Branding | Nathan Hurst Creative
Branding

Brand strategy and identity,
built to last.

A five-step process called STORY, built to close the gap between the quality of your work and the brand that represents it.

Book a discovery call

30 minutes. No obligation. No pressure to decide on the spot.

The gap

You didn’t build this business by accident.

You worked for it, you got good at it, and people notice. Then they look at your logo, your website, your social feed, and it doesn’t say any of that.

That gap isn’t just annoying. It’s costing you. It’s the client who went with someone else because they looked more established. It’s the price you quietly lowered because you didn’t feel like you could ask for more. A weak brand doesn’t just look wrong, it works against you.

Who this is for

Read this before you book.

Not every business is ready for this, and that’s fine. Here’s how to tell if you are.

This is for you if

  • You're serious about this business, whether it's already making money or you're just getting it off the ground
  • You are the decision maker and can move once you are in
  • You want one person accountable for the whole thing, start to finish

This is not for you if

  • You're still deciding if the business itself is worth pursuing
  • You are looking for the cheapest logo you can find
  • You want a picture, not a strategy behind it

Not sure yet? Take the two minute brand scorecard first.

What to expect

Including the parts nobody mentions.

A brand project is a real decision. Here is exactly how this works, what I need from you, and what happens if something does not land.

What I need from you

A real session of your time at the start, the Brand Story Workshop. It is the most important two hours of the project. Then quick, clear feedback at each stage, because that is how four to six weeks stays four to six weeks. And one decision maker. If three people need to approve a logo, we talk about that before we start.

What happens if the logo does not land

You see two to three concepts in black and white at the Original step. If none of them feel right, I keep refining until one does. No extra charge.

How it is paid

In three stages: a deposit to begin, a payment at Original, and a final payment at handover. You never pay for a stage I have not delivered.

What I will not do

I will not hand you a template with your name dropped in. I will not start designing before we have agreed the direction in words. And if I do not think this is the right fit, I will say so on the call, not after you have paid.

Introducing STORY

Five steps. Always in this order.

STORY is the process behind every brand Nathan Hurst Creative builds. No shortcuts, no templates, no guessing what your business is about before doing the work to find out.

See if STORY is right for your brand
S Step 1 of 5 Study

Before anything gets designed, it gets understood. This starts with a Brand Story Workshop, a session where I dig into what your business actually stands for, who it is really for, and what makes it different from every other option a customer could choose. Most business owners know this somewhere inside, they just have not had to say it out loud before. This step gets it out of your head and onto the table.

T Step 2 of 5 Tailor

Once I know the story, I agree the direction with you in words, not pictures, before a single visual gets made. Personality, tone, how the brand should feel to a customer walking in cold. Most studios skip this and go straight to picking colours and fonts, hoping a mood board will do the thinking for them. Skipping it is how businesses end up with a logo that looks nice and means nothing.

O Step 3 of 5 Original

Now the mark itself. You will see two to three logo concepts, in black and white only. No colour to hide behind. If an idea only works because of a nice colour palette, it was not a strong idea to begin with. Black and white is the honest test, and it is why the marks that come out of this step hold up.

R Step 4 of 5 Reveal

Everything comes together. Colour, typography, every touchpoint your customers will see, built around the approved mark and locked into a Brand Bible so it looks and feels the same whether it is on a van, an invoice, or a shopfront. This is the moment your business gets to see, properly, for the first time, what it looks like when its brand finally matches the quality of its work.

Y Step 5 of 5 Yours

Full handover. A Brand Toolkit with everything you need to use the brand yourself, and thirty days of support while you get used to it. This is not a business that gets built and then abandoned, it is yours to run with.

What you get

Everything you need to show up with confidence.

01

Brand Story Workshop

A structured session to uncover what makes your business worth choosing, and how to communicate it clearly.

02

Creative Direction

Strategic and verbal direction agreed upon before a single logo is drawn. Brand personality, tone of voice, and what the identity needs to communicate.

03

Brand Identity Design

Logomark, colour palette, typography system, and all the assets you need to show up professionally.

04

Brand Bible

A comprehensive guide that shows your team and suppliers how to use your brand correctly, every time.

05

Brand Toolkit

Ready-to-use files for print, digital, and social in every format you need to hit the ground running.

06

Handover & Walkthrough

A personal session to walk you through everything delivered, so you leave confident, not confused.

Selected work

Real businesses. Real runs through the process.

Exceed Electrical Solutions brand mark
Dianella Church brand mark
Mobile Physiotherapy brand mark
Terracotta Store brand mark
Coaching Access brand mark
Cubed Tech brand mark
Valkyri Autohaus brand mark
Itto Pizza brand mark
Scott Comms brand mark
Nathan Watson brand photo
Kristen Willett brand mark
Nathan Bailey Photography brand mark
Is it worth it

What a weak brand costs, and what changes.

Most of the cost of a weak brand is invisible. It is the enquiry that never came. The client who asked for three quotes and picked the one that looked more established. The discount you offered before they even asked.

A clear brand works the other way. People understand what you do in seconds. They arrive already trusting you. You spend less time explaining and justifying, and more time doing the work.

Terracotta Store brand mark
Case study

Terracotta Store, homewares retail

Before

Miriam bought an existing store, history included. She was told winter would be slow. It always had been. The brand belonged to the previous owner, not to her.

What we did

We ran the full STORY process. We started with what the name Terracotta means and the feeling she wanted people to have when they walked in, then built the logo, colours and brand around it. We relaunched everything together, so the store looked like one new business from day one.

Six months later

Winter came and the slow months never showed up. Business has stayed ahead of the store’s own history, and people who had walked past for years started coming through the door. Same street, same location, customers who had never noticed it before.

“He took the time to really understand the meaning behind the name Terracotta, the earthy colours, the feeling I wanted the brand to evoke, and most importantly, my vibe.” Miriam, owner, Terracotta Store

Miriam’s social media has done a lot of this work too, and she has put in the effort. A brand does not replace that. It makes sure that when someone finds her online or walks past in person, what they see matches what she is building.

What clients say

The work speaks.
So do they.

I couldn't be happier with the work Nathan Hurst Creative did for Terracotta Store. After purchasing the business, I wanted to give it a little refresh and bring the brand back to life, and Nathan understood exactly what I was looking for from the very beginning.

He took the time to really understand the meaning behind the name Terracotta, the earthy colours, the feeling I wanted the brand to evoke, and most importantly, my vibe. Throughout the whole process, Nathan was thoughtful, creative and incredibly easy to work with. He guided me through each step, listened carefully, and somehow turned all my ideas into something that felt completely “me”. I highly recommend Nathan Hurst Creative - talented, intuitive and genuinely wonderful to work with!

Miriam

Miriam

Terracotta Store

After months trying to create my own logo with AI, it was obvious how generic and basic it was. Nathan's process gave me a logo I do a second take on every time I hand over a business card, one I'm genuinely proud to wear. I'll recommend Nathan Hurst to anyone looking to get branding that sets them apart!

John-Adam

John-Adam

Valkyri Autohaus

A true professional! Nathan did an excellent job of taking the time to learn who we are. Absolutely nailed the branding of my business, from the logo, the colours, to the overall design, perfectly encapsulated who we are in the branding.

Chris Thompson

Chris Thompson

Exceed Electrical Solutions

Six months from now

What your business looks like after.

You hand someone your business card and they do a second take. Not because it is flashy, but because it looks like a business that knows what it is.

A new enquiry comes in and they have already decided you are the right choice. The conversation is about how to work together, not whether to.

You quote your price and you do not flinch. Your brand backs it up.

Your staff, your suppliers and your designer all know how to use the brand, because it is written down in one place. Nobody is guessing at colours or fonts. Everything looks like it came from the same business, because it did.

And when someone asks what you do, you have a clear, confident answer. That is what a finished brand gives you.

Limited capacity

I only take on a small number of new brand projects each month.

It is just me, on every step, from the first call to the final handover. If the timing works, let’s talk. If it is not a fit, I will tell you that too.

FAQ

Common questions

What if I do not like the logo? +

You see two to three concepts in black and white, before colour or any other decisions are made. If none of them land, I keep refining until one does. No extra charge.

What do you need from me? +

Time at the start for the Brand Story Workshop, and clear feedback at each stage so we stay on the four to six week timeline. That is it. I do the rest.

What happens once the project is finished? +

You receive your Brand Bible and Brand Toolkit, a walkthrough session, and thirty days of support while you get used to using it all. You are not left to figure it out alone.

What if my business changes? +

A brand built on strategy, not trends, holds up as you grow. The Brand Bible gives you the rules to follow as things change, so the brand can evolve without falling apart.

How do I know this is worth it? +

Because you can already see what a weak brand is doing to your business, the clients who choose someone else, the work you undersell because you do not feel backed by how you look. STORY exists to close that gap for good. What you walk away with is a brand that lets you ask for what you are worth and be taken seriously by the clients you actually want.

How long does it take? +

Four to six weeks, start to finish. Enough time to do the thinking properly, tight enough that you are not waiting around.

Why work with one person instead of an agency? +

Because you get me, on every step. No handoffs, no account manager relaying messages. You talk to the person doing the work, every time.

Do I have to find someone else for my website? +

No. Once your brand is built, I can carry it straight into your website too, so everything looks and feels like the same business.

Do you also do photography? +

Yes, once the brand itself exists. Strategy and design come first, always. If you want help extending the brand into photography once it is built, I can talk about that separately.

What happens after the discovery call? +

If it is a fit, you will get a proposal with scope and timeline specific to your business. No pressure to decide on the spot. If it is not a fit, I will tell you that too.

Ready to start

If this sounds like where you are at, let’s have a conversation and see if it is a fit.