Atelier North: Studio identity system
A full identity for an architecture studio: wordmark, type system, and a guidelines book their whole team can follow without a designer on call.
5 weeks
From kickoff to full system delivery
40+
Page identity guidelines book
12
Production-ready templates shipped
3x
Proposal win rate after rebrand
Overview
Atelier North designs beautiful buildings, but their own brand looked like a template. Proposals went out with inconsistent formatting, the website didn't match the pitch decks, and a premium studio was presenting like a commodity firm.
We built them an identity as considered as their architecture: a refined wordmark, a typographic system with real personality, and a guidelines book so thorough the whole team can produce on-brand work without a designer on call.
The challenge
- 01
A premium architecture studio was visually indistinguishable from budget competitors.
- 02
Every proposal looked different, partners formatted decks their own way, eroding credibility with clients.
- 03
The website, pitch materials, and site signage told three different brand stories.
- 04
They needed the rebrand done between project deadlines, no six-month luxury timeline.
Approach
How we got there.
No magic, just a disciplined process, applied with care at every step.
Step 1
Strategy before sketching
A half-day workshop with the partners defined the positioning: quiet confidence, material honesty, Nordic restraint, then we translated that into design principles.
Step 2
Wordmark & type system
Drew a custom wordmark and paired it with a two-typeface system that scales from building signage to drawing annotations.
Step 3
The guidelines book
A 40+ page identity manual covering logo usage, color, typography, imagery, and tone of voice, written for architects, not designers.
Step 4
Templates that stick
Shipped 12 ready-to-use templates (proposals, presentations, site boards, email) so the system survives contact with real deadlines.
The outcome
Full rebrand shipped in 5 weeks
“They gave us a look as considered as our buildings. Our proposals finally feel like they come from the studio we actually are.”
- 40+ page identity guidelines book
- 12 production-ready templates shipped
- 3x proposal win rate after rebrand
Have an idea? Let’s ship it.
One conversation is all it takes to turn “someday” into a launch date. Free consultation, zero pressure, fixed quote.