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Aston Reece: Branding and Creative Direction

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Aston Reece

Aston Reece is a property management company founded by two partners. They approached me at the very start of their journey, with a business name, a vision, and nothing else. The brief was to build a brand from the ground up that felt professional, trustworthy and polished enough to compete from day one.

My Role

Freelance Digital Designer

Services

Date

2024

Brief

Aston Reece came to me at the very beginning. Two founders, a business name, and a handful of initial ideas for a logo. There was no existing brand to build on, no visual direction established, and no assets in place. Everything had to be created from scratch, and it all had to be cohesive enough to work across a professional services context from day one. They also wanted content that they could update themselves, meaning advanced or expensive software, such as Photoshop, was out of the question for some parts of the project. I had to find a way to allow them to edit content while remaining consistent with the branding and guidelines.

My Contribution

This was a solo freelance project covering the full scope of brand identity and digital presence, including logo design, colour palette, typography, brand guidelines, image usage, print and social media templates, document layouts, and assisting with a full website build on Wix.

Logo & Brand Identity

The founders shared some early thoughts on the logo direction, and my job was to take those initial ideas and develop them into something that felt resolved, professional and genuinely theirs. The final mark had to work across everything from digital headers to printed documents, so versatility was as important as aesthetics.

Alongside the logo, I established the full brand system, including colour palette, typography, image usage guidelines and the rules governing how everything worked together. This was all documented in a brand guidelines file so the founders had a clear reference point for any future decisions, whether they were making them themselves or briefing someone else.

Templates and Document Layouts

A brand that only exists in a guidelines document doesn’t do much for a small business that needs to produce materials day to day. A significant part of the project was building out a set of ready-to-use Figma templates for print layouts, including flyers and brochures, and social media templates sized for the platforms they’d be posting on.

The goal was to make the brand genuinely self-sufficient. The founders shouldn’t need to come back to a designer every time they need a new piece of content. The templates were built to be edited easily by someone without a design background — swapping out copy, images and details while keeping the brand consistent automatically.

Website

I was not as involved with the website as with the branding and asset creation. The client created a Wix website and asked me to help out when needed. I helped to tweak components and tidy up some of the content, and ensured it was mobile-friendly. I also gave pointers and advice to ensure the site matched the brand visually and gave the business a credible, professional digital presence from launch.

Outcome

Aston Reece launched with a complete brand identity and a live website, fully equipped to manage and evolve their own materials without ongoing designer involvement. The client feedback spoke for itself, the founders were proud of the result from day one, and the combination of design and development meant they received a brand that was not only visually strong but practically usable from the moment it was handed over.

Tools / Skills Used

  • Illustrator
  • Figma
  • Wix

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