LBD Studio

A strategic brand consultancy

Heath Diamonds packaging design and new product development strategic brand consultancy

We partner with ambitious businesses to breathe new life into their brands.

How we work

Our approach to brand building

Strategy

We help businesses identify and capitalise on the qualities that make them different before defining a strategy to achieve growth.

Strategic Audit

All innovation begins with insight. We help businesses of all shapes and sizes uncover a clear view of their brands, products and services by analysing each component in detail. Our brand consultants use the audit process to create a holistic overview of brand performance as well as potential threats and opportunities before making a list of recommendations.

Best Practice Benchmarking

Benchmarking is a tool used to help businesses understand and learn from successful brands that have faced similar challenges to themselves. As an established design agency, we use our knowledge of the creative industries to find new and groundbreaking work. We then use benchmarking to build knowledge and uncover potential solutions before plotting our own route forward.

Positioning, Audience and USPs

A strong business knows its strengths and weaknesses. We established ourselves as a strategic brand consultancy to help business owners unlock this knowledge, defining an open and honest understanding of their position within the marketplace. We also help them understand who they are targeting, what motivates their audience and the qualities that make them unique. 

Brand Architecture

Growing brands can quickly become complicated, especially when introducing a new product, service or sub-brand. We use established design methodologies to define a coherent brand architecture that will be easily understood by internal and external audiences while allowing for further expansion.

Storytelling + Proposition

We believe in the power of storytelling. But to tell a good story, you need to get the basics right. As an established strategic brand consultancy, we specialise in writing bespoke propositions and brand stories. These statements encapsulate the personality, ambition and beliefs that define your brand — they also help to communicate these truths in a way that will be understood and remembered.

Character Definition

Every business is different. When building a brand, we look to build upon the brand story and USPs to create a set of character traits used daily. These are practical, meaningful and easy to understand, with a clear role in building and maintaining strong company culture. Unlike most design agencies, we don’t believe that brand values are helpful and instead opt to use character traits that can be applied to every scenario, activity and job role.

Sustainability Planning

Society expects that businesses act sustainably — this presents a real opportunity for ambitious business leaders to put themselves in a position of power, tackling issues early before they are left behind. We partner with businesses to help them act more sustainably — from new product development to reviewing print and packaging, we offer a wide range of solutions to help businesses adapt.

Strategic Partnerships

Businesses thrive when working with like-minded individuals, organisations or initiatives. Our design consultants can help growing companies engage with relevant partners to help them build their profiles while sharing audiences and content.

Communications Plan

It can be difficult to know when to focus on the right audience, event or product. We’ll work with you to build a communications plan that targets all of your audiences and uses your brand story and character traits to their best possible advantage.

Identity

We create brand identities that stand out, giving structure and logic to how your business looks, speaks and acts across all media and touch-points.

Visual identity

Bringing strategy to life. We create vibrant and dynamic visual identities to express the unique character of a business, working online, offline and in the environment. These tools include logos, brand marks, icons, colour palettes, graphic textures, animation and much more.

Design Systems

Design systems help to bring logic and consistency to brand behaviour. We create flexible and dynamic design systems to communicate content effectively and adapt to audience and context. As a design agency with experience using brand systems of all shapes and sizes, we make a point of creating systems that clients can easily replicate across all touchpoints and mediums. These principles are then applied across all branded applications and form the basis of a brand guidelines document.

Verbal Systems

Language has the power to motivate, reassure and inspire. That’s why it is essential to use an appropriate tone of voice, especially when working with sensitive content. We create verbal systems to express your brand through spoken and written word, bringing together critical messaging with practical guidance.

Brand Guidelines

Consistency is key. We create extensive (but practical) brand guidelines to ensure that design and verbal systems are applied appropriately and consistently. We do this by defining the key brand-building tools, what they are used for and how to best deploy them. And we remain on-call to answer any queries that crop up — even if the end product is produced by another design agency!

Print

We have years of experience in print design, having designed and produced everything from print campaigns to annual reports and other publications.

Content Strategy

High-quality print can bring brands closer to their audiences. Whether it’s luxury product packaging, a book, service literature or business stationery, we create print-specific content strategies to maximise engagement, identifying the best time, place and method to use print to its greatest effect.

Graphic Design

Graphic design has the power to change perception, add value and enhance communication. We use these tools to design printed materials that will communicate your brand’s story and character in the most engaging way possible. As an established print design agency, we sensitively use materials, content and format to build unique design solutions that are remembered.

Sustainability Consultancy

Sustainability is a subject close to our hearts. We work with suppliers and leading production specialists to find the most efficient way to produce every stage of the print process. This holistic approach includes using local suppliers, traceable materials and responsible, low-impact production techniques.

Print Production + Management

Print production requires knowledge, experience and a keen eye for detail. We carefully select appropriate processes, materials and suppliers to deliver high-quality print. We also manage the entire process, bringing together suppliers from multiple industries to create a single seamless experience.

Digital

From small eCommerce microsites to global websites and apps, our strategic brand consultancy can create, build and manage a broad range of digital products.

Content Strategy

We believe in the power of digital storytelling. But to tell a good story, you need to get the basics right. As a strategic brand consultancy, we create content frameworks that expand upon your brand story, product USPs and other key messages to create a unique communications plan that will excite and inform your audience.

App + Website Design

A strong online presence has never been more valuable. We use our background in brand development to create apps and websites that are strategically sound and tailored to your proposition, character and audience. We build each digital product to surpass the latest web and device standards — from eCommerce and visual portfolios to virtual tours and sales presenters — while giving audiences a unique visual experience.

Secure Hosting and Data Protection

Secure hosting is needed to thrive in today’s digital ecosystem. We provide a range of secure hosting and domain management services as part of our digital brand consultancy. This service ensures that all data is correctly structured, protected and backed up off-site. To bring next-level efficiency to our digital products, we also use leading third-party systems like content delivery networks (CDNs), remote image hosting and caching software. We also receive security updates before the general public, allowing us to react faster than many digital design agencies.

Product Maintenance

Technology moves quickly — and so do we. We partner with leading technology brands to stay on top of software, programming language, device, and operating system updates. To achieve this, we run daily test sessions to ensure that each product works as expected while following a process of continuous optimisation.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

It’s increasingly important for businesses to be discovered online. That’s why we offer a broad range of search engine optimisation services, each tailored to your specific needs. From technical SEO, content planning, schema mark-up and other on-page efficiencies to site-wide audits and profile building, our approach to digital brand consultancy will help build your search presence and increase traffic.

Content

Art direction, curation and production of beautiful, engaging content — from illustration to written word, portraits and branded films.

Copywriting

Our team of writers and strategists will help you tell your story in the most appropriate, memorable way for your audience — whatever the medium or industry. As an established design agency with years of experience in writing memorable content, our approach to copywriting will inform how your business operates, communicates and ultimately thrives. Building upon your tone of voice and key messages, we‘ll ensure that your materials express your personality while laddering back to your proposition.

Static Content

Rich visual content can connect with an audience emotionally while building brand personality. We work with an extensive network of trusted creatives to produce engaging visual content that grabs attention and drives results. From photographers, street artists and illustrators to pattern-makers and sculptors, we regularly collaborate to make new and exciting work on our clients’ behalf. 

Moving Content

Working alongside our network of trusted partners, we create bespoke film content ranging from subtle motion design to more complex brand animations and explainer videos. We also provide interaction design for digital products like websites and apps.

Social Media

Social media content plays an essential role in any modern communications plan. As a digital-first design agency, we use our knowledge of these platforms to create content that is creatively unique and strategically relevant. From short videos and posts to bespoke social campaigns, we’ll work with you to strike the right balance for your audience.

Microsite design for Heritage for People by LBD Studio for Edinburgh World Heritage
Past clients include