Daguerre

Design Kit

  • Color Palette for Print & Screen
  • Font Selections & Styling
  • Photo Style Selection
  • Icon Family Selection
  • Two 1-on-1 Consultations
  • How-to Guide

Select from 5 Color Palettes

Daguerre Design Kit

This Design Kit suits strong brands looking to take a stand or make a memorable impression. Your audience would be drawn to this look & feel for its bold, tell-it-like-it-is vibe and energizing qualities.

Whether your offerings center around music, artistic pursuits, political passions, apps, educational content, and more, you’ll enjoy the bold, boisterous attitude evident in the dark color palette, heavy font selections, icons and dramatic photography style.

Ideal for these brand archetypes:

Creator

Sage

Innovator

Sovereign

Innocent

Explorer


Tags:

Clean, Independent, Modern, Refined, Serious, Subtle

What’s Included

Font Selections & Hierarchy

Give your documents and website an instant facelift with recommended font weights and sizes for headings, paragraphs, subheadings, and more.

Versatile Color Palette

Keep your colors consistent across print, swag and screen with professionally selected colors. Colors are listed in Pantone, RGB, CMYK & HEX formats.

Photography Style

Photos play a central role in your look & feel, and in your ability to communicate ideas. Learn how to select and style your images to complete your polished look.

Swag Selection

Your company might not feel real until you have the t-shirt to prove it. We’ve done the shopping for you with recommendations for soft tees to fit your values and budget.

Icon Style

Icons are essential for quickly relaying concepts and catching users eyes as they scan through information. We include a selection of icons to embellish your work.

How-to Guide

This 12+ page guide shows you how to apply your design specs to collateral, swag, products & websites. Industry secrets and lifetime updates included.


Two 30-min Consultations

Get expert support for your brand and marketing questions from Founder & Creative Director, Kari Kay. Choose when to use your consultations within 90 days of purchase.

Lean Design for Startups was developed by Kari Kay, the Founder and Creative Director of Plot Creative Studio based in Seattle, WA, to help more entrepreneurs bring their vision to life. Since 2006, Kari has developed creative strategies for startups, scaling companies, mid-size corporations, non-profit organizations, and Fortune 100s. Companies rely on Kari’s keen insights, strategic questions, and confident directives to define and refine their brand strategy and product design. A systems thinker who is passionate about efficiency and creativity, Kari brings design principles to businesses to help them pinpoint their value and focus their energy on what matters most. 

Color Palette Options

Choose from one of five color options. Or, select the Custom Color Palette Add-on to work with us on a fully custom branded color palette. We’ll guide you to colors that resonate with your company and audience, and set you apart from competitors.

Reserve your Design Kit today.

Starting at $2,700

Easy to Use

Professionally Designed for Non-Designers

Take the guesswork out of applying your colors and fonts, or choosing images for your marketing materials.

Effortlessly Share with Team Members & Contractors

Managing assets between collaborators is a job in itself. Keep your design guidelines in one place, always ready to share.


Compatible with Any App, Platform or File Type

Ideal for a Variety of Businesses

  • SaaS Companies
  • Developers
  • Copywriters
  • Consultants
  • Physicians
  • Fitness Coaches
  • Stylists
  • Authors
  • Educators / Thought Leaders
  • Speakers
  • eCommerce
  • and more…

When to Use a Design Kit

Launch a New Brand

Accelerate your growth with a solid, scalable marketing foundation.

Save Time Hunting & Tweaking

Get your look & feel right the first time. Simply copy & paste directly from the provided guide to create consistently branded documents, web pages, social media and more.

Update Your Existing Look & Feel

Get your team on the same page with a consistent look & feel.

See Instant Improvements

Use your Design Kit during any point in your growth to solidify your look and create a memorable presence. Instead of trying out a new look with each product or piece of collateral, our comprehensive Design Kit allows you to reduce design work for you and your team with plug n’ play design.

Reserve your Design Kit today.

Starting at $2,700

Sleek, Futuristic, Elevated

Mood Board

Mood boards are curated groups of images that visualize a vibe. This is the second step of narrowing down a look & feel to effectively convey your brand message.

Science just didn’t seem that cool until these brands showed up. By embracing sleek design and sophisticated engineering these brands achieve an unbeatable combination that pushes beyond a product’s functional purpose. With the end users in mind, they strive to create a truly unique and enjoyable experience, setting them apart from their practical, bare-bones competitors. Attracting the attention of those “in the know” may well be a prerogative for companies looking to create a buzz around their ingenuity.

This look would be appropriate for brands in industries dominated by technology or those being disrupted with new philosophies and solutions. Notice how many of the brand samples appear approachable and energetic by bringing in a human component in contrast with high-tech devices. The color palettes are bold, bright and modern or fresh, clean and neutral. They have freedom to use unique fonts with crisp lines that speak to their creativity and engineered precision.

Ideal for these archetypes:

Innovator

Sage

Creator

Sovereign

Tags:

Clean, Detail-oriented, Energetic, High-end, Modern, Precise, Progressive, Scientific, Sophisticated, Technical, Sleek


Is this the right feel for your brand?

The images below show how various companies have used color, type, icons, photos, illustrations and textures together to translate their personality into a unique look and feel. As you consider your company’s presence, do these samples achieve the vibe you’re after?

Please note: The images posted here are subject to copyrights owned by the individuals or entities who created them. They are not intended to be used for your brand or for any other personal or commercial use.

Tip: Clean, minimalist design is highly appealing but can be difficult to execute well, especially in the early days of business. Every detail counts—be judicious with the quantity of words on a page, and select your imagery, icons and fonts with care. Be careful not to oversimplify your look, as you risk being bland and forgettable.


Not quite the vibe you’re looking for? Explore All Mood Boards

Get the look! Choose a Design Kit to match this vibe.

Choose Design Kit

High End, Modern, Hip

Mood Board

Mood boards are curated groups of images that visualize a vibe. This is the second step in narrowing down a look & feel to effectively convey your brand message.

Embodying a chic, effortless vibe is a rare talent. What separates these brands from the rest is their unlimited creativity and casual confidence. Their innate magnetism, foresight and enhanced ability to express themselves makes them natural leaders and trendsetters. Inspiration may be drawn from history, natural science, cultural traditions or imagery—any microcosm stumbled upon that can be observed, remixed and reimagined.

Brands with this vibe have an underlying strength and futuristic energy. This can be best expressed in a number of creative ways, but will rarely include elements that could be considered “soft,” to avoid appearing timid or underwhelming. Instead, bold color palettes, blocky shapes, energetic brush strokes and textures create a dynamic world that can evolve as quickly as the next great idea strikes.

Ideal for these archetypes:

Creator

Lover

Tags:

Unique, Creative, Chill, Intelligent, Admirable, High end, Modern, Progressive, High quality, Polished, Hip


Is this the right feel for your brand?

The images below show how various companies have used color, type, icons, photos, illustrations and textures together to translate their personality into a unique look and feel. As you consider your company’s presence, do these samples achieve the vibe you’re after?

Please note: The images posted here are subject to copyrights owned by the individuals or entities who created them. They are intended for educational purposes, and not to be used for your brand or for any other personal or commercial use.

TIP: Audiences with an independent streak are difficult to convince. They will tend to be skeptical and do things on their own time. Be careful not to pander to them, oversell them or push them to take action. They tend to be interested in high quality, high value offerings and ignore what could be perceived as a waste of time. The more transparent you are, and the more room you give them, the happier they will be.


Not quite the vibe you’re looking for? Explore All Mood Boards

Get the look! Choose a Design Kit to match this vibe.

Choose Design Kit

Scientific, Energetic, Approachable

Mood Board

Mood boards are curated groups of images that visualize a vibe. This is the second step of narrowing down a look & feel to effectively convey your brand message.

These brands have a natural ability to bring people into their process, presenting their work as fascinating discoveries and allowing others to join in their excitement. Though they may appear more laid back on the surface, these companies hold themselves to high standards, working hard to account for details that others may have missed.

Notice that many of the brand samples focus on people using their products more than on the products themselves. This is a great strategy, especially for companies with a product or service that is not very tangible. Humans bring the energy. The excitement of the outcomes they can achieve with these brands is reflected in the writing and emphasized with bold, bright and modern colors.

Ideal for these archetypes:

Innovator

Sage

Creator

Sovereign

Tags:

Approachable, Clean, Detail-oriented, Energetic, Expert, Modern, Precise, Progressive, Scientific, Sophisticated, Technical, Transparent


Is this the right feel for your brand?

The images below show how various companies have used color, type, icons, photos, illustrations and textures together to translate their personality into a unique look and feel. As you consider your company’s presence, do these samples achieve the vibe you’re after?

Please note: The images posted here are subject to copyrights owned by the individuals or entities who created them. They are not intended to be used for your brand or for any other personal or commercial use.

Tip: Clean, minimalist design is highly appealing but can be difficult to execute well, especially in the early days of business. Every detail counts—be judicious with the quantity of words on a page, and select your imagery, icons and fonts with care. Be careful not to oversimplify your look, as you risk being bland and forgettable.


Not quite the vibe you’re looking for? Explore All Mood Boards

Get the look! Choose a Design Kit to match this vibe.

Choose Design Kit

Informed, Scholarly, Prudent

Mood Board

Mood boards are curated groups of images that visualize a vibe. This is the second step in narrowing down a look & feel that will effectively convey your brand message.

The quest for knowledge in the modern world often starts with a simple online search that sends users traipsing down a rabbit hole of distraction and misinformation. These brands combat the frustration generated by the firehose of data that users are often subjected to by creating a more organized and factual experience. Their diligence supports more effective learning and vetted answers. This look would be appropriate for brands in highly regulated industries, such as healthcare or cyber security, that need to create an atmosphere of trustworthiness with rigorous attention to detail.

Brands with this vibe need to portray authority, diligence and precision, and therefore tend towards a clean, Spartan-like image. Depending on other characteristics of their brand personality, companies in this category will want to opt for a sparse, modern look to showcase their perceived futuristic foresight, or an image that hints at a historic heritage, studious tendencies and depth of knowledge.

Ideal for these archetypes:

Sage

Sovereign

Caregiver

Tags:

Analytical, Clean, Detail-oriented, Expertise, Historic, Intelligent, Modern, Practical, Precise, Smart, Scientific, Studious, Trustworthy


Is this the right feel for your brand?

The images below show how various companies have used color, type, icons, photos, illustrations and textures together to translate their personality into a unique look and feel. As you consider your company’s presence, do these samples achieve the vibe you’re after?

Please note: The images posted here are subject to copyrights owned by the individuals or entities who created them. They are not intended to be used for your brand or for any other personal or commercial use.

TIP: Clean, minimalist design is highly appealing but can be difficult to execute well, especially in your early days. Every detail counts—be judicious with the quantity of words on a page, and select your imagery, icons and fonts with care. Be careful not to oversimplify your look, as you risk being bland and forgettable.


Not quite the vibe you’re looking for? Explore All Mood Boards

Get the look! Choose a Design Kit to match this vibe.

Choose Design Kit