Manual is a design and brand consultancy creating meaningful impact through the thoughtful application of brand narrative, design, art direction, and material craft.

From our studios in San Francisco and Amsterdam, we partner with visionary clients to translate bold ideas into beautifully articulated identities, communications, and experiences. Our work creates value through recognition and desirability.

How We Think And Work

We translate.

We come with wide eyes and open ears. Through curiosity, observation, inquiry, and carefully considered creative strategy, we help define what’s unique about your brand, product, or destination. We then translate your unique traits into beautifully designed experiences and artful expressions that inspire audiences, elicit actions, and leave a lasting impression.

We understand the bigger picture.

Logos don’t forge emotional connections. Visual narratives do. We believe your brand can’t fully succeed without your image being instantly recognizable. We approach brand building with a holistic mindset. We consider not just the foundational elements of logo and graphic design systems, but equally importantly, your brand’s art direction and visual expression principles across digital and physical.

We employ a balanced approach.

We balance strategy with intuition, function with beauty, technology with the tactile, and longevity with contemporary relevance.

We’re obsessive and driven.

We’re driven by the challenges of brand identity design in a constantly changing context. Never satisfied with ‘good enough’, we’re restless until we land on design concepts that are so well formed and informed, that they appear effortless and inevitable.

What We Do

Brand Foundation

  • Brand Audit & Strategy
  • Naming
  • Brand Voice & Messaging
  • Creative Strategy
  • Brand Identity Design
  • Brand Evolution & Stewardship
  • Personality Definition
  • Communication & Content Strategy
  • Guidelines & Design Tools

Brand Experience

  • Packaging Design
  • Graphic Objects
  • Design for Digital Surfaces
  • Motion Graphics
  • Printed Materials
  • Books and Editorial Design
  • Photography & Video Art Direction
  • Image Making
  • Art Curation & Commissioning
  • Campaign Creative
  • Branded Spaces
  • Wayfinding & Signage

Networked Collaborators

We have a carefully selected network of experts whom we partner with to meet the specific needs of a project. This includes writers, strategists, photographers, animators, filmmakers, creative technologists, industrial designers and printers. Our extended network allows us to stay nimble and lean while delivering world-class creative.

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Areas of Expertise

Transportation, and the urban environment.

We seek to live an urban environment that is future-proofed, sustainable, and beautiful. We work with clients who are changing the ways in which we live and move.

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Technology that shapes how we live, work, and play.

Technology has the potential to help us create, connect, play, and work. We partner with some of the world’s most iconic and innovative technology brands.

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Arts, culture, and media.

Organizations can play a pivotal role in shaping culture and reminding us there’s more to life than work and consumerism. We work with brands that have the ambition to enlighten us, drive opinion, and help shape culture.

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Lifestyle, fashion, and beauty

Aspirational brands that inspire millions of people.

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Sustainable products

We value working with brands that are thoughtful about the products they put out into the world, and how they can contribute to the health of people and the environment.

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Food, drink, and hospitality

Food and drink that brings people together and delights our senses.

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If this resonates with you, please get in touch.