Branding process

The Steps to a new company Branding Package

1. Conversation

This is the part where you contact me to let me know you're interested in starting a project (you can do that here). We talk about what it is you are looking for, via email or phone or in a in-person meeting. You give me the layout of what it is you need done and how you would like that done via my Creative Brief Inquiry Form found here. I'll ask you questions till I think I understand the scope of the project, and then we can get started on figuring out an estimate.

2. Estimate & Agreement

Now that we know the details of the project we are working on together, we can start working on a price for the job(s) and come up with an agreement about how much this will cost and what the payment delivery schedule looks like. Payment plans are available.

The first payment is in the form of a deposit, usually half upfront, but that varies per project. By delivering payment you are agreeing to make payments in the agreed upon amounts and increments, and I am agreeing to deliver the agreed upon work within timeline discussed. When that deposit is received then work can begin....

3. Concepting

This is when the creative part begins. Concepting is the stage where I start conducting research and sketching. Depending on the project I might also look into typefaces and start exploring some ideas digitally. I will also just be stewing ideas in my brain while doing tasks throughout the day. This is the funnest and most challenging stage...developing the concept, and you never know when the great idea will strike. But time is finite, so at some point we will have reached the agreed upon time to present these ideas. At that point I will bundle up these sketches, type explorations and research into documents and either present them in a meeting in person or email them as a PDF.

This is when it's your turn to do some stewing/homework. You will take these pages home with you and give it a good thought about what it is you like and don't like. What stands out and what you want to take off the table. Which feels most like the brand you want for your business? Maybe it's not there yet and you want to see something else. Maybe you need to consult others for 2nd, 3rd, 4th opinions. When you are ready, you report back to me your findings and we go from there. Note the more info I have from you about the direction you want to go, the less edits we will have down the road which costs time and money, so the best way to keep budgets and timelines in tact is to give this stage great consideration and prepare your feedback thoughtfully.

4. Finalizing

Now that we have chosen a direction, this is the stage where we start turning that idea into something that looks like a final logo. In some situations we might decide we need another concepting round because we haven't found a direction we like, and other times this round might be where we turn several sketches into more fleshed out logos to choose from. Either way, the end goal is where we come out of this stage with a logo. This is also the stage that brings the greatest fluctuations in costs, because each round of editing accrues time costs. Rarely is it perfect the first time through, a good logo usually requires tweaking to get it right, so the estimate will account for 2 rounds of edits. Beyond that additional costs are added. 

5. Color Palette

Once we know what our logo will look like, we start looking into what we want the colors of the brand to be. This stage will come somewhere in the middle of the finalizing stage. The reason we don't involve colors till after we have chosen the logo, is that we don't want our feelings about colors to influence the basic design of the logo. Colors have very emotional resonances for people and it can be hard to separate our feelings about them from the images themselves. In this stage we take in the color directions we discussed at the beginning of the project and build a palette of colors that identify this brand - not just what colors the logo will be featured in, but also what colors we want surrounding and supporting the logo on further branded materials. 3 palettes will be presented and once one is chosen, an official color document will be made with official color names for future use and printer considerations.

6. Final Payment & File Delivery

The last stage is where we get back to the boring admin stuff. Once we have agreed we have the final logo I will start saving that file into various file formats for use in web and print, along with different color versions using our chosen palette, and I will bundle that in a folder for you. Once final payment is received, I'll either send you a dropbox link or a zip file to access all the files for future use. Your logo is now yours to do with as you will!

7. Brand Guidelines

When all is wrapped up, my final gift to you will be a pdf file explaining how to use this brand I've created for you. It will describe how to use the color palette, where to use which logo version and how to place the logo in layouts. This is for your own use, and for any other designers you work with that need to be able to design within the brand. This keeps your design uniform and everyone on the same page. It's like an instruction manual and makes you very official.

8. We brand stuff!

Now that we have a brand, what are we going to brand? Do you need business cards, a website, promo flyers, a sign? This is where we talk about what else you need designed and how we can get that done for you. And if I can't do it I can recommend those who can.

Look around this website to see what else is possible and let me know if your interested in starting the process. I look forward to hearing from you!