The Branding Process

Creating your visual identity should feel exciting and easy to follow. Here’s how we’ll work together, what’s included, and where additional work might come in.

Before we start

This process works best when you have a business name, a clear idea of what you offer, and an understanding of your customers.

If you’re still figuring those things out, let me know. I can discuss what you need and scope that work separately before we start designing.

What’s included?

• A short questionnaire and kickoff call.
• A one-page creative brief.
• Two visual direction boards to choose from.
• One developed identity concept.
• Your logo suite, colour palette and font selections.
• One round of refinements.
• A short brand guide and your final logo files.

The mockups help you picture your brand in use. Building your website or creating finished marketing materials is separate, unless we’ve included it in your proposal.

1. We get on the same page

You’ll complete a short questionnaire before we chat about your business, your customers and what you want your brand to communicate.

I’ll pull that into a simple creative brief for you to approve. It gives us something clear to refer back to when making design decisions.

What I need from you: your questionnaire, any existing brand materials, and confirmation of who will approve the work. If anyone else has a say, this is the time to involve them.

2. You choose a direction

I’ll put together two visual direction boards showing different approaches to colour, typography, imagery and style.

They aren’t finished logo designs. They help us agree on the overall feel before I develop your identity.

What I need from you: choose one direction and tell me about anything that doesn’t feel right before approving it.

3. I bring it to life

I’ll develop one identity concept based on our agreed brief and direction.

Then I’ll walk you through the logo, colours and fonts, showing how they work together in different applications.

What I need from you: take some time to review it, gather any feedback from the people involved, and send me one combined response. Tell me what feels right, what doesn’t, and why—it helps me understand what needs adjusting.

4. We refine the details

One round of refinements is included. That means you send me your feedback together, and I make the agreed adjustments before presenting the updated design.

Once you’re happy and have approved it, I’ll prepare your final files and brand guide.

What counts as a refinement?

Things like adjusting a colour, tweaking the spacing or fine-tuning the typography within our chosen direction.

A different concept, a new visual direction or a change to the approved brief needs more time, so I’ll quote for that separately. You’ll know the cost and timing before deciding whether to go ahead.

And if I’ve made a mistake or missed something we agreed, I’ll fix it without using your refinement round.

What if you need more?

We can agree additional work for things like:

• Naming, positioning or brand messaging.
• Copywriting.
• Extra concepts or refinement rounds.
• Revisiting a stage you’ve already approved.
• Social templates, stationery or other marketing materials.
• Website design and development.

Paid fonts and stock imagery may also cost extra. I’ll flag those costs before you commit.

Your proposal will spell out exactly what’s included, so we both know what we’re working towards.

Keeping things moving

Before we start, we’ll agree dates for the work and your feedback.

You don’t need to know design terminology or write a perfect critique. Clear, honest feedback in one place is what helps most.

If you need more time, just let me know. Late feedback or approvals may mean moving the remaining work to my next available slot, but I’ll always confirm any changes to your delivery date with you.