Branding for AI startups

Branding matters for an AI startup because buyers cannot see what the product does, so they judge the company by how clearly it explains itself and how credible it looks. A distinct category, one sentence of positioning and a consistent identity replace the proof an early product cannot yet provide.

AI is also a crowded label. When every competitor claims the same intelligence, the brand is often the most visible difference in the first minute.

I see the same four problems again and again in AI and software companies.

• The look is the category default. Sparkle icons, gradient orbs and dark dashboards make companies interchangeable.
• The promise is vague. "The intelligent platform for modern teams" could describe anyone.
• The brand stops at the logo. Decks, site and product look like different companies as the team grows.
• AI tools write off-brand. The team uses AI daily, and nobody told it how the company sounds.

I follow the same order as every project: strategy, logo and identity, Brand OS, website, then add-ons.

1. 01Positioning. A category, a buyer, a promise and proof, in one sentence you can repeat in a pitch.
2. 02Logo and identity. A mark constructed on one idea, with colour, typography and a graphic language that does not rely on the AI cliches.
3. 03Brand OS. Guidelines as a live portal, with templates and an AI brand kit so the team creates on-brand from the start. See what a Brand OS is.
4. 04Website. A fast Framer site with clear structure, built so search and AI assistants can read it.
5. 05Add-ons. AI search visibility, 3D sections and motion.

• Breach - brand identity for a US B2B AI software company, built around clarity, recognition and controlled disruption. Delivered in 21 days.
• Talentix - logo and brand guidelines for a Dutch AI recruitment platform that works as one agent across four modules.
• Recruitsome - identity, guidelines and website for a Dutch AI recruitment platform that keeps hiring human.
• KORDIN - brand, 3D website and Brand OS for a European cloud platform that runs apps and AI workloads. The project is in progress.

Prices are fixed, agreed before I start and exclude VAT. Logo design is $2,450, Brand strategy and positioning is $2,450, Brand Foundation is $3,675 and Brand Identity is $7,245. A website-only project starts at $4,950 and Full Branding + Web is $11,875. Brand OS starts at $4,485. Typical timelines run from 5 days for a logo to 14 days for a website or Brand OS. See the pricing page.