A Complete Brand Identity for a Pirate Video Game, From Logo to Billboard

A brand only works if it looks the same on a business card, a billboard and a hoodie. Most young companies get a logo file and little else, and within a year the colours drift, the type changes from one flyer to the next and the mark gets stretched or recoloured by whoever is closest to the design tool.

Our brief was to prevent that from day one. We designed a complete identity system for a new pirate-themed video game and documented it in a 33-page brand guide, so every future designer, printer and marketer works from the same rules.

The client is building a pirate-themed, player-versus-player video game with story-driven content, in-game rewards and a community-first model. Pirate games are rare in a market dominated by a handful of shooters, so the brand had to feel adventurous and unmistakably nautical, and it had to be ready for investor decks, outdoor advertising, digital campaigns and merchandise from launch.

• No existing visual system: no defined colours, typeface or logo rules.
• A detailed, illustrative emblem that still had to work at a 15 mm giveaway print and on a roadside billboard.
• Multiple people and vendors would produce materials, so the rules had to be explicit, not implied.
• The mark needed to hold up on light, dark and grey backgrounds without losing legibility.

• Design a primary emblem with controlled variants for every context.
• Define a colour palette with exact values for screen and print.
• Choose a typography system that is distinctive yet practical.
• Show the identity applied to real stationery, advertising and merchandise.
• Package it all in a single guide any vendor can follow.

We built the identity around a primary emblem and four variants, each with a defined job: a secondary lockup, a negative version for dark backgrounds, a watermark and a simplified version for small giveaway items.

• A standard reproduction size of 35 mm, with a 15 mm exception for giveaways.
• A 21 px minimum width for digital use and a clear space rule based on the mark itself.
• One-colour versions in black or white only, with grey backgrounds approved case by case.
• A misuse page that shows exactly what not to do with the mark.

The palette pairs deep slate and navy tones with a sea-teal accent and warm rust and copper notes, giving the brand a calm, nautical base with enough warmth to stand out on a billboard.

• Ten colours, each specified in HEX, RGB and CMYK, so screen and print match.
• A single type family in light, regular and bold, for headlines and body copy alike.
• A typography overview page showing the hierarchy in use.

Rules on paper only go so far, so we designed the identity into the materials the game would actually produce.

• Stationery: business card, letterhead and envelope.
• Advertising: two billboard concepts and two matching web ad banners built around the call to join the battle.
• Merchandise: USB card, t-shirt, tote bag, cap and hoodie.
• Supporting logo elements and banner graphics for campaigns.

• A complete identity system delivered in one 33-page brand guide.
• Five logo versions, each with size, spacing and background rules.
• Ten colours specified for both screen and print.
• Twelve real-world applications designed and ready to produce, from business cards to billboards.
• One reference document that every future designer, printer and marketer can work from.

• Discovery, logo exploration and refinement.
• Colour, typography and logo rules finalised.
• Stationery, advertising and merchandise applications designed.
• November 2022: the brand guide is delivered.