Nails Inc. is a London-based nail polish and nail care brand founded in 1999 by Thea Green. The company began as a chain of branded nailcare boutiques and has since evolved into a retail business selling polish and varnish products across the UK, US, Australia and Japan. Its visual identity has undergone at least two documented phases, moving from an illustrative hand-based mark to a cleaner typographic wordmark.
Design and History
When Nails Inc. launched in November 1999, the brand identity was created by the service branding team at Design Bridge. The identity was based on a hand, with permutations of the hand motif used across signage, packaging, displays and point-of-sale material. Design Bridge’s creative director Stefan Bufler described the retail concept as clean and modern.[1]
In 2014, as part of a broader brand refresh timed with the company’s 15th anniversary, the logo was redesigned to incorporate a cleaner and more stylish typeface. The update accompanied new concave bottle packaging that held more polish.[2]
The current wordmark, registered as a trademark in 2014, consists of the words “NAILS.” and “INC” in a stylized font with the word “LONDON” in a stylized font immediately below.[3] The mark is registered in black and white, indicating the logo is used in a single color rather than a fixed palette.[4]
Meaning and Symbolism
The 2014 redesign marked a deliberate shift away from the original hand-based imagery toward a purely typographic identity. The Independent reported that the logo was redesigned to incorporate a cleaner and more stylish typeface, signaling a move toward a more refined, product-focused presentation.[2] The inclusion of “LONDON” in the mark anchors the brand to its British origins.
Typography and Design
The current logo uses a stylized typeface for the words “NAILS.” and “INC,” with “LONDON” set in a separate stylized font directly below. The trademark registration describes the mark as consisting of these words in stylized form, confirming the typographic treatment is a defining feature of the identity.[3] The registration does not specify a particular typeface name, and no official source identifies the specific font used.
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