Overview
We systematically design everything from brand strategy establishment to naming, verbal identity, visual identity, and guideline documents.
We support full design of a new brand identity, rebranding/renewal of an existing brand, standalone brand naming development, slogan/tagline development, tone and manner guide design, visual identity design, and brand guideline document generation.
Scope of Responsibility (Boundary Contract)
This skill is dedicated to personal branding deliverables. — It focuses on creating brand deliverables (naming candidates, slogans, tone and manner guides, brand guide documents). Brand system construction (design token system, DTCG token architecture, brand system SSOT, Claude Design integration) is handled by the design plugin's design-brand-system skill (boundary contract: "deliverables=cowork, system=design"). If system construction is needed, connect to moai-designer:design-brand-system.
Trigger Keywords
create a brand, brand identity, brand naming, naming, slogan, tagline, tone and manner, brand guidelines, logo concept, CI design, brand strategy, brand positioning, rebranding, brand renewal, corporate branding, brand story, brand color, brand voice
Practical Brand Naming·Identity Patterns (Korean Market)
A good brand name·slogan reduces marketing advertising costs. A poorly chosen name will be repaid with doubled advertising costs for a lifetime.
6 Core Patterns
① 5 Naming Principles That Reduce Advertising Costs (Korean Shops·Companies)
| Principle | Bad Example | Good Example |
|---|---|---|
| Search-friendly | "Happy Cafe" (not searchable) | "Karrot Market" (unique + category) |
| Easy to pronounce | "Franciscanes" | "Toss" (2-4 character baseline) |
| Consistent notation | Mixed use of "E-mart / 이마트" | Consistent "Kakao" |
| Trademark verification | Unconfirmed on KIPRIS → dispute | Verification required before filing |
| Scalability | "OO Gimbap Shop" → gimbap only | "OO" → category expansion possible |
Korea-specific pitfalls: Non-compliance with foreign word notation ("커피숖" X), homophones (especially associations with profanity), meaning distortion when converted to Chinese characters.
② Distinguishing Slogan·Manifesto·Tone and Manner
| Category | Length | Channels used | Korean cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slogan | Within 10 characters | TVCF·outdoor·SNS | "When looking for a room, Zigbang" / "Banking made easy and convenient, Toss" |
| Tagline | 5-15자 | Logo bottom·signature | "Today, anything is possible" |
| Manifesto | 200-500자 | About·Home·Brand book | Company belief statement |
| Tone and manner | Guidelines | All content | Rulebook of tone·taboo words·required words |
③ Brand context 7 elements for the Korean market (required before work)
Before starting work, collect the following items:
- Business area (required)
- Target customer (age·gender·lifestyle·core needs)
- 2-3 competing brands (benchmarks)
- Brand direction (3 image keywords)
- Existing fixed elements (already decided name·color·logo)
- Business stage (startup·mid-sized·large enterprise)
- Budget·manpower (naming only vs full package)
④ Naming SMILE evaluation 5 axes
| 축 | Evaluation |
|---|---|
| Simple | Is it short and simple? |
| Meaningful | Is the meaning clear? |
| Interesting | Does it spark curiosity and memory? |
| Legal | Is there no trademark·domain conflict? |
| Endurance | Will it still be valid in 5-10 years? |
Each on a 5-point scale → 25 points maximum. Candidates Generate 15 or more → SMILE evaluation → TOP 3 recommendations. Korean business registration name·KIPRIS search required.
⑤ Tone and manner matrix by category (Korea)
| Category | 톤 | Korean cases |
|---|---|---|
| Food·F&B | Friendly·warm·cozy | Bonjuk·Samlip·Lee Chun-mu Buckwheat Noodles |
| Fashion·beauty | Trendy·refined·free-spirited | Musinsa·Olive Young·Style Nanda |
| IT·SaaS | Clear·professional·concise | Toss·Karrot·Notion |
| Education | Trustworthy·warm·encouraging | QANDA·Santa TOEIC·Hackers |
| B2B | Formal·accurate·professional | NHN·Samil KPMG·Samsung SDS |
| Lifestyle | Sincere·calm | Market Kurly·Today's House |
A direction different from the category tone = a signal of intentional differentiation (e.g., Toss broke fintech's formality).
⑥ 5 branding steps starting with 0 won (early startups)
- Finalize positioning in one line: "OO that OOs" formula (When looking for a room, Zigbang / Banking made easy and convenient, Toss)
- Consistently run free channels: Instagram·blog·X: same tone·visuals
- Reflect customer feedback immediately: persona hypothesis → validation cycle
- PR·virality first: 0 won in ad spend, exposure through testimonials·reviews·press articles
- Embodied brand expression: The founder personally speaks through SNS and interviews
Additional checklist for Korean business registration
- KIPRIS trademark search (both applications and registrations)
- Secure domains .com / .kr / .co.kr
- Whether the KakaoTalk channel ID is available for use
- Secure the same handle on Instagram, X, and YouTube
- Check profanity and related search terms (Naver, Google)
- Whether there are issues when pronounced in other languages (English, Chinese, Japanese)
💡 The most common Korean branding failures: (1) Generic nouns that can't be searched (2) Inconsistent spelling (3) Unverified trademarks → disputes. It is common to name a brand, advertise for 2 months, then discard everything due to a trademark dispute.
Workflow
Pre-collection: Brand context checklist
Before starting work, check the following items. If required items are missing, propose 3 directions to guide the selection.
| Item | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Business area | Required | Product/service type, industry |
| Target customer | Recommended | Age, gender, lifestyle, core needs |
| Competitor brands | Recommended | 2-3 brands to benchmark |
| Brand direction | Recommended | Desired image keywords |
| Existing fixed elements | Optional | Already decided brand name, color, logo, etc. |
Step 1: Market analysis and competitor benchmarking
Analyze the market status of the relevant industry and benchmark 3 or more competitor brands. Derive differentiation opportunities compared to competitors.
Step 2: Brand strategy
Perform positioning map design, target persona development, archetype selection, and brand essence (mission, vision, core values) definition.
Step 3: Naming
Generate at least 15 naming candidates and quantitatively evaluate them with the SMILE assessment. Provide domain/trademark pre-verification guidance and recommend the TOP 3.
Step 4: Verbal identity
Perform slogan/tagline development (at least 5 each), brand story writing (300/500/1000 character versions), and tone and manner guide design.
Step 5: Visual identity
Perform color system design (60-30-10 rule, WCAG AA compliance), typography selection, and logo concept proposals (2 or more).
Step 6: Brand guideline document generation
Integrate the deliverables from Steps 1-5 and generate a guideline document including channel-specific application guides and a brand glossary.
Usage examples
| Request | Execution scope |
|---|---|
| "Create an eco-friendly household goods brand. Target women in their 20s-30s, premium" | Full pipeline (all Steps 1-6) |
| "Do pet care startup brand naming for me" | Steps 1-3 (Strategy + Naming) |
| "I decided on the brand name 'Greenery.' Create a slogan and tone and manner for me" | Step 4 (Verbal Identity) |
| "Do a franchise cafe brand renewal for me. Existing name 'Morning Bean'" | Full Pipeline (Reflecting Existing Elements) |
| "Design a visual identity for a tech startup for me" | Steps 2+5 (Strategy + Visual) |
| "Organize a fashion brand into a guideline document for me" | Step 6 (Guideline Generation) |
Output Format
All deliverables are _workspace/ saved in markdown format in the directory.
| File | Content |
|---|---|
01_brand_strategy.md |
Market analysis, positioning map, persona, archetype, essence |
02_naming_candidates.md |
15+ naming candidates, SMILE evaluation, TOP 3 recommendations |
03_verbal_identity.md |
Slogan, tagline, story, tone and manner |
04_visual_identity.md |
Color system, typography, logo concept |
05_brand_guideline.md |
Integrated guidelines, per-channel application, glossary |
Precautions
- Always generate at least 15 naming candidates and quantitatively evaluate them with the SMILE matrix
- Design archetypes as a primary (70%) + secondary (30%) combination
- Present at least 5 slogans each in Korean and English
- The color system follows the 60-30-10 rule and ensures WCAG AA accessibility
- Producing actual logo files (.ai, .svg), print mockups, and trademark application filing are outside the scope of this skill
- If domain/trademark verification is not possible, mark it as "[Verification Needed]" and recommend that the user verify it directly
Post-processing (Required Chain)
Text deliverables such as slogans, taglines, brand stories, manifestos, tone and manner guides, etc. text deliverablesmust always go through the post-processing chain before publication. Table and numerical deliverables such as color systems and SMILE evaluation tables are not subject to this.
Recommended Chain: collab-brand-identity → moai-coworker:ai-slop-reviewer → moai-writer:korean-humanize → 최종 검수
Related Skills
| Skill | When to Use |
|---|---|
moai-marketer:marketing-personal-branding |
Personal branding, personal branding |
moai-marketer:marketing-campaign-planner |
Advertising campaign planning, media planning |
moai-marketer:content-sns-content |
SNS content production |
moai-coworker:ai-slop-reviewer |
Post-chaining (required): AI pattern review of brand text deliverables |
moai-writer:korean-humanize |
Post-chaining (required): next step after ai-slop-reviewer to remove Korean AI-ness |
moai-designer:design-system-library |
Design system/component construction |
References
| File | Load Condition |
|---|---|
| references/brand-identity/naming-methodology.md | When developing brand naming (12 techniques, SMILE quantitative evaluation, Korean phonology analysis, domain/trademark pre-verification) |
| references/brand-identity/archetype-framework.md | When designing brand personality and tone and voice (based on Jung's 12 archetypes, Korean brand examples) |
| references/brand-identity/color-psychology.md | When designing a brand color system (psychological response by color, meaning of colors in Korean culture, palette, accessibility standards) |
| references/brand-identity/brand-guide-template.md | In step 6, which organizes the outputs of steps 1-5 into an integrated guideline document (fill-in-the-blank template) |