Case 005Logo Design2025

A logo for an architecture studio. Drawn the way they design — every angle considered, nothing left to chance.

UNQ is a design-forward architecture studio. Their work is defined by clean geometry, honest materials, and lived-in spaces that feel both modern and unmistakably intentional. They needed a mark that spoke with the same confidence as the buildings they design.

UNQ wordmark on a concrete exterior wall
Fig. 01 The wordmark in its native habitat — applied to concrete, at the scale of a building.
03 / Brief
The Brief

a single mark that says everything.

04 / Principles
Principles

clarity. character. simplicity.

01 — Clarity

instantly readable.

No second glance, no decoding. The mark reads at 32 pixels and at four meters with the same legibility.

02 — Character

distinctive without being decorative.

Every angle considered, every negative space earned. Nothing for effect. The shape is the personality.

03 — Simplicity

strip away everything unnecessary.

Custom-drawn from scratch. Reduced to the smallest set of strokes the name could survive.

05 / Wordmark
UNQ wordmark — custom-drawn lowercase logotype
Custom-DrawnLowercaseSingle Weight
UNQ wordmark embossed on charcoal paper
Fig. 02 Embossed without ink. The mark exists as a shadow — the same way good architecture exists in light and material.
06 / Approach
The Approach

drawn like a floor plan.

Architecture studios live and die by the details — and their logo should too. The starting point was the lettering itself. Rather than choosing an existing typeface and tweaking it, the wordmark was custom-drawn from scratch, treating each letter like a floor plan: every angle, every proportion, every negative space considered.

The lowercase treatment was a deliberate choice. It softens the mark without weakening it, giving it an approachable confidence — the visual equivalent of an architect who lets their work speak louder than their ego. The result is a wordmark that feels both engineered and human.

The “q” became the defining character. Its tail extends into the space below the baseline, creating a subtle asymmetry that keeps the mark from feeling rigid. It's the kind of detail you notice on a second look — and that's exactly the point. Good architecture rewards closer inspection, and this logo does the same.

Laptop on a concrete plinth showing the UNQ wordmark on screen
Fig. 03 The mark on screen. The studio's primary digital surface — proposals, presentations, and project archives.
07 / Palette

five values. no colour.

Restrained and material-driven — concrete, steel, and paper. The palette lets the architecture, not the branding, be the loudest thing in the room.

obsidian

#1A1A1A

concrete

#3D3D3D

steel

#6B6B6B

ash

#B0B0B0

paper

#F0EFED
08 / NotesOn the Work
a good logo represents you before you walk in the room.

— Notes on UNQ, 2025

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