Building a personal brand beyond Forbes
For 14 years, Petr Šimůnek was the face of Forbes Czech Republic. As he steps into a new chapter as moderator, speaker, and podcaster, we helped him build a personal brand that feels like him no matter where you run into it.
Type
Services & Industry
From Forbes Editor-in-Chief to his own personal brand.
Petr Šimůnek has spent more than 30 years in media, including 14 years leading Forbes Czech Republic. His name already carried a strong image, but that image was closely connected to one title - and titles do not last forever.
As Petr moved into a new chapter as a moderator, speaker, consultant, podcaster, writer, and connector, the need for his own personal brand became clear. Because Sabina and Kate from Heels Make Deals had known Petr for years, the project was both more personal and more demanding: they were not just building a brand for a public figure, but translating someone they truly knew into a clear identity.
The Challenge: We all have a personal brand. Question is - do we own it?
Everyone has a personal brand. Most people just haven't thought about it. It's what comes to mind when your name comes up - built over years, whether you meant it or not.
For Petr, that was a specific kind of challenge. His name carried weight, but it was inseparable from a title: Petr Simunek, editor-in-chief of Forbes.
As he stepped into a new chapter, the work wasn't to build credibility from scratch. It was to make him Petr Simunek, full stop. A brand that belongs to him. Only.
So we started where it always has to start: figuring out what makes Petr, well...Petr.
Step 1: Defining what makes Petr, Petr
There's one thing Heels Make Deals and Petr have always had in common: neither of us does surface-level. So when it came to building his brand, we went deep. Really deep.
Our strategy workshops are built around exercises designed to surface things you didn't even know you knew. "This is like therapy... but for a brand," Petr said at some point during the process. He was exactly right.
What came out of that room was raw material - instincts, contradictions, a very clear sense of what he is not. The next step happens inside our studio - layering all of that against market context, competitor research, and audience insights. Until one thing becomes clear: the specific position in people's minds that your brand can own. And no one else's.
For Petr, we named that position: důkladně připravený punker - “The thoroughly prepared punk” who believes, genuinely, that everything starts today.
Serious substance delivered with wit, lightness, and zero tolerance for bullshit. Real, and a little punk. Essentially, Petr. That became the strategic core of everything that followed.
Step 2: The Identity - rebel between the lines
With the brand core clear, the creative concept followed: Rebel mezi řádky - rebel between the lines. The idea that the punk is always there, but it lives in the details. In the handwritten note that appears between the headline. In the red signature that crosses the formal logotype. In the business card that says: "If you have 37 missed calls from this number - that was me."
Where the punk meets the page
The visual language takes its cues directly from Petr's world.
High contrast and iconic red - personally associated with Petr, rarely used in business content, so it reads as distinctly his rather than a category default.
Typography and photo style rooted in journalism - his background, his differentiator. Every headline feels like a front page. Every layout like something that's been through an editor's hands.
Handwritten interventions throughout - notes, annotations, linear illustrations drawn from his tattoo motifs. The punk living inside the order.
The result is an identity that feels both meticulously prepared and genuinely personal. Because it is.
Logotype
Bold, condensed, editorial. Reads like a newspaper headline - confident, direct, no apology. "PETR" and "37" in heavy black type, with the surname either fading into the composition in newspaper halftone, or stripped away entirely - leaving only Petr's actual handwritten signature cutting through in red.
The Emblem
The number 37 - a personal talisman from childhood. Built like a racing car number: bold, personal, slightly defiant. A standalone mark that works anywhere. Recognizable from a distance, meaningful up close.
Color palette
Three colors. Red, near-black, off-white. No gradients, no softening. The red is specifically chosen because it's associated with Petr personally, yet rarely used in business content. High contrast is the only setting this brand operates in.
Typography
ROC Grotesk Comp Bold for headlines - the compressed, powerful type that anchors every headline like a front page. Charter for body copy - a serif that brings editorial warmth and a nod to print journalism. The third component is of course Petr’s own handwriting. Because what else?
The Graphic System
Petr's tattoos became source material. Custom linear illustrations drawn from their motifs appear across the brand - a lion, a hand, scattered symbols - all in the red line weight that runs through the whole system. These sit alongside handwritten notes and annotations, the visual equivalent of an editor's pencil running through copy.
Step 3: Bringing it to life
The identity works everywhere Petr shows up. And Petr shows up a lot.
Website Design: The main hub - and the first place most people will form an opinion. It feels like Petr walked in, sat down, and started talking. Not a polished corporate presentation, but a platform with a real point of view. Strong headlines, expressive copy, the graphic language running through every page. You land on it and you immediately know whose world you're in.
YouTube Covers: Here's the thing about Petr's guests: they say things like "I got bored of being Viktor Tauš" and "On day one, I got punched in the face." The covers are built around that. Bold headlines, expressive crops, handwritten details, the 37 motif holding it all together. Each one stops the scroll. All of them feel like the same show.
Instagram Templates: A flexible system for everything Petr wants to say - quotes, guest posts, announcements, workshop promos, opinions at 11pm. Strong type, red accents, handwritten details. Consistent enough to be recognizable, loose enough to never feel like a template.
The Result
The best feedback on a personal brand project isn't a metric. It's when people who know the person see the identity and say: yes, that's them.
That's what happened. Now we're excited to see where this new journey will lead.
Everything starts today!
