Y.F. Zhang & Co.

The making of this brand: the mark, the artefact system, colour, type and the applications.

Role: Founder, designer
Years: 2026
Disciplines: Brand
Status: Released Oct 2026

FIG. 01Letterhead, card and icon from the studio’s own system.

Contents

01 / Overview

The studio needed a brand that works on a website, a letterhead and the screens of its own apps without changing character. The reference point was a well-kept independent guide, not an agency site.

02 / Brand

The mark

Three directions were drawn. The wordmark ends in a vermilion full stop, the only red in the mark, and the same stop ends the headlines. {WHY THE FULL STOP WON}

{DIRECTION A}

{DIRECTION B}

Y.F. Zhang & Co.

C✓ Chosen

Colour and type

Cool grey paper, white hairline cards, slate type and one vermilion that acts. Newsreader for titles, Public Sans for reading and pressing, IBM Plex Mono only for what a machine would print.

--page#F4F1EB

--surface#FBFAF7

--line#E3DED4

--ink#1B1F27

--grey#5D626D

--red#C83E26

--sage#3E6E5E

--ochre#7C6322

--indigo#2F55A0

Brands and products. Public Sans for body, interface and labels. £200.00 · v1.0 · YFZ<BRAND<2026

Artefacts

Every offer is drawn as a document you could hold. There are nine kinds, and each adds one physical cue.

01NotebookRuled lines and a red margin.

02ReceiptDotted rows and a zigzag foot.

03Departure boardFlap digits for dates.

Applications

Stationery, social posts, posters and a studio deck, all from the same parts.

{IMAGE: A4 letterhead and business card}

FIG. 02.1

{IMAGE: social posts}

FIG. 02.2

{IMAGE: A2 posters}

FIG. 02.3

{IMAGE: studio deck}

FIG. 02.4

03 / Outcome

Version 1.0 of the brand system was released in October 2026. This site runs on it.

9Artefact kinds

31Components

8Languages

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