Brand Identity for a Lawyer & Property Manager

Marcos Hernández Rojo is a lawyer and a property manager in Zamora, Spain. His previous logo was a wordmark with no symbol, so there was nothing to recognise him by on a stamp, a plaque or a profile picture. I mapped the colours of the local law firms, found that almost none used red, and built a monogram from square blocks: each block a property he manages, together forming the M of Marcos, with the H in its white space and the red standing for Rojo, his surname. Strategy, two creative routes, one revision and a full set of applications.

The brief: one name, two practices, and a mark that had to work at any size.

The starting point: a wordmark in thin condensed capitals, with no symbol.

The colours of the local law firms. Navy, blue, gold and black everywhere; red in only a few.

Two routes: a drawn monogram with a house and a book, or initials built from blocks. Marcos chose the blocks.

The first block mark read too close to a regional government emblem, so I redrew the blocks into a solid M.

One 5 × 4 grid, four meanings: blocks for the properties, an M, an H in the white space, and red for Rojo.

Horizontal and stacked lockups. The tagline went from 33 characters to 23 after a dozen tests.

On white, on red, on black: every version comes from the same master files.

One red, #D22E3C, supported by a near-black ink and three neutrals.

Futura from top to bottom: Bold for the name, tracked for the practice.

Built on a pixel grid, the symbol stays sharp down to a 16 px favicon.

Letterhead, envelope and business cards with the red band.

Window vinyl: the red badge and the name in white.

Self-inking stamp with his registration numbers, for every document he signs.

Acrylic office plaque and the symbol in relief.

Facebook: the round symbol as profile picture, the name over a red cover.