Brand identity design services for businesses that have outgrown their logo
Most of the identities we are handed were made in a hurry, by somebody cheap, before the business knew what it was. That is fine, it is how nearly every company starts. It becomes a problem when the brand has to work across a website, a proposal, a van and an invoice, and nobody can say what the second colour is. Brand identity design services for businesses across the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
What design is actually judged on
Three of the four things in the graphic get noticed. One of them pays. We would rather say that out loud than pretend the two always coincide.
Looking impressive is real, and it is not the goal
A site that looks expensive does change what people assume about your prices, which matters. It is a means, not the outcome, and design that wins compliments while converting worse is a failure with good taste.
So we test the things that can be tested
Layout, hierarchy, what the first screen says, where the call to action sits. These change numbers and the numbers can be compared. Colour palettes and typefaces mostly cannot, and we will not pretend otherwise.
Awards are a marketing channel for agencies
Not for you. We have no awards page because entering them costs money that would otherwise be your budget. Judge us on the case studies instead.
What a brand project includes
Not every project needs all six. Most need the first two and the fourth, which is usually cheaper than people expect.
Brand identity
A logo that works at favicon size and on a van, a colour system with defined roles rather than a palette, type that you can actually licence, and the rules for using them. Built to be used by other people without you in the room.
Guidelines people will follow
Short, practical, and written for whoever makes your next social post or proposal. A ninety page PDF nobody opens is a common and expensive way to waste a brand project.
Design systems for the website
Components, spacing, states and responsive rules, handed to whoever builds it. This is what stops a site drifting six months after launch when somebody adds a page.
The collateral that actually gets used
Proposal and quote templates, email signatures, social templates, invoice layouts. Unglamorous, constantly used, and usually the first thing to go off-brand.
Art direction for photography
What to shoot, how to frame it and what to avoid. Most brand problems we see are really stock photography problems, and no amount of logo work fixes that.
Interface design
Screens, flows and states for a site or product. That is a discipline of its own and it has its own page: UI/UX design services.
Three times we tell people not to rebrand
A design agency saying do not buy design is a reasonable signal, so here is where we actually stop.
When the problem is not the brand
If the site does not convert, or nobody can find it, a rebrand will not fix it and will cost you the budget that would have. We will say this on the first call, and we have talked people out of brand projects more than once.
When you are about to change what you sell
A brand built around your current offer becomes a constraint six months later. If the business model is genuinely in flux, do the minimum now and the real thing when it settles.
When the budget only covers the logo
A logo with no system, no guidelines and no collateral gets applied inconsistently within a month, and you end up paying twice. If the budget is tight we would rather do a smaller scope properly than a full identity badly.
How a brand project runs
Three to six weeks, and the design work is the small part of that.
What the business actually is
A call, and a look at how you currently describe yourselves versus how customers do. The gap between those two is usually the whole brief.
Two or three directions
Properly developed, each with an argument attached. Not eight thumbnails, because that turns a business decision into a preference poll.
One direction, refined
Applied to the things you actually use: the site header, a proposal, a social post, an invoice. Seeing it in use settles arguments that arguing never will.
Handover
Files, fonts, guidelines and templates, all yours including the working files. Plus a walkthrough so whoever posts on social knows what they may change.
Design judged on what happened next
Three results where the design work is the thing that moved the number.
A SaaS landing page. Clear copy, real product proof and a much shorter signup, replacing a static page converting under one percent.
An apparel brand on Shopify. Sharper product pages, a faster checkout and a redesigned cart.
A glass and aluminium company in Australia. A cluttered, dated site became one that conveys competence.
Rated 4.9 out of 5 across more than 2,800 client reviews
We work with clients directly and on monthly retainers. We also work through Fiverr and Upwork, where we hold Top Rated and Top Rated Plus status. Here is what a few recent website and SEO clients said.
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Questions about brand work
This sits under everything we do, alongside UI/UX design.
Not sure a rebrand is the answer?
Tell us what is actually going wrong. If it is conversion or visibility rather than perception, we will point you at the thing that will fix it instead.
What do brand identity design services cost?
A logo and a basic system is usually 1,500 to 3,500 US dollars. A full identity with guidelines, collateral templates and art direction is 4,000 to 12,000. The variable is how many applications need designing, not how long the logo takes.
How long does it take?
Three to six weeks for most identities. The design work is a fraction of that; the rest is rounds of feedback. Projects where one person owns the decision finish in three weeks, projects decided by committee take eight and usually end up blander.
Do you do logos on their own?
Yes, though we will tell you when it is a false economy. A logo with no colour roles, no type rules and no templates gets applied inconsistently almost immediately, and the second project to fix that costs more than doing it once.
How many concepts do we get?
Two or three, properly developed, rather than eight thumbnails. Presenting many options usually means the agency has not committed to an argument, and it turns the decision into a preference poll rather than a judgement about the business.
Do we own the files?
Yes, all of them, including the working files and the fonts you are licensed for. That gets confirmed in writing at the start. Any agency that keeps the source files is holding a hostage.
Can you work with our existing logo?
Often the best answer. Plenty of businesses have a logo with genuine equity and everything around it is the mess: no colour system, four typefaces, no templates. Fixing that is cheaper and less disruptive than a rebrand, and customers do not have to relearn who you are.
What about the website design itself?
Interface and layout design for a site or product is a different discipline and it lives on our UI/UX page. The build side sits with web development.
Tell us what you need and we will show you how we would do it
Share a few details about your business and what you want to fix or build. It could be a new website, a WordPress site that keeps breaking, SEO that has stalled, or a sales process that needs automating. We will come back with honest advice, even if that means a smaller job than you expected.
A reply within one business day
A real person on the team reads your message and replies, usually the same day.
A free review of your current setup
We look at your website, rankings or systems before we talk, so the call is useful.
A written proposal
You get a clear scope, timeline and price in writing before any work starts.
Prefer to talk first?
