Website
The tour page sells the trip
The operator's website in the brand: the tour hero, the route day by day and departures with seats left.
Travel brand system that works inside the booking software
One brand system for the website, the itinerary, the advisor portal and social media. Shown here on Aegean Thread, an example tour operator selling Greek island-hopping. Every piece on this page comes straight from the software.
The example brief
The example operator sells eight-day small-group trips through Santorini, Naxos and Paros to American travelers. It needs a brand that a traveler trusts with a deposit, and that its software can apply everywhere without a designer in the loop.
- What it sells
- Small-group island-hopping in the Greek Cyclades
- Who buys
- Americans aged 35 to 65, on a first or second trip to Greece
- Where it sells
- Its own website, travel advisors and Instagram
What it needed
- A name and a promise that say what the trip is: three islands, without the ferry logistics.
- A logo that works at 20 pixels in a browser tab and on the cover of a printed itinerary.
- Colors and type that pass contrast checks in the booking flow, not only on a poster.
- A brand that steps aside when an advisor sells the same tour under their own name.
Position and name
Aegean Thread ties the flights, ferries and family-run hotels of the Greek islands into one easy small-group trip, for Americans who want three islands without the logistics.
The promise
Three islands, one easy trip. We handle the ferries; you handle the swimming.
Who it is for
Americans between 35 and 65, on a first or second trip to Greece. They want three islands without sorting out the ferries, and they do not want a big coach.
What backs it up in the product
- Groups of up to 12 travelers.
- A local tour manager on the ground.
- Ferries timed to the flights.
- Small family-run hotels, including Alati House on Naxos.
- A clear price and a $500 deposit.
The name
A thread connects the islands. Flight, ferry and hotel are joined into one trip, which is exactly what the booking software does.
Tone of voice
American English, no superlatives. Three words guide every line.
Warm
We write like a host who has been there ten times, not like a catalog.
Precise
Ferry times, prices and what is included are always exact.
Practical
Every sentence helps the traveler decide or get ready.
The logo
One unbroken line runs through three island dots and ends in a small sun. The same line is the base of the map illustrations in the itineraries. A lockup for headers and documents, and the mark alone for small places: app icons, favicons and social avatars.
Down to the minimum size
The mark at 64, 32 and 20 pixels. Below 20 pixels the island dots merge, so the mark is not used smaller.
- Clear space on every side equals the diameter of the sun.
- The lockup is at least 120 pixels wide, the mark at least 20.
- The sun is always Sun Ochre. The thread is never broken or recolored.
- On photos, the logo sits on calm sky or sea, or on an Aegean Ink band.
The system
Colors, type, photography and illustration are tokens in one theme file. Every color pair used for text is checked for contrast and meets WCAG AA at least.
Colors
- Aegean Ink#0F2E4AText and dark surfaces12.3:1 on Limewash
- Limewash#F5F1E8BackgroundBase of the palette
- Caldera Clay#A9481FCalls to action and accents5.1:1 on Limewash, white text 5.8:1
- Sea Glass#8CC5BCMaps, illustrations, section backgroundsInk text 7.2:1, never text on Limewash
- Sun Ochre#E0A43AThe sun in the logo, labels like "Last room"Ink text 6.3:1, never text on Limewash
Type
Departs Sat, June 19
Three islands, one easy trip.
The 10:30 fast ferry gets you to Naxos by 12:15. Your bags ride with us.
- Fraunces Headlines
- Fraunces, soft and warm. Open source (OFL), so it works on the web, in PDFs, emails and video.
- Figtree Text, interface and numbers
- Figtree, clear at small sizes in the booking flow. Also OFL.
Photography
Late-morning light and golden hour. Sea, the deck of a ferry, island villages from a distance. People are seen from behind or far away, and no real hotel or sign is recognizable.
Illustration
Island maps drawn from the same single line as the logo, with ferry, sun and wave icons. The map in every itinerary is drawn from the trip data.
Applications
Each piece comes straight out of the booking software, not a separate mockup. The Instagram posts and the printed catalog are templates.
PDF itinerary
A branded itinerary in one click
Nine Letter-size pages: the cover with the travelers' names, the trip at a glance with the route map, the days, the hotels, what is included and the payment schedule.
White label
A brand that knows when to step aside
Travel advisors sell the same tour under their own brand. The itinerary and the offer switch to the advisor's logo and colors, and Aegean Thread stays as one line, "Tour operated by Aegean Thread", or is hidden.
Brand on / off
The same screen, with and without the brand
One switch changes the tour page from a neutral theme to the Aegean Thread brand. Nothing else changes, so you see exactly what the brand adds.
- Same data and the same booking flow
- Only the theme changes: colors, type, logo and photos
Offer and deposit
The client pays in the brand they trust
The offer opens in the brand, with the amount due today and the link to pay the deposit. The checkout keeps the same colors, type and tone.
A last room becomes a story
When a departure has one room left, one click in the office turns the alert into an Instagram story from the brand template, with the real date and island.
Instagram grid and catalog
Templates for social and print
Nine posts and three story templates: a departure announcement, a last room, a ferry tip, an island in three slides and "meet the route", ready for your own dates and photos.
The brand as a theme
The brand is one theme: tokens, logo variants, a photo set, tone and document templates. The website, the PDFs, the emails, the advisor portal and the social templates all read the same theme.
Aegean Thread theme- Website
- PDF itinerary
- Emails
- Advisor portal
A new brand, for example yours, is applied by swapping the theme and the assets, without changing code.
Three more brands, one software
Each brand is a theme for the same booking software, so a new look never means a new system.
- LightDarkExample brand
Keel & Compass
Keel & Compass gives experienced independent travel advisors the supplier contracts, tools and back office of a large agency, while their clients only ever see the advisor's own brand.
- Slate #22272E
- Chart Paper #F7F4EE
- Oxblood #7A2232
- Brass #B08A3E
- Fog #D9DEE2
Source Serif 4 + Public Sans
- Advisor portalIn the software
- Client offer in the advisor's brand
- One footer line: "Booked through Keel & Compass"
The keel holds a ship on course and the compass shows the direction. The agency provides the stability, with contracts, money and back office, and the advisor chooses the heading. The mark is a compass needle whose southern arm is the keel.
- LightDarkExample brand
Alati House
Alati House is a sixteen-room stone-and-lime house on Naxos where guests who book direct get the best rate, a slow breakfast and a host who answers every email personally.
- Basalt #2E2B27
- Salt #FAF8F4
- Caper #556B3E
- Sea Fennel #9DB39A
- Salt Pan #E9E4DA
- Sunbleached Blue #A9C3CC
Instrument Serif + Instrument Sans
- Direct booking on a phoneIn the software
- Room results with the total price
- One-page brand guide
Alati is Greek for salt: short, easy to say in English and tied to the sea, without the tourist cliche. The mark is a cube that is both a salt crystal and a whitewashed island house, with one side in shadow.
- LightDarkExample brand
Kinward
Kinward plans the whole family trip in one conversation and books it in the same place, so parents spend the evening packing instead of comparing forty tabs.
- Pine Night #15302A
- Daybreak #FFF8EE
- Road Coral #C9442C
- Sunroof #FFC845
- Lake Blue #3E7CB1
- Meadow #8CC084
Bricolage Grotesque + DM Sans
- Planning chat and trip planIn the software
- App icon
- Assistant avatar
Kin means family and onward means forward. The mark is a lowercase k whose upper arm points ahead, with a yellow dot for the child riding in front. The same mark is the assistant's avatar in the chat.
A brand that your booking software can carry
We build the brand and the software together, so the brand is tested in the booking flow, the documents and the advisor channel before it goes to print.
Travel branding from $1,400