Brand Strategy & Identity Design for UK Startups | Bob Patten, Surrey

I work with two kinds of people.

Founders who are building a business that needs to look as serious as it is — because right now, the brand isn’t matching the ambition.

And growing businesses that have outgrown their original identity and need a brand that reflects where they’re going, not where they’ve been.

In both cases, my job is the same: start with strategy — understand what you’re really trying to say, to whom, and why it matters — and then build an identity that earns its place in the market.

The businesses that struggle to grow — the ones that lose pitches they should win, charge less than they’re worth, and attract the wrong kind of client — often have a brand problem they haven’t named yet.

It’s not that the logo is bad. It’s that the brand doesn’t communicate the value of the business clearly enough to the people who need to hear it.

Most brand problems are clarity problems.

Twenty, or so, years ago, I sat opposite a client who couldn’t explain why their business was so good. Not in a vague, philosophical way – in a practical, worrying way. They had a business doing genuinely good work. They had clients who trusted them. But when I asked what made them different, what they actually stood for, they couldn’t say. It took a long time to get to the heart of the problem.

That experience, repeated in different forms across dozens of projects, taught me something I’ve carried ever since. Asking questions is useful. But, asking the right questions is something else entirely.

Over twenty years I’ve refined a set of questions that consistently gets to what a business really stands for, who it’s genuinely for, and what it needs to say to close the gap between the quality of the work and the way it’s perceived.

I think of this through three lenses:

Curiosity: looking at every project with fresh eyes and no assumptions;

Care: genuine investment in the business, the people behind it, and the work that goes out under my name; and

Creativity: the craft of turning a clear problem into something distinct, considered, and built to last.

Today, Patten Design is a focused independent studio based in Surrey. I work directly with founders, MDs and business owners — no account handlers, no handoffs — at moments of real change: a launch, a pivot, a funding round, or simply the point where a business has outgrown the brand it started with. The work spans brand strategy, identity design, website design, and marketing.

But the starting point is always the same – one that begins with the right questions.

Brand Strategy
Logo & Identity Design
Tone of Voice
Website Design
Marketing & Campaigns
Print & Production
Brand Strategy
Logo & Identity Design
Tone of Voice
Website Design
Marketing & Campaigns
Print & Production
Brand Strategy
Logo & Identity Design
Tone of Voice
Website Design
Marketing & Campaigns
Print & Production

Why work with me

I start with strategy — with the thinking that determines what the brand needs to say, who it’s for, and what it needs to do — and then build the identity that expresses it. Most designers start with the visual. I start with the problem.

Working with me directly means the strategy and the craft stay connected throughout. No account manager translating the brief. No junior designer executing the work. No agency overhead inflating the cost. If I’m not the right fit for what you need, I’ll tell you.

01 - Discover

Looking at your world with fresh eyes. Gathering genuine insight into your business, your market, and your audience before forming any opinions.

02 - Define

Making sense of the possibilities. Writing a clear creative brief that frames the actual challenge — so we're solving the right problem, not the obvious one.

03 - Develop

Creating, testing, and iterating — with you, not at you. Collaboration is built into the process from the start, not added at the end to get sign-off.

04 - Deliver

Finalising, producing, and launching with confidence — with a brand guide, asset library, and handover documentation so your team can use the work from day one. The end result should feel inevitable.

The background

Over 20 years I’ve led brand projects at every scale — from global organisations to two-person startups. Early in my career I worked at Slow Dazzle Publishing, delivering work for major entertainment clients including Marvel, MGM, and Universal Studios. From there I worked as senior designer at Medicom Group, a healthcare communications agency, across large-scale accounts including GlaxoSmithKline and Smith & Nephew.

Following this intensive period in the design industry, I transitioned to the education sector where I taught design and technology. I spent six years in education heading up the careers pathway and further education development for young people across all subjects including design.

In 2019, I founded Patten Design, and since then I’ve worked with startups and SMEs across the UK — closer to the decision-makers, and with more direct influence on outcomes. Clients span tech and SaaS, professional services, life sciences, sustainability, and education.

The thread across all of them is the same challenge: they needed to look and sound like the business they were becoming, not the one they started as.

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Years in brand design and strategy

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Brand projects across the UK

Sectors

Tech & SaaS, Coaching & Leadership, Professional Services, Sustainability, Education, B2B

What clients say

“Bob started with our logo and branding — work we believe significantly contributed to our initial investment and early success.”

Jon Holden,

Founder, Iterum

“Bob’s designs have been the cornerstones of several successful businesses. He is methodical, creative, and a great person to work with.”

Andy Clayton,

CEO & Co-Founder, FermTech

“He helped us create something that will really help us communicate going forward. Great advice, and willing to challenge assumptions.”

Rory Grumley,

MD, Promote Consulting

“I highly recommend Bob to founders and leadership teams looking for end-to-end support across strategy, branding, design, and website development.”

Christel Jansen,

Founder, The Access Embassy

Who I do my best work with

Founders and business leaders

Founders and business leaders who know their brand is holding them back — even if they can’t yet say exactly how. People who can articulate why their business exists, even if the visual expression isn’t there yet. Clients who want a thinking partner, not just someone to execute. And people who understand that a well-made brand is a commercial investment, not a cosmetic exercise.

I’m not the right fit if you need something turned around in 48 hours without a brief, or if the project begins and ends with making the logo bigger. And if you’re looking for someone to validate decisions you’ve already made rather than challenge the ones that aren’t working — I’m not the right person for that either.