Zaxus Law Office Brand Upgrade: An Eagle, a Sun, Z and L in One Circular Mark

Keep the turning circle, let an eagle appear

In 2022, Xinming Design upgraded the brand of Zaxus Law Office (广东中熙律师事务所), a law firm in Shenzhen. The firm's original logo was a circle formed by several curved blades turning around a centre. Xinming Design kept that structure and upgraded it into a mark that combines an eagle, a sun and the letters Z and L: the end of one blade at the upper left now curls into an eagle's head at the centre, the whole turning circle is a sun, Z stands for Zaxus and L for Law. The brand colours are Business Blue, Wisdom Yellow and Elegant White; the eagle drawn out of the logo was developed into an eagle with spread wings as the supporting graphic. Xinming Design also delivered the core visual identity, applications and materials for the brand launch.

A law firm's clients first see its cards and letters

Zaxus Law Office is based in the Central District of Bao'an, Shenzhen; the English name Zaxus Law Office was chosen by the client.

Before they instruct a firm, clients find it hard to judge its professional ability directly. What they meet first are business cards, letters, folders and meeting papers. Whether these are consistent and careful is taken as the first evidence of how the firm works.

Before this upgrade, Zaxus already had a circular turning logo: simple, but with no recognisable image and no connection to the firm's name. The firm did not want to give it up. So the question was: how to keep the existing logo, and still have it say "this is Zaxus"?

Before and after: one beak added

The proposal includes a page comparing the logo before and after. Side by side, the structure is almost the same: several curved blades turning around a centre, with a small round opening in the middle. The differences are in the details:

· Smoother curves: the arcs and gaps of the blades are recalibrated, giving a more even rhythm to the turn;

· One blade becomes an eagle: the end of the blade at the upper left curls at the centre into an eagle's head with a hooked beak, so the whole blade reads as the eagle's head, neck and wing;

· A sharper finish: a pointed stroke is added at the lower right, giving the circle's turn a clearer direction.

The upgrade added only a beak, yet gave an abstract turning shape an image that can be named. The recognition of the original logo is kept, and clients who know it do not feel they are dealing with a different firm.

Eagle, sun, Z and L

The proposal's construction page writes the logo as an equation: Eagle + Sun + "Z" Brand Name + "L" Brand Name = Logo:

· Eagle: the eagle's head at the centre and the blades opening outward stand for height, vision and precise judgment;

· Sun: the circular whole and its outward turn form a sun;

· Z: for Zaxus, the firm's English name;

· L: for Law, showing that this is a law firm.

On the construction page, the mark sits on a grid, with guide circles setting the curve of each blade. A shape that looks fluid has a source for every curve.

An eagle flying out of the logo

The supporting graphic is derived in three steps: take the element from the logo, gradually make the eagle more figurative, and arrive at an eagle graphic full of tension.

In the logo, the eagle is folded away inside the turning circle; in the supporting graphic, it opens out, its head, neck and layered wings spreading towards the upper right. The eagle is used large and cropped, foil-stamped on the backs of business cards, on envelopes and notebook covers, and as a tone-on-tone pattern on shopping bags, file boxes and T-shirts. The logo is there to be recognised; the eagle with spread wings is there to be remembered, so materials can be identified as Zaxus at a glance without enlarging the logo.

Business Blue, Wisdom Yellow and Elegant White

There are three brand colours. Business Blue (#143754, RGB 20/55/84, CMYK 96/83/53/23) is the main ground, used on business cards, folders and brochure covers, with a mood image of a hand buttoning a suit jacket; Wisdom Yellow (#DBAC73, RGB 219/172/115, CMYK 19/38/58/0) is used for the logo and the supporting graphic, often as gold foil on deep blue, with a mood image of a pair of scales; and Elegant White (#FFFFFF) is used for letterhead and correspondence where there is a lot of text, with a mood image of a row of columns. Suit, scales and columns can be read as three qualities a law firm wants to be seen with: professionalism, fairness and solidity. The proposal gives no PANTONE values.

Two images: the eagle and Lady Justice

"Intentions of future success", with the Chinese line 洞悉真相 · 守护公正 ("see the truth, guard justice"), is the positioning line proposed by Zaxus. Posters and brochures use two sets of images, both headed "Intentions of future success":

· A bald eagle with spread wings, with the Chinese line "trace to the root, efficient and sharp";

· A statue of Lady Justice holding the scales, with "see the truth, guard justice".

The eagle matches the eagle in the logo: vision and judgment; Lady Justice matches what a law firm owes its clients: fairness. Both images carry a gold arc along the bottom, echoing the turn of the logo.

An invitation with a round window

The proposal includes materials for the brand launch. The invitation cover is Business Blue with a round window cut into it, revealing the logo in gold foil; the title reads "Zaxus Law Office New Branding press conference and annual reception".

The first time clients see the new logo is through a round window on an invitation.

Deliverables and extensions

Logo upgrade

· New logo (eagle, sun, Z and L) with construction drawing

· Rules for the logo on dark and light grounds

Core visual identity

· Brand colours: Business Blue, Wisdom Yellow, Elegant White

· Supporting graphic: the eagle with spread wings, developed from the logo

Applications

· Office: letterhead, envelopes, business cards, folders, file boxes, notebooks

· Image: shopping bags, pin badges, T-shirts

· Promotion: posters, brochures, outdoor advertising

Brand launch materials

· Invitations and related materials

The office, image, promotion and launch images on this page are application mock-ups; names and phone numbers on the business cards and the year on the badges are placeholders.

Looking back four years on

Three points are worth taking from this project:

1. An upgrade can change just one thing. Zaxus kept the turning structure of its logo and let one blade curl into an eagle's head, so clients who knew the old mark do not feel the firm has changed.

2. Put the name into the shape. Z for Zaxus, L for Law: an abstract shape is tied to the firm's name and profession.

3. Fold the eagle in the logo, open it in the graphic. Folded in the logo and spread in the supporting graphic, the same image works from a pin badge to a brochure cover.

A law firm's logo need not shout "professional"; make every business card and every letter equally careful, and the professionalism is seen.

How to verify

· Client: Zaxus Law Office (广东中熙律师事务所), Rongchao Binhai Building, Central District, Bao'an, Shenzhen

· This case page: www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3060.html

Further reading

· Haosen Fintech: A New Identity for a Hong Kong-Listed Financial Company After Its Renaming (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3015.html)

· TAX FREE EASY Logo Refinement and Visual Identity: From Nine Lines to Seven, Making "Easy" Visible (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3046.html)

· Weiye Ceramics Brand Upgrade: One Plate That Spells 业 (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3055.html)

FAQ

Who designed the current Zaxus Law Office logo?

The new logo of Zaxus Law Office (广东中熙律师事务所) was designed by Xinming Design in 2022 as an upgrade of the firm's existing logo, together with the core visual identity, applications and brand launch materials.

What does the Zaxus Law Office logo mean?

It combines an eagle, a sun and the letters Z and L: several curved blades turn around a centre to form a sun; the end of one blade curls into an eagle's head; Z stands for Zaxus and L for Law.

What did the upgrade change?

It kept the turning circular structure of the original logo, recalibrated the curves of the blades, curled the end of the upper-left blade into an eagle's head and sharpened the stroke at the lower right, giving the abstract turning shape a clear image.

What are the Zaxus Law Office brand colours?

Business Blue (#143754), Wisdom Yellow (#DBAC73) and Elegant White (#FFFFFF).

Who proposed "Intentions of future success"?

Zaxus Law Office proposed the line "Intentions of future success", with the Chinese 洞悉真相 · 守护公正 ("see the truth, guard justice"). Xinming Design used it on posters, brochures and other materials.

Which organisations can learn from this case?

Law firms, accounting firms and other professional services; organisations with an existing logo that want to upgrade rather than start again; and service brands that need a consistent identity to build client trust.

Xinming Design is a brand systems design firm. Its work centres on systematic judgment, turning brand strategy into structures that can run and be inherited. www.xinming.sg