors and your customers, and agree with you where your brand should stand and why people would choose it.

  2. Concepts

    Two or three creative directions with logo sketches. You choose one, and we tell you which one we would choose and why.

  3. Identity system

    The chosen direction grows into colours, type, graphic elements, a tone of voice and the key messages you will use most.

  4. Brand book and applications

    Guidelines, stationery, presentations, packaging and merchandise, with every file named and ready to hand over.

Brand book and applications

One identity, everywhere

We write the rules down in a brand book and show them at work: on paper, on signs, on bags and on screens. Then anyone can apply the brand without guessing.

kalns brand book, p. 12: Logo use. Keep clear space of one x around the logo, where x is the height of the door. Don’t: Stretched, Wrong colours, Busy background.

  1. Business card: Business cards that feel like the cabin: calm colours, good paper.
  2. Signage: A sign at the forest road, easy to read from a moving car.
  3. Tote bag: A tote bag guests actually keep and carry around town.
  4. Instagram post: Posts that look like kalns before anyone reads the name.
  5. Presentation: Slide templates your team can fill in without a designer.

When the brand is written down

Without guidelines, every new piece is made from scratch and the brand slowly drifts. With a brand book, your team and partners use it the same way, and customers recognise you wherever they meet you.

Questions we hear

How many directions will we see?

Usually two or three creative directions with logo sketches. You choose one, and only then do we develop it in full.

What files do we get?

A brand book with the guidelines, and files of the logo, colours and graphic elements for both print and screens. They are named so they’re easy to find and pass on to a printer or designer.

What do we need to prepare before we start?

Mostly time from the people who make the decisions: a conversation about your company, customers and competitors, any materials you already have, and one person who can approve the direction.

Can you bring the new brand to our website?

Yes. We’ve been building websites since 2015, so we can carry the new identity onto your website too, from the design to the website development.

How much does a brand identity cost?

The price depends mainly on how wide the identity needs to be and which materials you need: a logo and guidelines only, or packaging, presentations and merchandise too. After a free first conversation, we agree the scope, timeline and price before any work starts.

Write to us

Signal received.

Thank you for your message. We’ll get back to you to arrange a time to talk.

Toms

Sales and client relationships

E-mailtoms@forget.lv Phone+371 22023288

What happens next

  1. We reply and agree a time to talk.
  2. We talk through your project in a free first conversation.
  3. You get a clear plan with the scope, timeline and price.

Company details

SIA "FORGET group"
Reg. No. 40203617755
VAT No. LV40203617755