Brookside Research Branding
Brand Design, UX Design, Digital
Firehill partnered with Longblink to provide branding support for their client, Brookside Research—an investigative journalism firm based in New York.
Brookside Research is an investigative journalism firm based in New York, known for its deeply reported work and editorial integrity. Longblink engaged Firehill to help shape a brand system that could capture Brookside’s rigorous mission while building trust with a broad and discerning audience.
Our strategy prioritized clarity and credibility, translating Brookside’s investigative values into a design language that felt both modern and grounded. We worked to ensure the brand could support a range of storytelling formats—from long-form exposés to data-driven briefs—while remaining instantly recognizable.
The core identity system included typographic standards, editorial color palettes, and a scalable visual framework designed to align with Brookside’s publishing needs. We also crafted usage guidelines and a digital toolkit to enable their internal team to maintain consistency across platforms without sacrificing flexibility.
The result is a cohesive, future-ready brand built to support truth-seeking journalism in a time when trust in media matters more than ever.
We started at the core—with the brand. Dozens of logo directions later, we landed on a mark that threads the needle: polished enough for press briefings, bold enough for bylines, and unmistakably Brookside through and through.
With the brand foundation in place, we turned our focus to the executive summary—where story meets structure. Headline first: clear, confident, and on-message. Then we layered in callouts, data blocks, pull quotes, and visual frameworks—each element tuned for impact. The result? A narrative system that informs, persuades, and moves in lockstep with the brand.
When it came to website page layouts, structure met storytelling. We designed a modular system that allows Brookside to publish with precision—whether it’s a single-column editorial or a layered, multimedia investigation.
Each layout is built from a flexible set of components, ensuring consistency, clarity, and speed across the site. The result? A digital framework that adapts to any story, and always stays true to the brand.
Moodboard Inspiration for Visual Tone and Art Direction
