Naming brands, whether company, service or product, is not an every day part of the marketing mix. Most companies and brands only do it once and established companies don’t have to think about it much unless they are part of a merger or an acquisition. With start-ups being the new way and only about 1 … Read more

Have a look at our top 10 favourite design books. You’ll find Amazon links below the infographic. Do you have any books to add to the list?   1. Designing Brand Identity by Alina Wheeler 2. Branding: From Brief to Finished Solution by Mono Design 3. Package Design by daab 4. Why Fonts Matter by … Read more

Started in 2002 as a design agency with a three dimensional focus, Grain has expanded to a full-service branding agency, focusing strongly on brand strategy, identity, name generation, websites, ecommerce, social media, packaging, environments, campaigns and communications. In 13 years, Grain has grown in both scope and scale. Our work has become more strategic, providing a … Read more

After six years of recession the tide is turning and everyone is more optimistic. Businesses are starting to thrive again. But when it’s not ‘business as usual’, how does a recession affect the rate of starting up new businesses? It’s a positive effect: one factor being that people who have lost their jobs decide to … Read more

Creating company and product names is a specialism of ours here at Grain. Check out this infographic for some tips on how to create a great name.  

What does your logo say about your company? Here’s a brief guide, infographic-style, on typography, colour, shape and semantics.  

Recently I have been thinking about television advertising. It was a particular John Lewis Christmas advert that had got me started. How some adverts are brilliant pieces of convincing branding. More than an annoying jingle and silly mascot. On this train of thought I was thinking about the brands behind some of the television adverts … Read more

Students can often be tarnished with the brush of being layabouts. I can’t speak for all of them, but generally I’d like to disagree. And I’ve heard my fair share of this from parents, working friends without the commitments of being in university, complaining about long holidays and part time working weeks for us. However … Read more