Brand Insights is the editorial channel where Inkbot Design publishes thinking that exists outside the service structure — commentary on significant rebrands, analysis of shifts in the B2B marketing landscape, observations on how artificial intelligence is changing the practice of brand strategy and visual identity, and the occasional opinion piece on what the industry is getting badly wrong.
The branding industry generates a lot of noise. Trend reports are written by trend analysts rather than by project executors. Opinions are shaped by what generates engagement rather than by what is true. Awards that reward visual novelty over strategic rigour.
Brand Insights is the counter to that — a space for the kind of thinking that develops when you have 17+ years of agency practice to draw on and no particular incentive to tell people what they want to hear.
Stuart Crawford writes from Belfast, where Inkbot Design has operated since its founding, and from client engagements across 21 countries. The perspective is always practitioner-first: what is actually happening in brand strategy, what is working, what is failing, and why.
If you want polished takes from someone who observes the industry from the outside, there are plenty of those available.
If you want the view from inside a working branding agency that has run strategy workshops, designed identity systems, and managed global rebrands in the same week, this is it.
Paul Rand didn’t just design logos; he engineered corporate identities that lasted decades. We reveal the technical and psychological principles behind his most famous work, from IBM to NeXT, and why his “Design is Everything” mantra is more relevant in 2026 than ever.
Most entrepreneurs treat fonts as an afterthought. Adrian Frutiger treated them as a mathematical solution to human communication. From the “Frutiger Grid” to the signage at Charles de Gaulle, we explore why this Swiss master’s work is the blueprint for your brand’s visual clarity.
A forensic breakdown of the essential branding tools for modern agencies. From strategy and visual identity to asset management and AI, we cut through the hype to find the software that actually pays for itself.
This guide profiles the 7 best professional alternatives to Adobe Illustrator, focusing on true vector fidelity, CMYK print readiness, and the long-term cost of ownership for entrepreneurs and SMBs who demand real-world precision.
Choosing the right hardware isn’t about aesthetics; it’s about billable efficiency. Inkbot Design reviews the 7 best laptops for designers, focusing on screen accuracy, thermal performance, and ROI.
As a design agency owner, I’ve bought both. My verdict? The Apple Pencil is a specialist’s instrument. The Logitech Crayon is the durable, cost-effective workhorse for 90% of business and design tasks. This is the no-nonsense guide to which one you should actually buy.
Stop chasing the “magic pen.” As a brand consultant, I’ve seen more bad ideas sketched with expensive tools than I care to count. The right pen isn’t about price; it’s about purpose. Here’s my no-nonsense breakdown of the 7 best sketching pens that actually serve the graphic design process, from logo concept to vector.
Wondering which graphic design style fits your brand? We break down 20 iconic movements, from Art Nouveau to Flat Design, with real-world advice for entrepreneurs. Learn the difference between a style that looks ‘cool’ and a style that actually works.
This guide provides the real-world, practical difference between raster (Photoshop) and vector (Illustrator) formats and explains which one your business actually needs to avoid wasting thousands.
I’ve spent over a decade running a design agency, and this is my practical, filtered, no-rubbish list of the 25 tools that actually power a creative business. We’ll cover the titans (Adobe, Figma), the potent challengers (Affinity, Procreate), and the productivity tools that stop your projects from catching fire.
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