BRAND IDENTITY DESIGNER WANTED — CONTEMPORARY WOMENSWEAR BRAND
I am looking for an experienced fashion brand identity designer to develop the complete visual identity for a new contemporary womenswear label called NAFS.
I am looking for someone with a strong understanding of fashion branding, typography, art direction and luxury/contemporary positioning.
ABOUT THE BRAND
Brand name:
NAFS
Written in Urdu/Arabic script:
نفس
Meaning:
“The self.”
Current working tagline:
THE SELF, TAILORED.
THE IDEA BEHIND NAFS
Nafs is a contemporary womenswear label rooted in my own experience and perspective.
I am Pakistani British and live in the UAE, and the brand comes from the reality of having a sense of self that has been influenced by more than one cultural environment.
The word “nafs” is an Arabic-origin word meaning “the self” and is also used in Urdu. The use of the Urdu/Arabic script نفس is therefore intentional.
However, I do NOT want Nafs to be positioned as a Pakistani fashion brand, an Arabic fashion brand, or a traditional South Asian “fusion” label.
The personal cultural context is the foundation of the brand, not a visual costume.
The clothing is contemporary womenswear first.
The South Asian influence should be subtle and embedded in the design language — through proportion, drape, movement, construction and an understanding of how clothing sits on the body — rather than through obvious cultural motifs.
The UAE is also part of the context of the brand: a place where different cultures, aesthetics and identities exist alongside one another.
The brand is ultimately about the woman herself, rather than categorising her by culture.
VISUAL DIRECTION
I want Nafs to feel:
- Contemporary
- Fashion-forward
- Minimal
- Editorial
- Feminine
- Sophisticated
- Sensual
- Slightly edgy
- Quietly luxurious
- Distinctive
- Memorable
The clothing consists of modern, elevated silhouettes, tailoring and draping.
Some pieces may feature a refined gold/brass clasp or hardware; others rely entirely on the silhouette and drape.
The overall palette is centred around:
- Ivory
- Warm off-white
- Cream
- Sand
- Taupe
- Brown
- Deep chocolate
- Black
- Muted/brushed gold as an occasional accent
I want the identity to work beautifully in an ivory/off-white world, but I do NOT want generic “beige luxury branding.”
LOGO DIRECTION
I do NOT want to prescribe the logo solution to you.
I want you to explore genuinely different creative directions for NAFS.
I am NOT committed to lowercase.
Please explore different possibilities including:
- Lowercase
- Uppercase
- Title case
- Serif
- Sans-serif
- Editorial typography
- Custom lettering
- Refined wordmarks
- English/Urdu relationships
- A secondary symbol or mark
- A monogram if it genuinely adds value
- A purely typographic identity
I am open to seeing ideas I have not considered.
Do NOT make the letter “f” the focal point of the logo.
I specifically do not want the logo built around a gimmick involving one particular letter.
The logo should be memorable because of its overall typography, proportion, character and concept.
I want the designer to explore what makes “NAFS” visually ownable as a fashion brand.
URDU / ARABIC SCRIPT
The word نفس is important to the identity.
It is an Arabic-origin word meaning “the self” and is also used in Urdu.
For Nafs, its presence is connected specifically to my Pakistani identity and the Urdu language/cultural context, while recognising that the word itself has Arabic linguistic origins.
I do NOT want the designer to treat this as simply an “Arabic logo.”
The relationship between NAFS and نفس should feel intentional, contemporary and sophisticated.
I am open to exploring:
- NAFS with نفس underneath
- نفس as the primary mark
- English and Urdu treated as equals
- Integrated English/Urdu typography
- Urdu used as a secondary brand mark
- Different lock-ups for different applications
- A very subtle use of the Urdu form
Please avoid generic decorative Arabic calligraphy or anything that immediately makes the brand look traditional.
The Urdu/Arabic script should feel like part of a contemporary fashion identity.
TAGLINE
Current working tagline:
THE SELF, TAILORED.
Please explore how this works within the identity.
It should feel understated and editorial rather than corporate.
I am open to recommendations regarding typography, spacing, scale and placement.
BRAND APPLICATIONS
I would like to see the identity applied to real fashion contexts, including:
- Woven garment labels
- Neck labels
- Clothing tags
- Brass/gold hardware
- Packaging
- Garment boxes
- Tissue paper
- Shopping bags
- Dust bags
- Business cards
- Social media
- Website
- Lookbook/editorial layouts
I particularly like the idea of subtle packaging where the logo could be embossed in the same or almost the same colour as the packaging.
A muted champagne/brushed gold foil could also be explored, but NOT bright yellow gold.
SOCIAL MEDIA
The Instagram identity should feel editorial and fashion-led.
The first impression should communicate:
DESIRE + CLOTHES + ATTITUDE
before the customer starts thinking about the deeper philosophy.
I want the visual identity to work with strong campaign imagery, real women, styling, fabric movement, tailoring and detail photography.
The brand story should sit underneath the visual world rather than being explained in every post.
WHAT I DO NOT WANT
Please avoid:
- Traditional Pakistani fashion branding
- Generic “South Asian luxury”
- Generic “Arabic luxury”
- Obvious East-meets-West graphics
- “Fusion” aesthetics
- Paisley
- Mandalas
- Decorative ethnic motifs
- Heavy ornamental calligraphy
- Excessive gold
- Bright colours
- Generic beige minimalist branding
- Wellness/lifestyle aesthetics
- Corporate branding
- Overly complicated logos
- Forced cultural symbolism
- A logo that looks like a template
- An identity that feels like a cultural project rather than a fashion label
The cultural influence should feel embedded rather than announced.
THE CREATIVE CHALLENGE
The challenge is to create an identity that feels completely contemporary and desirable while still having depth.
If someone sees Nafs without knowing my personal story, I want them to think:
“That’s a fashion brand I want to wear.”
Then, when they discover the meaning and philosophy, the identity should make even more sense.
I want the designer to understand that the brand is not trying to resolve or explain the tension between cultures.
That tension simply exists.
Nafs is designed from within that reality.
It is about the self, rather than about choosing one side.
The identity should therefore feel confident, modern and self-assured rather than explanatory.
Minimal does NOT mean forgettable.
DELIVERABLES
I am looking for a complete visual identity including:
1. Multiple initial creative directions
2. Primary logo/wordmark
3. Alternative logo treatments
4. English + Urdu/Arabic-script lock-ups
5. Secondary mark/monogram if appropriate
6. Typography system
7. Colour palette
8. Brand guidelines
9. Garment label concepts
10. Packaging concepts
11. Hardware/clasp application
12. Social media direction
13. Instagram templates
14. Basic art direction
15. Fashion/editorial mockups
16. Final vector files
17. Editable source files
18. Print-ready files
19. Digital assets
Please show the identity in context rather than only presenting logos on blank backgrounds.
WHO I AM LOOKING FOR
I strongly prefer someone who has worked with:
- Contemporary womenswear
- Fashion brands
- Luxury or premium brands
- Editorial branding
- Fashion typography
- Art direction
Experience working sensitively with multilingual or multicultural identities would be a bonus, but I do NOT want the designer to default to obvious cultural branding.
Please send:
- Your portfolio
- Examples of relevant fashion branding work
- Your proposed approach to Nafs
- Estimated timeline
- Fixed project price
- Number of revision rounds included
- Confirmation that all editable/source files will be provided
I am looking for a designer who can think beyond “logo design” and build a distinctive fashion brand world.
Please do not send generic logo templates or automated logo concepts.
I want considered, original design thinking.
