A fearless brand, for a fearless business.
Giving start-up auto restoration shop a fearless brand to raise their game.
Lived 9 Lives Kustoms isn’t your average mechanic, and the branding couldn’t be either. As a new business launching in a competitive industry, the aim was to build a visual identity and online presence that reflected the passion, skill and personality behind the workshop.
With a focus on full restorations, custom work and proper craft, the shop needed to appeal to serious car owners with a real appreciation for quality. The challenge was to avoid the generic look so often associated with garages and instead create something bold, distinctive and true to the culture of custom automotive work.
We were brought in to develop the full brand from the ground up, including the logo, website, supporting graphics, business cards and merchandise. Every element was designed to stand out and set the tone from day one.
From the outset, the brand needed to make a statement. This wasn’t a place to get your MOT or a quick service; it was a custom garage built for serious work, bold ideas and high standards. The strategy was to create an identity that felt gritty, unapologetic and full of character, setting Lived 9 Lives Kustoms apart from the sea of generic garage branding.
The name itself provided a strong foundation. Inspired by the owner’s cat and the idea of resilience, it gave us licence to build a personality around nine lives, attitude and custom craft. Visually, we looked to the bold, oversized identities seen in US custom shops, drawing on that loud, confident energy while making space for originality.
The brand needed to hold up not just in the workshop, but across future merch, content and whatever came next. Everything was built with longevity, versatility and scale in mind.
The idea from day one was to create something loud, full of personality and unmistakably theirs. With a name like Lived 9 Lives, the concept naturally leaned into the visual of a cat, not as a gimmick, but as a symbol of survival, energy and attitude. That became the starting point for a logo that felt part mascot, part badge, and completely custom.
Early sketches focused on capturing the raw character of the brand. The snarling cat illustration quickly became the anchor point, giving the identity a sharp edge and helping it stand out in a sea of forgettable garage logos. It felt expressive, flexible and ready to live on everything from business cards to car bonnets.
The final identity for Lived9Lives Kustoms is unmissable. Anchored in a bold red-and-black palette, it’s gritty, confident and unapologetic – a perfect match for the energy of the workshop.
The logo system was designed to be versatile enough for everything from garage signage to t-shirts, stickers and murals. The aggressive feline graphic evokes vintage tattoo art and underground garage culture, while still feeling sharp and modern. Its stylised forms and jagged contours give it an edge that reflects the brand’s ethos: built from the ground up, rough around the edges, but never lacking care or craft. This is a brand that doesn’t whisper. It roars.
From the outset, it was clear the brand needed to make an impression in the real world. This wasn’t an identity built to sit quietly on a business card. It had to work hard, stand tall, and move confidently across a wide range of physical formats.
The system was designed to be immediate and unmistakable. The bold lines of the logo and its fierce personality translated effortlessly onto clothing, signage, and printed materials. From oil drums to t-shirts, the identity became part of the workshop environment—loud, direct and hard to ignore.
With a strong visual foundation in place, the brand was able to grow beyond just a service. Merch became a natural extension of the Lived 9 Lives attitude, giving customers a way to carry the identity out into the world.
