Work / Northgrain

Renovation, redefined. A carpentry brand and site built to win bigger jobs.

Scope: Branding, Web Design
Industry: Construction · Residential
Year: 2025
Role: Identity, web design
Live: Visit site

Northgrain does precision carpentry and renovation work that deserved to look as good as it is built. The identity pairs a hand-drawn grain mark with a confident wordmark; the website leads with the work itself, video-first, and gives homeowners a clear path from browsing projects to starting a conversation.

01 Logo

Six routes in. One cut through.

Northgrain self-performs every bit of carpentry, so the mark had to come from the material rather than the trade. I presented six directions. The one that won is the end grain of a cut log, rings and all — no two alike, which is the point for a company that does the work itself — and it pairs with a serif that reads more architect than contractor.

The Northgrain mark on a hanging wooden sign outside the shop — Shop sign

The Northgrain mark on a black pickup beside the line build, renovate, restore — Fleet

The Northgrain lockup over a carpentry photo, used as the site's share card — Share card

02 Website

The work first. Everything else after.

Someone hiring for a renovation is really deciding who to trust in their house for three months. So the site opens on finished work rather than a services list. Every project gets its own page with before-and-during photography, the process is laid out in four plain steps, and a way to start a conversation stays within reach the whole way down.

View live siteView live site

The full Northgrain homepage: hero, about, services, recent work, testimonials, process, values and FAQ — Homepage · full page

03 Print

Something to leave behind.

Renovation still gets won at a kitchen table, so the brand had to hold up on paper. Business cards and a mailer carrying the same end-grain mark and the same navy, with one line of plain English about what Northgrain actually does and the two services under it.

Northgrain business cards on a workbench, navy back with the end-grain mark — Business cards

Northgrain mailer: Crafted to last a lifetime, with the two services on the reverse — Mailer

04 Social

New brand, same crew.

The launch reel: jobsite footage cut to the new identity, with the line carrying it — new brand, same extraordinary craftsmanship. Framing, drywall, decks, cabinetry and the finished rooms, in the order a client actually lives through them. Vertical, built for Instagram and Facebook.

Northgrain

“DS Design Co. took the time to understand our brand goal, the ethos behind it, and created a website to capture exactly what we needed. The process was smooth, easy to follow, and well guided.”

James Nadzam Owner