Maria Ballestar

Find what onlyyou can own.

Machines can make it faster. Only people can make it different.

See the work →

A brand isn’t a logo. It’s finding the truth in your business, then turning it into a brand that’s unmistakably different in its category.

I led Moeve and Unicaja at Landor, and worked on brands like BBVA and Bayer. Now I’m independent, so you get that thinking directly, from the person who does the work.

AI is making every brand look the same. That makes difference the most valuable thing you can own.

How I work

Truth first

Every brand starts from one undeniable truth about your business. Finding it is the part I never hand to a machine.

Automate the automatable

AI does the research, the groundwork and the early testing at speed. So my time goes on the thinking, not the legwork.

Make it different

That time goes into the idea and the craft: colour that communicates, typography with a point of view, imagery that no one else can own.

Start with a one-week audit.

In one week I map your category and give you three clear ways to stand apart. You’ll know what kind of project you need, or whether you need one at all.

€3,000 + IVA
Credited in full if we go on to an identity project within 3 months.

Book a Brand Audit

Transformation

12 to 16 weeks or more

For established businesses. Positioning, a new identity and the roll-out, for a moment of real change.

Scoped to you · Let’s talk

Evolution

8 to 10 weeks

For growing businesses. Sharpen the story and refresh the identity so it fits who you are now.

Scoped to you · Let’s talk

Launch

4 to 6 weeks

For founders and startups. A distinctive brand to launch with, on a startup budget.

Scoped to you · Let’s talk

Agency or consultancy? I join as senior creative lead, by the day or by the project. All services →

Tell me what’s changing.

hola@mariaballestar.com