Video testimonial from Eric Fan, Founder and CEO, Lumos.
Eric FanFounder and CEO, LumosRefract
Refract Group2026
We do brand identity, websites and product design for education companies.
Crimson Education gets students into the most selective universities there are, and every firm in that category promises the same outcome in more or less the same words. We built most of its website and the identity underneath it: the mark, and a red that holds on a lit billboard and in a caption under a thousand words of admissions advice. Our studio is in Sydney, Australia, and we work between Sydney and New York.
- Every firm in your category promises the same outcome.For Crimson Education we built most of the website and the identity underneath that promise: the mark, and the colour it has to survive on.
- The product has to teach people as they use it.DoughPro is a money app that keeps someone going and teaches them what they are doing, and we designed the app around coming back.
- Each school wants its own name on it.Managed, a property platform, sells through agencies, and we designed it an identity that steps aside when an agency’s colours arrive.
What we think
Where we stand on brand identity.
Good branding sets you apart within your category instead of borrowing the category’s look.
The answers differ, as they should when identity starts from the position rather than the category.
Strategy comes first, nearly always.
Identity choices are expensive to reverse once they’re on a website, a product, a sales deck and a conference stand. Strategic choices are cheap to reverse while they’re still on a page.
When the directions arrive, put your own material through them.
We check short and long titles, dense information, real imagery and the smallest required formats.
If strategy is done by one team, identity by another and the website by a third, each handover loses something, and the brand that ships is a copy of a copy.
Ask who will be in the room at each stage, and whether they stay to the end.
Start with a positioning sprint.
A few focused sessions to agree who you’re for, what you stand for and how you sound. You leave with words the whole team can use, before anything gets designed.
- Positioning, story and voice
- Fixed length
- Price agreed upfront
Listen
What people say about you, in their words
Position
A positioning everyone can repeat
Voice
A voice guide, with examples
Plan
A brand plan, yours to keep
In their words.
Eric FanFounder and CEO, Lumos“Super proud of the vision, energy & distinctive taste that went into bringing our refreshed brand to life.”
SejalGTM Lead, Trusst AI
Video testimonial from Helen Murdoch, Founder, DoughPro.
Helen MurdochFounder, DoughPro“We love our new look and website. Thanks so much, your team smashed it.”
PollyMarketing Specialist, Kaizn
Video testimonial from Natasha Ritz, VP of Customer, Chirp.
Natasha RitzVP of Customer, Chirp“Refract has killed it again. We call your team FEDEX because you always deliver!!”
RohithCOO, Managed
Video testimonial from Majella Campbell, Former CEO, Fishburners.
Majella CampbellFormer CEO, Fishburners“No really, I never thought we could ever have such an awesome website. I would see other brands and go, how did they do that. Now I know how: work with an awesome agency like Refract.”
JevonFounder and CEO, KeeyuQuestions
Yes. Refract is a studio in Sydney, Australia, and we do brand identity and websites for education companies. For Crimson Education, a Series D company that gets students into the most selective universities, we built the brand identity and most of the website. The mark has a face cut into the counter of the C, and the red is specified as six gradients so it holds on a billboard and in a caption alike.
Yes. Refract designs and builds websites, from $15,000, and the same team does brand and product design. For Crimson Education we built the brand identity and most of the website. Our studio is in Sydney, and we work between Sydney and New York.
We look first at what everyone else in the category already says. Crimson Education’s category is full of firms promising the same outcome in much the same words, so Refract built the identity underneath: the mark, and the colour it has to survive on. Crimson can now hand it to a printer or a media buyer without a conversation about which red. We also built most of its website.
Yes. Refract does product design, from $10,000 a month. The closest product we have designed is DoughPro, a money app built to keep someone going and teach them what they are doing while they do it, with streaks, small wins and a balance they can read at a glance. For Crimson Education we built the brand identity and most of the website.
Refract’s brand projects run from $15,000 to $100,000 or more, depending on scope. What moves the price is how much the identity has to cover. For Crimson Education it was the mark, the headline type and a colour system of six gradients, and we also built most of its website.
A closer look at the work
- What does a branding agency actually do for a startup?A branding agency researches your market, agrees your position, then builds the name, identity and voice your team uses to explain the company.
- How much does a brand identity cost?Refract’s brand projects start at $15k and scale to $100k+. Identity cost depends on strategy, scope and rollout. Here’s how to compare what a quote covers.
- Brand strategy vs brand identity: what’s the difference?Brand strategy decides who you’re for, what you stand for and how you sound. Brand identity is how those choices show: the name, mark, type, colour and voice.
Building something in education?
Tell us who it is for and what you need the brand to do.
Most teams start with a call, then a sprint or an audit.
The people you’d work with, from the first call to launch