Great brands are rarely built on instinct alone. They are shaped by clarity, creativity, and a deep understanding of how people think, feel, and behave. At our studio, books play a quiet but constant role in sharpening our thinking and challenging our assumptions. Brand by the Book is a short collection of reads we regularly return to, and recommend to clients, collaborators, and anyone curious about building brands with meaning.
A practical and highly readable guide to structuring brands for growth. Nick Liddell demystifies brand architecture, showing how portfolios, sub brands, and naming systems can either enable clarity or create confusion. The book is especially valuable for organisations navigating complexity, mergers, or rapid expansion.
Our Senior Designer Ben values this book for its clarity in navigating complex brand systems:
“This book really changed how I think about brands at scale. It goes beyond logos and visuals and gets into how brands are structured, named, and experienced across different touchpoints. It’s especially useful when working with complex organisations, because it shows how clarity in architecture can make a brand feel simpler, stronger, and easier to grow.”
This is not a book about copying. It is a book about learning, remixing, and finding your voice through influence. Kleon reframes creativity as an active practice of collecting ideas, making connections, and sharing work openly. A quick read that consistently sparks better thinking and more confident creative output.
For Natalie, our Senior Artworker, this book is a reminder that creativity is a practice, not a lightning strike:
“It’s a reminder that creativity doesn’t come from nowhere. Everything you make is shaped by what you absorb. The trick is being intentional, honest, and generous with your influences.”
A deceptively simple book about positioning and perception. Using clear metaphors and sharp insights, Liddell explores how brands are defined not by what they say, but by how they are understood. It is particularly useful for leaders and teams struggling to articulate what truly makes them different.
Alice our Client Services Director appreciates the book’s ability to simplify the idea of positioning without dumbing it down:
“What I love about this book is how simply it explains something that’s actually quite complex. It reframes positioning in a really memorable way and makes you realise that brands aren’t defined by what they say about themselves, but by how people categorise them.”
Michael Johnson distils decades of branding experience into a clear, structured process. The book balances strategic rigour with creative inspiration, making it a valuable reference for both clients and practitioners. It reinforces the idea that great branding is systematic, not superficial.
Leo our Creative Director says this is the most complete and well-rounded guide to the branding process:
“My favourite book on the subject of brand. Covering off every stage of branding required to achieve a well constructed brand. In nearly as many images as words you are guided through the whole process, with plenty of advice, approaches, pitfalls, tools and carefully curated real life examples. Recognising the bridging of the gap (step 2.5), between strategy and creative where the intangible happens, is where this book stands apart.
A must for anyone who thinks they design brands.”
A modern classic that bridges the divide between business and design. Neumeier argues that strong brands sit at the intersection of logic and emotion, strategy and creativity. Concise and punchy, this book is often where we start when explaining the value of branding to non designers.
This is one of the books Bailey, our Senior Designer, often recommends to bridge the gap between business and design thinking:
“It was one of the first books I read that really connected business strategy with design thinking. It explains why brands need both logic and emotion to succeed, and why designers and business leaders need to speak the same language.”
Purpose is often talked about, but rarely defined well. David Hieatt cuts through the noise, arguing for purpose as a practical, action led driver of better business, not a marketing slogan. The book challenges brands to do meaningful work and let that work speak for itself.
Darren, our Managing Director, often recommends this book to founders looking to build something meaningful from the outset
This book reads like a manifesto for change. It’s easy to understand and concise enough to use as reference point. If I was starting a new business and wanted to make a difference in the world, I would read this book first.
These books reflect how we think about branding: structured but creative, commercial but human, strategic but always curious. Whether you are building a new brand or refining an existing one, we believe the right ideas, at the right time, can change the direction of your work. These are some of the ideas that continue to shape ours.
