Process

Strategic Brand creation agency for Startups & SMEs.

ZutAlors Brand+Identity is branding consultancy exists to help exciting business startups launch with a powerful brand from day one.

We’re effectively a brand creation A-Team… a brand creation hit-squad. Tell us your business challenge and we’ll create a powerful brand for it.

The problem with going to a big brand agency is that unless you have a wheelbarrow full of money they just won’t be interested. Yet the most exciting businesses are start-ups – who generally don’t have a wheel-barrow full of money to spend on getting their brand designed. What they do have though is a wealth of ideas and, most importantly, a vision of where they want to be. A vision that they can single-mindedly adhere to, whereas a larger business often has to compromise in order to appease multiple stakeholders.

That’s where we come in. We set up in 2006 with the mission to help business start-ups have the best brand that they can possibly have from the moment that they launch.

We’re a small team of ex-international brand agency people. We work to the same creative standards as an international brand consultancy because we’re the same people that you’d find in an international brand consultancy! But because our overheads are lower it allows us to deliver at a fraction of the price.

We always say that “it’s our job to make our clients look like they’ve spent 10x more on their brand than they actually have done”.

And we succeed in that. But don’t take our word for it, just look at our portfolio within the Work section of this website. The budgets of the brand creation projects that you’ll see there will almost certainly have been a lot less than you’d think.

So if you’re looking to create a powerful brand for your brand start-up contact us now at ZutAlors Brand+Identity.

Are you a startup needing an exciting brand? [Explore Our Work]

Why big agencies aren’t built for Startups.

Big branding agencies usually require massive budgets to show interest. Yet startups – the most exciting businesses in the market – need top-tier strategic brand design without inflated agency overheads.
Founded in 2006, our mission is to deliver elite-level branding for ambitious startups at a fraction of traditional agency costs. Founded by former international brand consultancy strategists, our small, agile team gives your business a multi-million-pound look without the large price tag.

Want to make your business look like a market leader? [Explore Our Work]

We create powerful logos and brands for ambitious Startups.

ZutAlors Brand+Identity helps exciting startups launch with an impactful, high-converting brand from day one. Think of us as your elite brand creation team. Bring us your business challenge, and we will build a standout brand designed to scale.
While we work across all industries, we specialize in brand design for:

+ Technology & Fintech Brand Startups
+ Food & Beverage Brand Startups
+ Luxury, Retail & Hospitality Brand Startups

Want to see some of the startup brands that we’ve created? [Explore Our Work]

What type of businesses do we create brands for?

We work with both startups and established SMEs.

The most exciting businesses are startups and smaller businesses who want to go places, fast. It’s about the culture. Smaller businesses are more agile and know what they’re about. They’re also empowered to do ‘just go out there and do it!’, whereas larger businesses tend to be more ponderous and risk-averse.

Startups.

We specialize in creating brands for startups. We love that culture. It’s a perfect cultural fit for us. You’re a small, agile team and so are we.

As a brand startup you don’t need a big agency (with all the inherent overhead / fees that implies) sending a middle manager account person out, to report back to the creative team, and back again. What you need is common-sense, incisive, brand thinking from your creative agency. Branding is all about common sense, not obfuscation!

Established Businesses.

If you’re an established business looking for a brand refresh or rebrand we can help there too. The principles are exactly the same as with creating a startup brand.

The only additional area for us to consider is quantifying how much visual and brand equity that you possess that will need to be carried over into the new branding.

[Explore Our Work]

Our core Brand logo & creation design services.

We take the concept for your brand from a blank sheet of paper to a complete visual, written and verbal identity system.
Service Phase
Key Deliverables
Stage 1: Brand Proposition Strategy & Identity
Brand Naming, Positioning, Vision & Mission, Values, Tone of Voice, Brand Story, Logo Design, Typography, Palette, Iconography, and Brand Guidelines.
Stage 2: Brand Implementation
Packaging Design, Website & App Design, Signage, Interior Concepts, Branded Apparel, Presentations, and Marketing Collateral.
Want to see some of the startup brands that we’ve created? [Explore Our Work]

How we work together.

We remove the stress of brand development. Even if you don’t have a formal creative brief, our senior team conducts deep market research and discovery conversations to define your brand’s unique market space.

Our 6-Step Brand creation process.

Step 1: Initial Brand Consultation
Free discovery call followed by a clear, tailored project proposal.

Step 2: Brand Discovery
In-depth research analyzing your market space, target audience, routes to market, and strategic KPIs.

Step 3: Brand Concepts
Presentation of 3–4 prototype branding concepts shown on real-world mockups.

Step 4: Brand Development
Refinement of your chosen design direction into a polished visual identity.

Step 5: Brand Implementation
Applying the final brand design across digital assets, packaging, print, and interior collateral.

Step 6: Brand Formalisation
Delivery of comprehensive Brand Guidelines and design templates for pitch decks, contractors, and
investors.

Want to see some of the startup brands that we’ve created? [Explore Our Work]

How long does a brand creation project take?

Typical project timelines range from 2 to 3 months, depending on complexity.

Would your business benefit from a powerful brand name?

Brand Name Generation.

If required, we offer a generate brand name generation service.

Proven brand creation client results.

“I want to congratulate ZutAlors on the new BreadBread brand. It looks so good!”

Bridget Hugo
Co-founder, BreadBread & Franco Manca

“The creativity and brand thinking from Paul and the team has been second to none across three distinct brand creation projects.”

Stefano Frigerio
Founder, Champagne+Fromage, Comptoir+Cuisine

“We are unbelievably delighted with ZutAlors’ work to reposition our brand. The visual results have been stunning and far exceeded our expectations. The business now has the basis from which to expand around northern Italy… and is expanding quickly!”

Vittorio Viarengo
Co-founder, PULLED

“Everybody loves the brand that ZutAlors created for our new bakery and cafe business. It sits comfortably within our peer group – the Ole & Steen’s and BreadAheads – from day one. Great looks aside, it gives us the solid platform that we need from which to roll-out around London.”

Mahyar Azarakhsh
Operations Director, Balt Bakeries

Location.

We work out of Marylebone & Leamington Spa.

The majority of our clients are in central London but we have also undertaken projects in Oxford and Bath.

We also work internationally – with recents projects in Turin, Milan, Paris and LA.

Ready to create your brand?

Whether you are launching a startup or refreshing an established business, let’s talk about your project.

Locations: Marylebone (London) & Leamington Spa

Serving clients in London, Bath, Oxford, Paris, Milan & Turin

Email: hello@zutalors.design
Phone: +44 7813 983444
Connect: LinkedIn I Instagram

As a specialist brand creation consultancy how do we go about working with our clients?

Many brand startups are typically faced with the conundrum of having a great business idea but struggling to find a way to articulate it effectively.

And they often also fit into what we call the ‘we know that we need a Brand but don’t really know what one is’ category too!

That’s fine. That’s where we come in.

As a brand creation consultancy specialising in startups we can sort everything. You don’t even need to give us a detailed written brief (although it’s helpful if you do).

We’ve been doing this more years than we’d care to admit to, so we’re adept at quickly finding out what we need and getting right to the nub of the challenge. This is normally ,achieved through a series of conversations and also through desk-top research.

[Explore Our Work]

As brand creation specialist what are we experts in?

We always say that as a brand start-up you should effectively have a notional ‘King Arthur’s Roundtable’ of non-exec directors. And that everyone around that table needs to be contributing.

At that table we cover everything to do with brand, strategy and implementation.

There are, however, niche specialisms that we don’t cover. For example – other than establishing the ‘look & feel’ for social media – we don’t actually do day-to-day posting. That’s a different set of skills. However we can bring in specialist that can do that for you – who will sit at the aforementioned table.

[Explore Our Work]

As a brand and identity agency which sectors do we work across?

This is an interesting question because the answer is that it actually doesn’t really matter. We’ll try to briefly explain why…

With brand creation work – as opposed ongoing communications campaigns – it’s the strategic process and creativity that it is critical rather than sector-specific experience. The strategic expertise can then be pointed at whichever sector is requiring it.

The reasoning being that it’s much better to appoint a team who are experts in brand first… and then apply the brand to the relevant market sector. In other words, the ‘top-down’ approach rather than ‘bottom-up’ approach. (The latter referring to a practitioner who, for example, vertical-sectors the pharma industry and offers everything for it, but is perhaps not expert in any aspect.)

That said, we have developed a particular specialism in the food & beverage and hospitality sector and also the ‘fintech’ area (this term is used as a generalisation for all ‘21st century tech’ activity). But. in all honesty, the basic principles are exactly the same no matter which the sector is. We could just as easily brand a company making brake discs as one importing coffee, or launching a technology business.

+ Technology
+ Food & Beverage
+ Retail & Luxury Goods
+ The Arts
+ Financial & Legal
+ Automotive

Want to see some of the different sectors that our startup brand creation work covers? [Explore Our Work]

What happens during a Brand creation project?

Here’s more on the process that we follow when we take on your brand creation project.

A brand project can be broken down into two key areas: Brand (the noun) and Branding (the verb).

Firstly we’ll sort the strategic elements of your brand (the noun) – such as what it’s going to be known for, how it acts, how it talks and the face that it shows to the world – before applying it (the verb) to the relevant required marketing collateral that it needs to be applied to – such as packaging, building signage, clothing, website and social media etc.

This in essence sums up the core difference between a true strategic brand creation project and a simple tactical design job, where a graphic designer puts a logo onto bits and pieces.

In the 21st century the marketplace is just too crowded and competitive – the consumer too brand sophisticated and fickle – for the latter to be in any way sufficient to create a successful brand.

In essence, we’ll spot the space in the marketplace where your brand could fit and then we’ll create it for you. It means that you can relax and let us do the whole thing for you.

But first, in order to create your brand we need to undertake the following…

The Discovery Phase.

Our first job is to find out about your business. Using our Strategic Brand Planning Process model we are looking to answer questions such as:
+ What does your particular business landscape look like – and what space do you want to ‘own’ within it?

+ What are your business’ hard and soft goals (KPIs)?

+ Who are you selling to, or wishing to create a dialogue with?

+ Which assets can you leverage in order to achieve your business’ goals?

+ What medium are you selling through? In other words, what is your route to market… is it online or through bricks and mortar, or both?

The answers to these will fuel how we approach the next stage of the brand process.

The Brand Creation Phase.

Once we properly understand your business we’ll then map out the core pillars of your brand.
Brand Vision & Mission.
What your Brand is going to become ‘famous’ for.

Brand Values & Culture.
How it will act as it sets out to achieve its Brand Vision & Mission.

Brand Tone & Personality.
Defining how we come across in written and verbal communication. This is perhaps the most pervasive part of the brand – the bit that will allow it to really connect meaningfully with its target audience.

Brand Story.
Brands are all about having a compelling, authentic, story to tell. A story that connects with its target audience, one that they can buy-into and tell their friends about. We will write this highly specialised piece. We aim for it to be no more than four paragraphs, each with no more than two sentences. It says ‘this is the issue, this is who we are, this is what we do and this is what it means to you…’

Brand Identity.
What ‘face’ will it show to the world.

This starts with the Brand logo design, but the logo sits at the tip of the iceberg. All the other visual elements that wrap around it will combine to create a compelling visual narrative. These will include fonts and how they come together in typography, colourways, style of photography and also any other supporting iconography.

The Brand
Implementation Phase.

Having defined all of the above we are then ready to apply them to the brand collateral that your business requires. This is likely to include all or some of the following.
+ Packaging Design
+ Building Signage Design
+ Interior Design
+ Branded Clothing Design
+ Website & App Design
+ Social Media Design
Want to see some of our brand creation & implementation work? [Explore Our Work]