About this Service
THE WORK
Language is integral to brand design, and developing systems for how a brand speaks and presents information is as strategic and intentional as designing its look. When the visual and verbal elements are developed with strategy and intention, they amplify each other and the brand.
Verbal identity codifies a brand's voice at the macro and micro levels, considering how the brand communicates from top-line messaging to how it presents technical requirements, such as an address or customer service contact details. All of which are representative of how a brand relates to its audience, expresses its personality, and makes information both useful and memorable.
Engaging with 51 Eggs on Brand Verbal Identity provides the tools a brand needs to communicate consistently and intentionally: voice and tone guidelines, personality guidelines, a consumer-facing value proposition, messaging architecture, and key messaging development.
WHY IT MATTERS
The most successful brands communicate with as much intention as they present themselves visually. While visual identity drives recognition, verbal identity builds relationships, connections, and understanding. When language and design work together, a brand becomes exponentially more impactful.
Every instance of language is an opportunity: the statement of identity that earns a second look on the shelf, the product description that intrigues, and the tagline that captures the brand's essence in a moment. A verbal identity sets the standards and provides the tools to consistently and strategically leverage that opportunity at any touchpoint.
WHY 51 EGGS
With over 15 years of brand building, our verbal identity work has always been tightly woven into broader engagements, shaping voice, messaging, and language alongside visual identities. That close integration is intentional. We believe language and design are two halves of the same solution, and the voice should feel as crafted and considered as the visual components of the brand.
The perspective we bring to verbal identity is that of designers and strategists who understand how language and visual expression work together. We write with the same rigor we bring to our design, and we hold a brand's language to the same standards we hold its visual system.
SCOPE AND INVESTMENT
A Brand Verbal Identity engagement includes: Brand Discovery; brand voice and tone guidelines covering personality, key vocabulary, and tone across contexts; consumer-facing value proposition; messaging architecture; and key messaging for primary audiences, presented with one round of revisions.
Additional scopes that expand the engagement include: tagline development, channel-specific copy systems, and copy application across packaging, digital, and marketing materials.
Verbal identity pairs naturally with Brand Strategy and visual identity engagements. When developed as part of a broader brand program, scope and investment are calibrated accordingly.
PROCESS & DELIVERABLES
• Brand Discovery — immersion in the brand's context, audience, competitive landscape
• Brand Voice and Tone Guidelines — personality, register, key vocabulary, tone across contexts
• Personality Guidelines
• Consumer-Facing Value Proposition
• Messaging Architecture
• Key Messaging Development — primary audiences
• Presentation
• Revisions — one round
• Final Delivery
Starting from $14,000 / 5 weeks. Scope and investment are determined through partnership and dialogue with the client.
