Ashley works with founders, investors, senior leaders and creatives at a point of transition – people who have built successful lives and found that success hasn’t answered every question. Through private coaching and what he calls storytelling portraiture, he helps clients understand the story they are living, change what no longer fits, and makes that change visible.
Our brief, and the challenge, was how do you build a brand around a method few others (if any) offer, for clients who are wary of anything that looks like conventional coaching?
A typical coaching website has a look: soft palettes, stock sunrises, open-armed figures on hilltops, promises of transformation in large type. It is a visual language built for reassurance, and for Ashley’s audience it sends exactly the wrong signal.
His clients are used to private banks, discreet advisers and quiet rooms. They are sceptical of anything that seems to be trying too hard.
The identity also needed to make clear that the camera here serves something deeper than lifestyle photoshoots.
Understated premium.
Our answer was restraint. The identity is built on black, white and a matte gold, a palette closer to a private members’ club or a boutique advisory firm than a wellness practice. It tells the visitor that this is serious work, done privately, for people who value discretion.
Ashley already had a signature logo, his handwritten name, which remains his personal mark. Alongside it we created the Build Better Stories logotype: a bold, condensed, stacked wordmark set in gold. Where the signature is personal and gestural, the logotype is architectural. It takes the word ‘build’ at face value. Together the two marks read as the person and the practice: the craftsman, and the structure of the work.
We then developed the colourways and styles that carry the brand across every touchpoint. Gold is used for emphasis, never decoration. It is reserved for the moments that matter: the logotype, the questions that open each section, and the calls to action. Everything else is left to black, white and the photography.
Letting the photography lead.
Ashley’s photography and video are the heart of the brand, and he shot all of it himself. His signature is black and white: cinematic, and story-led.
The website opens on a full-width video banner, with the Build Better Stories logotype set against a diagonal fade from black into light. It is a quiet visual metaphor for the practice itself, the move from being too close to a situation to seeing it clearly. From there the site alternates between dark and light sections, and the monochrome portraits are shown at scale rather than cropped into thumbnails.
The structure follows the way Ashley works. Each section opens with a question in gold, such as “Why do successful people still feel stuck, restless, or strangely unseen?”. This invites the reader to reflect before being told anything. Client testimonials are attributed by initials and role only, which suits a private practice and keeps the focus on the experience rather than the name.
Explore the site at buildbetterstories.com
“It’s always a pleasure to work with a creative company that embeds itself into your business in order to understood your needs and how best to envisage the value that you offer your customers. The Modern Agency did exactly this for me, lots of discussion, and intriguing questions so they can develop a website built for the purpose of telling my story to my potential clients. Not just another website. Not a ‘boiler plate’ approach. They listened to the challenges and understood how to specifically help me. Highly recommend the team.”
— Ashley Meerloo
