Bringing Gutkind and Alpha into one coherent universe

Gutkind, a contemporary publishing house, needed to integrate Alpha into its ecosystem without losing the clarity of the two distinct brands. Each brand carried its own tone, audience, and visual language. The task was to avoid a superficial merge, bring teams along through the transition, and ensure both identities could coexist confidently across platforms – without creating operational strain or brand confusion.

We approached the project as both a brand and operational challenge. Through a three-week sprint, we evolved Gutkind’s identity and fully redesigned Alpha’s, introducing a softer color palette and a more contemporary visual language. We presented the team with both “evolutionary” and “revolutionary” routes. By exploring both directions, we helped the team land on – and feel confident in – a bold direction that unified the two brands while preserving their individual character. The team chose the revolutionary direction: reimagining Alpha while aligning it with Gutkind, and creating a unified system with shared principles, flexible assets and streamlined content management.

The result is a cohesive identity system that feels as though it was always intended that way. Gutkind and Alpha now sit confidently side by side across the new website, communications and physical spaces, with shared principles for everything from email signatures to catalogues and exhibition design.

The new setup also simplifies day-to-day management, enabling one team to run both brands more efficiently. We equipped the team with practical tools and guidelines, ensuring consistency without added complexity, and setting a strong foundation for future growth.