Defining distinct identities within a shared brand

You need buyers to recognise what makes each part of your organisation different and why they belong together. The names and identities you choose must give each part room to stand out while keeping a clear connection to your wider brand.

Distinct identities need a clear shared logic

Related identities need to make two things clear: what each part represents and how it connects to the wider organisation. The difficulty is that recognition may sit unevenly across a portfolio: a platform can be better known than its company, while individual activities can lack a coherent identity. Research and stakeholder interviews can reveal where recognition already exists and what needs to become more visible. You can then define what unites the identities and express that connection through shared typography, colour or visual elements, while allowing each part its own recognisable character.

For ACT, The Frameworks used research and stakeholder interviews to understand the people driving charitable activity across The Ardonagh Group. The resulting charity identity balanced independence with subtle references to the group. Overlapping shapes, expressive scaling and an expanded colour palette gave each charitable "Action" pillar a recognisable identity within a cohesive system. This allowed distinction at both charity and pillar level without losing the relationships between them.

For Strategy Object, the problem was different: its SOClass platform was widely respected, but the company behind it remained largely invisible. The Frameworks brought company and platform together around a shared mission. Linked typography and a code-inspired colour palette made their relationship visible while reflecting the developer community they served. The connection helped communicate the expertise behind the platform, rather than treating the two identities as unrelated.

Sources: ACT: A charity brand for the global stage, Strategy Object: An identity built on international trade, The Estorick Collection at 25

How The Frameworks helps

Defining distinct but connected identities

Your audiences need to recognise each part of your organisation and understand its relationship to the wider brand. The Frameworks focuses on that relationship, considering both the established identity and what each business, platform or specialist unit needs to express in its own right. It works with you to explore those distinctions through stakeholder research and existing brand guidelines, identifying which parent-brand elements can support a distinct identity without obscuring its purpose.

The Frameworks develops portfolio naming, linked identities and shared visual systems around those relationships. Its brand strategy and design work gives individual parts their own expression while retaining recognisable connections to the organisation behind them. You get names and identities that help audiences distinguish between related offers and understand who is behind them, so you can communicate a specialist capability or new direction without presenting it as separate from your established business.

Let’s talk about your related brand identities 

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