Cortex Search

Building a challenger brand for elite technical recruitment. Cortex Search approached me to build a brand for a new executive search firm entering one of the toughest markets in recruitment: AI and cybersecurity talent, placed internationally with a strong focus on state-backed organisations across the Middle East. Research into the category showed a market of near-identical brands leaning on establishment cues, navy suits, oak panelling, gravitas through formality. For a firm operating at the frontier of AI and cyber, that language was working against them. The solution draws on newer, more progressive brand territories rather than recruitment convention. A warm, considered palette and organic linework soften the technical subject matter, while confident typography and restrained layouts hold the authority the sector demands. Human first, technology second. The system spans brand guidelines, website, pitch materials, and stationery, giving Cortex Search a consistent, distinctive presence from first contact through to closing a search.

The full system: logo construction, colour, type, and imagery principles, documented to protect the brand as Cortex Search scales.

Founder-to-investor collateral, translating the brand's editorial calm into a persuasive, high-trust sales narrative.

Full-width and mobile builds, designed to hold technical credibility and warmth in equal measure across every breakpoint.

Stationery and applications:
Business cards and digital assets, extending the identity's tonal palette and linework across everyday touchpoints.

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