Slate & Pure — Brand Transformation

01 — The Challenge

Exceptional work.
An invisible brand.

Clare Whitmore had built Slate & Pure over eight years from a one-woman domestic cleaning round in Norwich into a team of twelve, taking on commercial contracts with offices, letting agents, and end-of-tenancy cleans across Norfolk. Her team's reputation was spotless — clients renewed contracts year after year and referrals came steadily.

But her brand looked like it had been put together on a lunch break in 2014. A neon teal logo with a soapy-bubble clip-art motif, yellow sticker-style taglines, and a website in a font last seen on a WhatsApp sticker pack. It was disorganised, visually loud, and completely at odds with the level of service Clare and her team actually delivered.

Worse: the brand was actively losing her commercial work. Two facilities managers had told Clare separately that they'd almost not called because the website "didn't look professional." She'd been leaving money on the table for years, simply because her visual identity wasn't keeping up with her ability.

✕
Logo used clip-art suds, neon teal, and yellow — loud, chaotic, no premium signal whatsoever
✕
Website had no clear service split between domestic and commercial — prospects couldn't self-select
✕
No brand guidelines — van livery, uniforms, and invoices all looked completely different from each other
✕
Business cards printed on thin stock at a discount print shop with no bleed, wrong CMYK values, and a pixelated logo
✕
Zero corporate clothing beyond a green polo — no visual brand presence on-site during cleans
✕
Google Business profile had no photos, incomplete address, and four reviews — two of which Clare hadn't responded to

Before & After

Before — Old Brand

🫧

ClearShine

We Clean It Right!

Clip-art bubble icon, Arial Black
Neon teal + yellow — zero premium signal
Exclamation mark in tagline
No scalable vector file in existence
Inconsistent on every surface
Immediately dated

After — New Brand

S&P

SLATE & PURE

Precision. Presence. Pure.

Geometric monogram mark — scales from embroidery to signage
Full grayscale palette — 6 tones, one ice-white accent
Supplied in SVG, PDF, PNG — all variants
24-page brand guidelines included
Premium, timeless — commands trust instantly
Consistent across every touchpoint

The strategic shift

Clare wasn't rebranding to look trendy. She was rebranding to stop losing commercial contracts to competitors who looked the part. The grayscale palette wasn't a design choice — it was a business decision. Grey signals precision, reliability, and professionalism. It's the colour of polished surfaces, stainless steel, and architectural detail. Exactly what her clients needed to see.

02 — What We Delivered

Seven deliverables.
One unified identity.

Brand Guidelines

A 24-page identity system document covering the full grayscale palette (Ink through Pure), typographic hierarchy using DM Mono and Cormorant Garamond, monogram construction rules, logo clear space, tone of voice, and do/don't application examples for all surfaces.

Foundation Document

Logo & Monogram System

A geometric square monogram mark (S&P) with double keyline detail, paired with a tracked Poppins wordmark and Cormorant Garamond italic tagline. Supplied in primary, reversed, and stacked variants across SVG, PDF, and all PNG sizes.

Primary · Reversed · Stacked · Icon-Only

Business Cards

UK-standard 85 × 55mm double-sided card on 400gsm board with soft-touch lamination. Ink-black front with monogram mark and wordmark; Mist-white reverse with Clare's contact details, service line, and Est. mark. Print-ready CMYK files included.

Print-Ready · 400gsm Spec

Corporate Clothing

Embroidery-ready artwork for slate-grey polo shirts and dark navy work jackets, with precise logo placement guides, approved thread colour references (Madeira 9801 Silver, 9000 Black), and sizing specifications for chest and sleeve positions.

Embroidery-Ready Artwork

Van Livery Design

Full vehicle wrap template for Clare's two Volkswagen Transporters — a clean, minimal layout on gloss black vinyl: oversized monogram mark, wordmark, and contact details in silver and ice-white. Approved and sent to a Norwich wrap specialist within the project timeline.

Vehicle Wrap · Gloss Black Vinyl

Stationery Suite

Branded quote template, invoice header, and email signature — all in the Slate & Pure identity, ensuring every client touchpoint from first enquiry to payment request felt consistent and considered. Supplied as editable Word and Google Docs files.

Quote · Invoice · Email Signature

Brand Rollout Support

A 75-minute handover session walking Clare and her office manager through every file, naming convention, and supplier recommendation. We also updated her Google Business profile, set up her review-request workflow, and supported the van livery briefing to the wrap studio.

White-Glove Handover

Colour System

Ink

#0F0F0F

Slate

#3A3A3A

Mid

#6B6B6B

Silver

#A8A8A8

Fog

#D4D4D4

Pure

#E8EFEE — accent

Six tones. One accent. No colour outside this system — ever.

Typography

Slate

& Pure, refined.

Poppins Bold for all headings and the wordmark — authoritative, geometric, modern. Cormorant Garamond Italic for taglines and editorial accents — precise restraint.

DM Mono — reference codes, addresses & technical details

Font Stack

Poppins 700 — Wordmark
Poppins 400/600 — Body
Cormorant Garamond 400i — Accents
DM Mono 400 — Technical

Logo — Dark Variant

S&P

SLATE & PURE

Precision. Presence. Pure.

On Ink · On Slate · On Fog

SLATE & PURE

Light background variant

Stationery

S&P

SLATE & PURE

Precision. Presence. Pure.

Clare Whitmore

Founder & Director

07XXX XXX XXX
clare@slateandpure.co.uk
Norwich, Norfolk

Established 2016 · Fully Insured

Business Card Specification

UK-standard 85 × 55mm, printed on 400gsm board with soft-touch laminate on both faces. Every detail — from the keyline border to the monogram construction — drawn from the brand guidelines.

400gsm premium board · Soft-touch laminate
Ink-black front, Mist-white reverse
CMYK print-ready files supplied
500-unit first run completed within timeline
Matching compliments slip and letterhead

03 — How We Worked

Seven weeks.
Zero compromise.

Clare had tried to brief a local designer twice before and walked away both times — once because they couldn't understand what "professional but approachable" meant for a cleaning company, and once because they delivered a logo with no source files. We started with a blank sheet and a single question: what should Slate & Pure feel like to a facilities manager opening your proposal?

Week 1

Discovery & Naming Strategy

A two-hour strategy session with Clare and her office manager. We workshopped the renaming — she'd been trading as "ClearShine" for years but always felt it sounded domestic and cheap. Slate & Pure emerged from a mood-board exercise around materials, precision, and trust. Clare confirmed it in under ten minutes.

Week 2

Palette & Brand Strategy

We presented three colour directions. Clare chose the grayscale route unanimously — she specifically wanted something that would look right on the side of a van, on a quote document, and on a set of embroidered polo shirts simultaneously. The "Pure" ice-white accent was added in response to her request for something that nodded to the cleaning world without being literal about it.

Week 3

Logo & Monogram Development

Two directions presented: a text-only tracked wordmark, and the geometric monogram mark combined with the wordmark. Clare chose the monogram — she specifically needed something that would work as a small embroidered chest badge without losing legibility. We refined the double keyline and tested it at embroidery size before sign-off.

Weeks 4–5

All Touchpoints in Parallel

Brand guidelines, business cards, corporate clothing artwork, and van livery were all developed simultaneously using the approved identity. Physical proofs of the business cards were reviewed and approved by Clare before the full 500-unit run was confirmed.

Week 6

Stationery, Digital & Google

Quote template, invoice header, and email signature produced and handed over as editable files. Google Business profile updated with new brand assets, photography guidance, and a review-request template that Clare could send to existing clients immediately after the rebrand went live.

Week 7

Handover & Van Livery Brief

Full asset handover in a structured Google Drive folder, with a 75-minute walkthrough call. We attended the van livery briefing with Clare's chosen wrap studio in Norwich to ensure the artwork translated correctly to vinyl — something we consider part of the service, not an extra.

04 — Measured Results

The numbers,
four months on.

All figures drawn from Clare's own enquiry log, CRM records, Google Business analytics, and website session data. Compared against the equivalent period in the twelve months preceding the rebrand.

+74%

4-month uplift

Total enquiries received

Clare averaged 11 new enquiries per month before the rebrand. In the four months following launch, that rose to an average of 19 per month — a 74% uplift. The two primary drivers were the new van livery generating cold inbound calls, and the updated Google Business profile appearing more prominently in local search results after we added accurate service categories and photography guidance.

+55%

Avg. contract value

Average value of contracts won

The average value of cleaning contracts Clare was winning increased from approximately £820 to £1,270 — a 55% rise. This reflects both a shift in the calibre of enquiry (more commercial, less one-off domestic) and Clare's own increased confidence in presenting premium-tier proposals using the new branded quote template. She raised her rates by 12% at rebrand launch and retained all existing clients.

3×

Commercial leads

Commercial & B2B enquiry volume

Before the rebrand, Clare received an average of 2 commercial or B2B enquiries per month — mostly letting agents and small offices. In the four months following the rebrand, that rose to 6 per month — a threefold increase. The van livery, revised Google Business profile description, and the brand's inherent shift toward a corporate aesthetic all contributed. Clare converted 4 of the first 6 commercial enquiries, adding over £18,000 in annual contract value in the first quarter alone.

+91%

Website conversion

Website enquiry form conversion rate

As part of the Google Business profile update, we also updated the website's above-the-fold content to align with the new brand, added a clearer domestic/commercial service split in the navigation, and ensured the brand logo rendered correctly on all devices. The enquiry form conversion rate rose from 1.4% to 2.7% — a 91% improvement — in the first 60 days. Clare attributes a significant portion of this to prospects arriving from the vans feeling more confident they'd found the right company.

4→38

Google reviews

Google Business reviews — from 4 to 38 in 90 days

At rebrand launch, Clare's Google Business profile had just 4 reviews accumulated over eight years. Using the review-request template we supplied, Clare began systematically asking clients for reviews after every completed job. In 90 days she went from 4 reviews to 38, all rated 4 or 5 stars, with an average of 4.9. She now ranks as the highest-rated cleaning company in Norwich on Google — a visibility advantage that continues to compound month on month.

£18k+

New contracts Q1

New commercial contract value added in first quarter post-rebrand

Clare added four new commercial contracts in the first 90 days: two office cleans, one end-of-tenancy retainer with a Norwich letting agent, and a weekly clean for a 12-unit serviced apartment block. Combined annual value: over £18,400. The letting agent contract was Clare's largest single win to date — secured specifically because the new quote document and brand presence gave her an edge in a three-way pitch. The rebrand has paid for itself many times over.

12%

Rate increase applied at rebrand launch — and retained by every existing client

Clare raised her day rates by 12% the week the new brand went live. Not one client left. The brand gave her the confidence — and the justification.

500

Business cards distributed in the first six weeks

The full print run was distributed in 42 days — at quotes, site visits, and community networking events. Reprint ordered before the handover call ended.

7 wks

Concept to launch — every deliverable, on time

Brand guidelines, logo suite, business cards, clothing artwork, van livery, stationery, and Google profile — all delivered within the agreed seven-week window.

05 — Project Scope

Everything that was included.

Deliverable	What was produced	Format	Included
Brand Guidelines	24-page visual identity system — palette, typography, logo usage, tone of voice, and application examples	PDF, editable DOCX	✓
Logo & Monogram	Geometric monogram mark, full wordmark, stacked and icon-only variants in all colour versions	SVG, PDF, PNG (all sizes)	✓
Business Cards	Double-sided UK-standard card, front (Ink) and back (Mist), with bleed and CMYK values for soft-touch print	PDF print-ready, HTML preview	✓
Corporate Clothing	Embroidery-ready artwork for polo shirts and work jackets, with thread references and placement guides	PDF, SVG (embroidery-ready)	✓
Van Livery	Full wrap template for two VW Transporters — gloss black vinyl, silver and ice-white artwork	PDF (print-ready, scaled to spec)	✓
Stationery Suite	Branded quote template, invoice header, compliments slip, and email signature in Slate & Pure identity	DOCX, Google Docs, HTML	✓
Google Business Profile	Profile updated with new brand assets, service descriptions, category optimisation, and review-request template	Live update + template PDF	✓
Brand Handover	75-minute video walkthrough, structured Google Drive folder, supplier recommendations, and 30-day follow-up	Recorded session + notes	✓

Cleaning up more than just the floors.

Exceptional work.An invisible brand.

Seven deliverables.One unified identity.

Seven weeks.Zero compromise.

The numbers,four months on.

Everything that was included.

Exceptional work.
An invisible brand.

Seven deliverables.
One unified identity.

Seven weeks.
Zero compromise.

The numbers,
four months on.