NIX STORIES // THE BRAND REBUILD

The Logo That Became My New Baby

How I went looking for a very simple logo, found a mark I loved, and ended up reimagining an entire NIX DRONES world — from the website to the kit I carry and the places I go.

Approved logo — The orange-and-white rotor mark, silver NIX, orange DRONES and the split-colour website address. Concept visualisation.

It started with three words: very simple logo.

I wanted to strip NIX DRONES back to something that looked instantly right. Not another complicated drone drawing, not a badge full of tiny details, and certainly nothing that would disappear when it was printed on a cap. A proper symbol — confident, recognisable and mine.

We explored six simple directions. I kept coming back to the bottom-left concept: four sweeping corners around a sharp, dynamic centre. I could see the movement of a quadcopter in it, but I could also see a mark that would work on a website, a jacket or the side of Vanilla.

What the mark means to me

Those four curved shapes suggest rotor movement and the freedom of flight. The central strokes give it speed, direction and a little attitude. The geometry feels balanced, like a drone hovering steadily before heading off on another adventure. That is my interpretation of it — a visual identity born from experimenting with designs, not a mythical corporate brief dreamed up after the event.

The colours were never up for debate. NIX orange — #FF6A00 — brings the energy. White and silver bring the clarity. Dark graphite makes the whole thing pop. The result is straightforward enough for a tiny sticker but strong enough to scale up.

The detail that finished it

I then wanted the web address to be part of the identity, not something tagged on as an afterthought. Now it has a deliberate two-colour treatment: NIXDRONES in white and .COM in orange, aligned as one line beneath the mark. Same technical, spaced-out letter style. One joined-up brand.

And I was particular about the next step: I did not want the new address sitting beneath photographs of old merchandise. I wanted the branding on the actual objects. The designs had to be redone, not merely relabelled.

Vanilla, but make it NIX

Seeing the idea across a van is the moment it really starts to feel alive. A huge orange-and-white symbol, the silver NIX lettering, the orange DRONES line and the website address integrated with the graphics. That is not simply a logo on a screen anymore: it is something that could travel with me.

NIX DRONES redesigned Van side graphics product mockup — **Van side graphics** — Full NIX identity directly on the side panel, with the two-colour address integrated into the wrap. Concept visualisation.

NIX DRONES redesigned Van rear graphics product mockup — **Van rear graphics** — Rear-door logo and website branding for the road. Concept visualisation.

Clothing for the way I live

I can picture a NIX T-shirt on a sunny shoot, a hoodie at a festival, a cap when I am out with the drone and a beanie when the weather turns properly British. The same mark looks comfortable in each place, which is the whole point of a good identity. It works without having to reinvent itself every time.

NIX DRONES redesigned T-shirt product mockup — **T-shirt** — A sharp everyday T-shirt with the complete orange, silver and white brand. Concept visualisation.

NIX DRONES redesigned Hoodie product mockup — **Hoodie** — The entire identity on a graphite hoodie. Concept visualisation.

NIX DRONES redesigned Baseball cap product mockup — **Baseball cap** — Small embroidered-style identity that still carries the full NIX mark. Concept visualisation.

NIX DRONES redesigned Beanie product mockup — **Beanie** — Compact badge treatment for cold weather. Concept visualisation.

The everyday things

Then there are the items that make the brand feel less like a concept and more like part of daily life. A black mug on the desk while I am editing photographs. A travel cup beside me. A placemat in Vanilla and a beer mat on a pub table. Small things, perhaps, but they are exactly the places where a memorable design earns its keep.

NIX DRONES redesigned Ceramic mug product mockup — **Ceramic mug** — The new logo printed on the mug itself, not captioned beneath it. Concept visualisation.

NIX DRONES redesigned Travel cup product mockup — **Travel cup** — Branded travel drinkware for the road. Concept visualisation.

NIX DRONES redesigned Beer mat product mockup — **Beer mat** — The identity in its proper place on a pub table. Concept visualisation.

NIX DRONES redesigned Placemat product mockup — **Placemat** — A larger, practical format that gives the brand room to breathe. Concept visualisation.

From sunglasses to camera gear

The logo also needs to cope with the tiniest spaces. A pair of sunglasses, a keyring, even the top of a drone: the simplified mark should still be recognisable. And on a camera bag or a proper hard case, I want the whole identity to look as if it belongs there, rather than like a random sticker I happened to find in a drawer.

NIX DRONES redesigned Sunglasses product mockup — **Sunglasses** — A reduced mark that keeps the identity clean at tiny size. Concept visualisation.

NIX DRONES redesigned Keyring product mockup — **Keyring** — Tiny branding with the website address incorporated. Concept visualisation.

NIX DRONES redesigned Drone hard case product mockup — **Drone hard case** — Robust NIX identity for the flying kit. Concept visualisation.

NIX DRONES redesigned Drone shell product mockup — **Drone shell** — A compact version of the mark fitted onto the aircraft body. Concept visualisation.

NIX DRONES redesigned Equipment bag product mockup — **Equipment bag** — The complete brand on an adventure-ready kit bag. Concept visualisation.

NIX DRONES redesigned Water bottle product mockup — **Water bottle** — Orange and white on matte black. Concept visualisation.

Why this is becoming my new baby

NIX DRONES started from things I love doing: flying drones, taking photographs, getting out on the road and sharing what I find. But now it has become the place where all those interests meet — stories, travel, photography, gear, design and the odd mad idea I cannot resist trying out.

I keep wanting to improve it. The way the site looks. The way the stories read. The way the photographs appear. Even how a little orange detail sits on a hat or a mug. It is the sort of project that follows you around in your head because you genuinely care where it goes next.

That is why I have started thinking of NIX DRONES as my new baby. I am not claiming it is some enormous company. It is something better, to me: a personal creation that keeps growing with every road trip, photo, idea and late-night tweak.

A word about the pictures: These are design visualisations of proposed merchandise, not photographs of manufactured products. The web-address and logo details should be proofed against the master vector before ordering prints, embroidery or van graphics.

One mark. A thousand adventures.

That is what I wanted from this design: one clean, repeatable identity that could grow with NIX DRONES without losing its character. Orange for energy. White for clarity. Graphite for the backdrop. A little rotor-inspired mark that feels like movement, possibility and a camera looking at the world from a different angle.

There is plenty more to build. But for now, I have a logo I actually want to put on everything — and I reckon that is a pretty good sign.

— NIX