Service

Branding and copywriting

Plenty of businesses come to us with a logo made in an afternoon and a homepage nobody has dared rewrite. We sort out both before the build starts, so the new site has something solid to say.

Who this is for

New businesses about to launch, university spin-outs moving on from a holding page, established firms whose brand has drifted over the years, and independents who know what they do but find it hard to write about themselves. In York that often means research-led companies at Heslington, food producers, hospitality, and professional firms.

Practical identity work

We produce compact identities sized for the web first, then for print and signage: a logo with variations for small spaces, a colour palette checked for accessible contrast, a pair of typefaces, and a short set of rules for using them. Not a sixty-page brand book; a few pages your team will actually use.

1. Brief. Who you serve, what you want to be known for, and who you are competing with.
2. Directions. Two or three distinct routes, each shown on a web page and a real item such as a van, label or business card.
3. Refinement. One route developed with your feedback.
4. Delivery. Files for web and print, and a short guidelines document.

Website copywriting

Words do most of the work on a website. We interview you, read what you already have, and, where possible, talk to a customer or two. Then we write pages that explain what you do in plain terms, with the detail and evidence people need to trust you.

1. Interview. An hour with you, and with colleagues who know the work.
2. Message outline. The main points for each page, agreed before drafting.
3. Drafts. Full copy for each page, written for how people read on screen.
4. Two rounds of edits. We check every technical detail with you rather than guessing.
5. Search check. Headings and wording aligned with the terms customers actually use.

Writing for technical audiences

For research and engineering companies, we keep the precision specialists expect while making the opening lines clear to everyone else: investors, recruits, procurement teams. Plain first, then deep. We work from your papers, technical notes and conversations, and never invent claims.

Tone of voice

A short guide with examples so that anyone in your team can write a news post, product description or job advert that sounds like the rest of the site.

What drives the cost and how long it takes

An identity typically takes three to five weeks; copy for a small site two to four weeks, running alongside design. Cost depends on the number of directions explored, the number of pages written, how technical the subject is, and how many people need to review.

Common mistakes

• Opening the homepage with "Welcome to our website".
• Describing the business in terms customers do not use.
• A logo that cannot be read at small sizes.
• Brand colours that fail contrast checks on screen.
• Copy that claims to be "leading" or "innovative" without evidence.

Branding for York businesses

York is a city where brands sit next to a lot of history, and it is tempting to borrow from it: a Minster silhouette, a rose, a Gothic typeface. Used carefully that can work, but it also makes it hard to stand out among the hundreds of other businesses that had the same idea. We look first for what is actually distinctive about you, such as your product, your method, your premises or your people, and build from there. Local character can come through in tone and colour without leaning on the obvious landmarks.

Many businesses we work with also need their brand to be legally safe. If you are drawing on the city's chocolate or railway heritage, for example, it is important not to use names, logos or trade marks belonging to other companies. We keep to the history and away from anyone else's brand.

A worked example of copy

A typical first draft from a professional firm might open: "We are a leading, client-focused practice delivering innovative solutions across a range of sectors." After an interview, the same opening often becomes something like: "We help family businesses in York and North Yorkshire plan for succession: who takes over, how it is paid for and how to keep the tax bill fair." The second version tells the reader who it is for, what problem it solves and where, and it uses words customers actually search for.

What you receive

• For identity work: logo files in all the formats you need, colour and type specifications, and a short guidelines document.
• For copy: final text for each page, formatted for the website, with suggested titles and meta descriptions.
• A tone of voice guide with before-and-after examples.

How we measure it

For copy, we look at how far visitors scroll, which pages lead to enquiries, and whether customers stop asking the questions the site now answers. For identity work, the measure is simpler: does your team use it consistently six months later?

Questions

Talk to us about branding and copywriting