TRACE Trauma Research

Sector
Trauma research
Year
2025
Kit
Brand Kit
Scope
Logo and lockups, colorways, color, typography, imagery direction, presentation templates, giveaways, brand guide
Two round TRACE stickers on lilac paper: a glossy white one with the navy brain icon, its edge starting to peel, and a navy one with the icon in pale lines

01 · The brief

TRACE stands for Trauma Research and Clinical Engagement: research into trauma, and the clinical work that goes with it.

It came with the name and the long form of it, and no visual identity. The work would have to sit on academic slides and conference stages as well as on a hoodie.

The challenge

  1. Feel grounded in science without going cold.
  2. Stay gentle on a subject people come to in distress.
  3. Hold a long name and tagline in one clear lockup.
TRACE Trauma Research brand identity in use

02 · Sketch

Drawn by hand first

Every Brand Kit starts here, on my iPad, before any vector work.

Two sheets of TRACE logo explorations in black line: ten marks where a looping brain sits over a trailing line, some inside circles, some on a gray fill; and eight more where the brain is closed into a circle, drawn as a speech bubble with a pink or blue fill, or left as a loose open loop
Sketch
TRACE logo: a navy line drawing of a brain, looped like yarn with a thread trailing below, over a soft lilac blob, beside TRACE and Trauma Research and Clinical Engagement in lilac
Final logo

03 · Color & type

  • Soft Reflection
    Hex
    #F1EBF7
    RGB
    241 235 247
    CMYK
    4 7 0 0
  • Deep Inquiry
    Hex
    #182F59
    RGB
    24 47 89
    CMYK
    100 88 37 30
  • Shadowed Thought
    Hex
    #35274A
    RGB
    53 39 74
    CMYK
    83 88 42 41
  • Healing Memory
    Hex
    #BEA3D3
    RGB
    190 163 211
    CMYK
    24 37 0 0
  • Gentle Awareness
    Hex
    #E5DAEF
    RGB
    229 218 239
    CMYK
    8 13 0 0

04 · In use

Six TRACE presentation slides: Informative Sub-Headline on navy with swirls, IMPORTANT HEADLINE in lilac beside a swirl panel, a 01 section slide with the paper brain and a small logo, a quote over a dark blue watercolor profile, a lilac closing slide with the long logo, and a text slide beside the watercolor group TRACE giveaways: a lilac hoodie from the front with the icon on a round patch and from the back with the full lockup, and two round stickers with the icon, one pale and one navy, on a lilac ground
Pages of the TRACE Trauma Research brand guide laid out as a mosaic

05 · Handover

What they left with

  • Logo variations, colorways and recommended use
  • Do's and don'ts
  • Color palette
  • Typography
  • Imagery direction
  • Presentation design grids
  • Branded mockups
  • PDF
  • PNG
  • JPG
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