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The company

About

Our Team

Join Us

Our Insights

Industries

Politics

Healthcare

Entertainment

Public Affairs

Services

Media

Data

Technology

Results

Follow us

Hungry for more insights?

Subscribe to our to stay up to date with industry standards.

Type Your Email

Let’s talk

Ready to build something remarkable? We partner with ambitious teams who are serious about growth.

Contact Us

© 2026 Vicine

Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy

THE COMPANY

About

Our Team

Join Us

Our Insights

INDUSTRIES

Politics

Healthcare

Entertainment

Public Affairs

SERVICES

Media

Data

Technology

Results

FOLLOW US

Hungry for more insights?

Subscribe to our to stay up to date with industry standards.

Type Your Email

Let’s talk

Ready to build something remarkable? We partner with ambitious teams who are serious about growth.

CONTACT US

© 2026 Vicine

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4MINDS AI
4MINDS AI

Brand Guidelines Sprint

Brand Guidelines Sprint

Industry

INDUSTRY

AI Infrastructure 

AI Infrastructure 

Stage

STAGE

Pre-Launch

Pre-Launch

Services

SERVICES

Brand Audit, Brand Identity, Iconography, Graphic System, Brand Guidelines & Toolkits, Templates, Handover

Brand Audit, Brand Identity, Iconography, Graphic System, Brand Guidelines & Toolkits, Templates, Handover

Problem

OBJECTIVES

4Minds is building genuinely novel AI infrastructure: self-improving private models that learn continuously during inference, paired with a proprietary knowledge graph for deeper reasoning. The product team had been moving fast and the brand had been moving with it, in pieces. There was foundational strategic work in place, a name, a clean but generic logotype, and a growing amount of materials produced in-house. What was missing was a clear system that could be leveraged to build upon the brand consistently. The team was making case-by-case decisions every time something new needed to ship.

4Minds is building genuinely novel AI infrastructure: self-improving private models that learn continuously during inference, paired with a proprietary knowledge graph for deeper reasoning. The product team had been moving fast and the brand had been moving with it, in pieces. There was foundational strategic work in place, a name, a clean but generic logotype, and a growing amount of materials produced in-house. What was missing was a clear system that could be leveraged to build upon the brand consistently. The team was making case-by-case decisions every time something new needed to ship.

outcome

OBJECTIVES

Over a six-week sprint, we audited what existed, separated the parts that were load-bearing from the parts that needed work, and produced a lean but rigorous set of brand guidelines covering logo (redesigned to add a meaningful logomark), typography, colour, iconography, graphic system, and photography direction. Alongside the guidelines, we built a compact toolkit of operational templates (a PowerPoint master with designed live layouts, a Word template, a LinkedIn banner) and reviewed the work the in-house designer had produced to date with topline feedback for alignment. The engagement closed with a two-hour handover session with the internal team.

Over a six-week sprint, we audited what existed, separated the parts that were load-bearing from the parts that needed work, and produced a lean but rigorous set of brand guidelines covering logo (redesigned to add a meaningful logomark), typography, colour, iconography, graphic system, and photography direction. Alongside the guidelines, we built a compact toolkit of operational templates (a PowerPoint master with designed live layouts, a Word template, a LinkedIn banner) and reviewed the work the in-house designer had produced to date with topline feedback for alignment. The engagement closed with a two-hour handover session with the internal team.

Results

SUMMARY OF OUTCOME

4Minds came out of the sprint with a foundational ruleset that gives the team structure across essential brand elements without locking them into a heavy system they would outgrow. The visual language now has a clear identity, an upgraded logo lockup now including a conceptually strong logomark with a documented gradient-stroke graphic treatment, a layered colour system anchored by cosmic blues, and a single-typeface system built on Acid Grotesk. The team can now produce on-brand work without needing the studio in the loop, which is the actual point of a brand guidelines sprint.

4Minds came out of the sprint with a foundational ruleset that gives the team structure across essential brand elements without locking them into a heavy system they would outgrow. The visual language now has a clear identity, an upgraded logo lockup now including a conceptually strong logomark with a documented gradient-stroke graphic treatment, a layered colour system anchored by cosmic blues, and a single-typeface system built on Acid Grotesk. The team can now produce on-brand work without needing the studio in the loop, which is the actual point of a brand guidelines sprint.

Decide what was sacred and what could move

The Challenge

A brand built piece by piece collects momentum in some places and inconsistency in others. The first job before designing anything was to figure out which elements were load-bearing (and shouldn't be touched), which were close enough to keep with light tweaks, and which were missing entirely. Without that separation, every refinement risks either disrupting something the team had emotional ownership over, or papering over gaps that needed real attention.

What we did

We started with a structured assessment of the existing brand assets against the foundational strategic work the team had already done. We ran a one-hour collaborative session with the 4Minds team to clarify brand "sacredness" and alignment, surfacing what was non-negotiable and what was open. From there, we made light tweaks to assets that were close to working and outlined the gaps that the rest of the sprint would fill. This was a working brief and it set the pace for the next five weeks.

OUR PROCESS

Audited existing brand assets against the foundational strategic work already in place

Ran a collaborative session to surface what was non-negotiable and what was open

Separated the load-bearing elements from the gaps that needed real attention

Used that separation as the working brief for the rest of the sprint

OUR TOOLS

Brand Audit

Stakeholder Workshops

Scope Definition

Stakeholder Alignment

Decide what was sacred and what could move

The Challenge

A brand built piece by piece collects momentum in some places and inconsistency in others. The first job before designing anything was to figure out which elements were load-bearing (and shouldn't be touched), which were close enough to keep with light tweaks, and which were missing entirely. Without that separation, every refinement risks either disrupting something the team had emotional ownership over, or papering over gaps that needed real attention.

What we did

We started with a structured assessment of the existing brand assets against the foundational strategic work the team had already done. We ran a one-hour collaborative session with the 4Minds team to clarify brand "sacredness" and alignment, surfacing what was non-negotiable and what was open. From there, we made light tweaks to assets that were close to working and outlined the gaps that the rest of the sprint would fill. This was a working brief and it set the pace for the next five weeks.

OUR PROCESS

Audited existing brand assets against the foundational strategic work already in place

Ran a collaborative session to surface what was non-negotiable and what was open

Separated the load-bearing elements from the gaps that needed real attention

Used that separation as the working brief for the rest of the sprint

OUR TOOLS

Brand Audit

Stakeholder Workshops

Scope Definition

Stakeholder Alignment

Decide what was sacred and what could move

The Challenge

A brand built piece by piece collects momentum in some places and inconsistency in others. The first job before designing anything was to figure out which elements were load-bearing (and shouldn't be touched), which were close enough to keep with light tweaks, and which were missing entirely. Without that separation, every refinement risks either disrupting something the team had emotional ownership over, or papering over gaps that needed real attention.

What we did

We started with a structured assessment of the existing brand assets against the foundational strategic work the team had already done. We ran a one-hour collaborative session with the 4Minds team to clarify brand "sacredness" and alignment, surfacing what was non-negotiable and what was open. From there, we made light tweaks to assets that were close to working and outlined the gaps that the rest of the sprint would fill. This was a working brief and it set the pace for the next five weeks.

OUR PROCESS

Audited existing brand assets against the foundational strategic work already in place

Ran a collaborative session to surface what was non-negotiable and what was open

Separated the load-bearing elements from the gaps that needed real attention

Used that separation as the working brief for the rest of the sprint

OUR TOOLS

Brand Audit

Stakeholder Workshops

Scope Definition

Stakeholder Alignment

Build the system around what already worked

The Challenge

The four-arrow logomark and the strategic idea behind it (intelligent convergence) were our starting point for the identity. The brand needed a system around them: rules for the logo at every scale, a typographic foundation, a colour palette with documented behaviour, an iconography approach, and a graphic vocabulary the team could reach for. The constraint was scope. This was a sprint, not a deep-dive system, so the guidelines had to be lean enough to be read and used, but rigorous enough to actually hold the brand together.

What we did

We crafted a new logo and documented its lockup, clear-space, positioning rules, and the full set of approved colour treatments across primary and secondary palettes. We set Acid Grotesk as the primary typeface for its tall x-height and broad weight range, with Schibsted Grotesk and Verdana defined as Google and system fallbacks so the brand stays consistent in environments where the primary licence cannot load.

The colour system runs on three primary cosmic blues anchored by a deep navy named Cosmic, four secondary accents (Indigo, Lime, Rose, Ignite) for flexibility without losing coherence, a Plum secondary background for institutional or editorial layouts, and two gradients (Sunset and Radiant) for moments that need depth. We defined a two-mode iconography system with a monochromatic small-scale version for inline use next to text, and a two-colour graphic-scale version (Indigo with Ignite on light backgrounds, Bright Snow with Lime on dark) for slides and feature highlights, drawing on the Google Material Library as a base and adding ten custom alternates for cases where the standard library fell short.

The graphic system extends the logomark itself into a primary visual element. An oversized gradient-stroke version of the four-arrow shape (with construction documented down to the Illustrator-level steps) becomes the brand's signature background treatment, and an outlined repeating pattern provides a quieter alternative for stationery and digital backgrounds. Photography direction was set toward abstract sculptural imagery (folded textures, fluid forms, light interplay), with a clear rule that photos sit inside the expanded logomark shape rather than being cropped to it. All of this was documented in a lean brand guidelines book organised so a new hire who has never seen the brand can produce a correct asset on day one.

OUR PROCESS

Started from the existing logomark and the strategic idea behind it

Designed the system outward: logo rules, typography, color, iconography, graphic vocabulary

Kept the guidelines lean enough to be read and used, not just filed

Documented everything down to the level a new hire could produce a correct asset on day one

OUR TOOLS

Visual Identity

Logo Design

Typography

Colour Palette

Iconography

Graphic System

Photography Direction

Brand Guidelines & Toolkits

Build the system around what already worked

The Challenge

The four-arrow logomark and the strategic idea behind it (intelligent convergence) were our starting point for the identity. The brand needed a system around them: rules for the logo at every scale, a typographic foundation, a colour palette with documented behaviour, an iconography approach, and a graphic vocabulary the team could reach for. The constraint was scope. This was a sprint, not a deep-dive system, so the guidelines had to be lean enough to be read and used, but rigorous enough to actually hold the brand together.

What we did

We crafted a new logo and documented its lockup, clear-space, positioning rules, and the full set of approved colour treatments across primary and secondary palettes. We set Acid Grotesk as the primary typeface for its tall x-height and broad weight range, with Schibsted Grotesk and Verdana defined as Google and system fallbacks so the brand stays consistent in environments where the primary licence cannot load.

The colour system runs on three primary cosmic blues anchored by a deep navy named Cosmic, four secondary accents (Indigo, Lime, Rose, Ignite) for flexibility without losing coherence, a Plum secondary background for institutional or editorial layouts, and two gradients (Sunset and Radiant) for moments that need depth. We defined a two-mode iconography system with a monochromatic small-scale version for inline use next to text, and a two-colour graphic-scale version (Indigo with Ignite on light backgrounds, Bright Snow with Lime on dark) for slides and feature highlights, drawing on the Google Material Library as a base and adding ten custom alternates for cases where the standard library fell short.

The graphic system extends the logomark itself into a primary visual element. An oversized gradient-stroke version of the four-arrow shape (with construction documented down to the Illustrator-level steps) becomes the brand's signature background treatment, and an outlined repeating pattern provides a quieter alternative for stationery and digital backgrounds. Photography direction was set toward abstract sculptural imagery (folded textures, fluid forms, light interplay), with a clear rule that photos sit inside the expanded logomark shape rather than being cropped to it. All of this was documented in a lean brand guidelines book organised so a new hire who has never seen the brand can produce a correct asset on day one.

OUR PROCESS

Started from the existing logomark and the strategic idea behind it

Designed the system outward: logo rules, typography, color, iconography, graphic vocabulary

Kept the guidelines lean enough to be read and used, not just filed

Documented everything down to the level a new hire could produce a correct asset on day one

OUR TOOLS

Visual Identity

Logo Design

Typography

Colour Palette

Iconography

Graphic System

Photography Direction

Brand Guidelines & Toolkits

Build the system around what already worked

The Challenge

The four-arrow logomark and the strategic idea behind it (intelligent convergence) were our starting point for the identity. The brand needed a system around them: rules for the logo at every scale, a typographic foundation, a colour palette with documented behaviour, an iconography approach, and a graphic vocabulary the team could reach for. The constraint was scope. This was a sprint, not a deep-dive system, so the guidelines had to be lean enough to be read and used, but rigorous enough to actually hold the brand together.

What we did

We crafted a new logo and documented its lockup, clear-space, positioning rules, and the full set of approved colour treatments across primary and secondary palettes. We set Acid Grotesk as the primary typeface for its tall x-height and broad weight range, with Schibsted Grotesk and Verdana defined as Google and system fallbacks so the brand stays consistent in environments where the primary licence cannot load.

The colour system runs on three primary cosmic blues anchored by a deep navy named Cosmic, four secondary accents (Indigo, Lime, Rose, Ignite) for flexibility without losing coherence, a Plum secondary background for institutional or editorial layouts, and two gradients (Sunset and Radiant) for moments that need depth. We defined a two-mode iconography system with a monochromatic small-scale version for inline use next to text, and a two-colour graphic-scale version (Indigo with Ignite on light backgrounds, Bright Snow with Lime on dark) for slides and feature highlights, drawing on the Google Material Library as a base and adding ten custom alternates for cases where the standard library fell short.

The graphic system extends the logomark itself into a primary visual element. An oversized gradient-stroke version of the four-arrow shape (with construction documented down to the Illustrator-level steps) becomes the brand's signature background treatment, and an outlined repeating pattern provides a quieter alternative for stationery and digital backgrounds. Photography direction was set toward abstract sculptural imagery (folded textures, fluid forms, light interplay), with a clear rule that photos sit inside the expanded logomark shape rather than being cropped to it. All of this was documented in a lean brand guidelines book organised so a new hire who has never seen the brand can produce a correct asset on day one.

OUR PROCESS

Started from the existing logomark and the strategic idea behind it

Designed the system outward: logo rules, typography, color, iconography, graphic vocabulary

Kept the guidelines lean enough to be read and used, not just filed

Documented everything down to the level a new hire could produce a correct asset on day one

OUR TOOLS

Visual Identity

Logo Design

Typography

Colour Palette

Iconography

Graphic System

Photography Direction

Brand Guidelines & Toolkits

Equip the team to run on its own

The Challenge

A guidelines book that lives in a folder is not a brand. 4Minds was producing branded materials continuously, and the system had to translate immediately into the formats the team actually used. The handover also had to address work that had already been produced, so that the in-house designer was set up to bring earlier outputs into alignment rather than starting over.

What we did

We built a compact set of operational templates: a PowerPoint master with six base layouts (title, section divider, text/image mix, chart, simple table, closing) plus designed live slide layouts for the team's recurring needs, a Word template with cover and body text styles, and a LinkedIn banner. We reviewed the work the in-house team had produced and shared topline recommendations for refinement against the new guidelines. The engagement closed with a two-hour handover session with the internal designer, walking through the rules, the templates, and the rationale behind the decisions, so the system would be carried forward by the people using it day to day.

OUR PROCESS

Audited the formats the team actually used day to day

Built operational templates around those recurring needs

Reviewed work already produced so the designer could align

Closed with a two-hour handover so the system lives with the people using it

OUR TOOLS

Brand Applications

Collateral & Stationery

Stakeholder Handover Decks

Implementation Handbooks

Training

Equip the team to run on its own

The Challenge

A guidelines book that lives in a folder is not a brand. 4Minds was producing branded materials continuously, and the system had to translate immediately into the formats the team actually used. The handover also had to address work that had already been produced, so that the in-house designer was set up to bring earlier outputs into alignment rather than starting over.

What we did

We built a compact set of operational templates: a PowerPoint master with six base layouts (title, section divider, text/image mix, chart, simple table, closing) plus designed live slide layouts for the team's recurring needs, a Word template with cover and body text styles, and a LinkedIn banner. We reviewed the work the in-house team had produced and shared topline recommendations for refinement against the new guidelines. The engagement closed with a two-hour handover session with the internal designer, walking through the rules, the templates, and the rationale behind the decisions, so the system would be carried forward by the people using it day to day.

OUR PROCESS

Audited the formats the team actually used day to day

Built operational templates around those recurring needs

Reviewed work already produced so the designer could align

Closed with a two-hour handover so the system lives with the people using it

OUR TOOLS

Brand Applications

Collateral & Stationery

Stakeholder Handover Decks

Implementation Handbooks

Training

Equip the team to run on its own

The Challenge

A guidelines book that lives in a folder is not a brand. 4Minds was producing branded materials continuously, and the system had to translate immediately into the formats the team actually used. The handover also had to address work that had already been produced, so that the in-house designer was set up to bring earlier outputs into alignment rather than starting over.

What we did

We built a compact set of operational templates: a PowerPoint master with six base layouts (title, section divider, text/image mix, chart, simple table, closing) plus designed live slide layouts for the team's recurring needs, a Word template with cover and body text styles, and a LinkedIn banner. We reviewed the work the in-house team had produced and shared topline recommendations for refinement against the new guidelines. The engagement closed with a two-hour handover session with the internal designer, walking through the rules, the templates, and the rationale behind the decisions, so the system would be carried forward by the people using it day to day.

OUR PROCESS

Audited the formats the team actually used day to day

Built operational templates around those recurring needs

Reviewed work already produced so the designer could align

Closed with a two-hour handover so the system lives with the people using it

OUR TOOLS

Brand Applications

Collateral & Stationery

Stakeholder Handover Decks

Implementation Handbooks

Training

Related Case-Studies:

Related Case-Studies: