J A Kemp is an intellectual property firm packed with patent and trademark attorneys at the top of their game; it is a practice that has been built on the solid foundations of legal and scientific excellence.

This expertise has attracted a global client base of innovators and organisations at the cutting edge of technology, and new and successful brands. The firm is also a popular choice for trainee attorneys and lateral hires seeking a rewarding career in an internationally recognised IP firm.

In 2022, the leadership team identified that the ‘look and feel’ of the brand was not aligned with either the client experience or the employee experience. The website was starting to creak; it was difficult to keep up to date and, whilst technically accurate and full of good content, did not convey how it felt to work with the firm and its people.

There began a thoughtful and thorough journey towards a rebrand that would capture the spirit of J A Kemp as well as its expertise and credentials. It also provided an opportunity to unify communications across offices and platforms, from websites and webinars to case studies and collateral.

Insights first

The first step was extensive qualitative and quantitative research with clients and staff. One-to-one interviews, focus groups and online surveys gave a detailed insight into external and internal sentiment – and this research echoed the sense of misalignment.

Feedback and findings indicated the brand “lacked confidence” and “doesn’t match the client experience”.

Clients cited a warmth and friendliness when working with the firm – “bright, caring and understanding”, “very pleasant people” – attributes that did not consistently come across in the old brand. There was also a strong sense of accountability, of “being in it together” and a genuine shared purpose.

Internally, the firm was seen as modest, confident, and a “robust safety net” for navigating the complexities of intellectual property. The research with staff and partners also highlighted a friendly, approachable and understated culture.

With the research complete, J A Kemp appointed Philosophy in 2024 to review and evolve the findings and to translate them into a new brand identity, working with the firm’s project steering group, partners Graham Lewis and James Fish, and head of marketing and business development, Claire Wright.

The goal was to evolve the firm’s identity to better reflect what it already is: a market leader in intellectual property services. The outcome is a wholly refreshed visual identity, with a new logo, colour palette and imagery, supported by a new brand proposition and Employee Value Proposition (EVP).

A contemporary new visual identity

The visual identity has been carefully developed to express confident, understated elegance, centred around intelligence, precision and technical excellence. A strong, contemporary logotype, it is a distinctive wordmark designed to convey professionalism and clarity.

The colour palette balances personality with professionalism and is designed to reflect the firm’s character. A range of green hues communicates vitality, imagination and trust, from calm, grounding tones to a brighter accent colour symbolising renewal and adaptability. These are complemented by warm sand shades that introduce a relaxed, dependable quality.

Brand graphics draw inspiration from the Bauhaus principle that ‘form follows function’, using pure geometric shapes. This approach distils complex ideas into the square, circle and triangle: the foundation of the brand assets. These abstract forms also appear in the new brand imagery reflecting a commitment to quality and innovation, while new portrait photography captures the team’s approachability and friendliness. Overall, the brand identity is designed to work seamlessly across different media.