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A general counsel doesn't compare your brand to other SaaS tools. They compare it to the letterhead on their desk.
That's what killed my first direction on this one.
It's a spec project for a legal AI product, the kind that reviews and redlines contracts on its own. We're talking uncapped liability clauses here. The stakes are real even if the client isn't yet.
The brief called for institutional grade security, structured layouts, the whole Swiss thing. So my first instinct was a grotesque sans, tight grid, cold precision. Felt right for about a day.
Then I actually thought about who's using this. A GC isn't sitting there comparing your brand to other SaaS tools. They're comparing it to the letterhead already on their desk. A grotesque reads fintech infrastructure. It doesn't read trust the way a lawyer defines trust.
So I kept a serif instead. Restrained, low contrast, nothing decorative. Closer to what an actual firm would print on a contract.
The logomark carries the AI side of the story, grid-built, deterministic, nothing improvised. The wordmark carries the other half, already dressed like it's earned your trust.
Trust is borrowed before it's built. You just have to know who you're borrowing it from.
Amazing work
thank you 😃
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