Keep the recognition
Brand Refresh
from $750
The existing mark cleaned up or redrawn, keeping what people already recognize.
- The mark cleaned up or redrawn
- Typography and color settled
- A short usage guide
Brand Strategy & Identity
Brand strategy, positioning, identity.
Recent work
What it is
What the business is, and who it is for
Brand strategy is deciding what the business is, who it is for and what it says. Identity is the mark, the type, the color and the rules that carry that decision everywhere the business appears.
For a contractor or a local business the identity is not a logo on a website. It is a truck, a yard sign, a quote document, a shirt, an invoice and a phone screen — usually all before anybody visits the site. Work that only considers the screen produces a mark that fails on the truck.
The test
One mark, everywhere it appears
A sign, a truck, an invoice and a screen should agree.
How it runs
Decided first, then drawn
Strategy decides what the business is, who it is for and what it says. Identity carries that everywhere.
Typical timeline: 2–4 weeks depending on the level
- Understand · DecideDecideWhat the business is, who it is for and what it says.
- BuildThe markCleaned up, redrawn or made, depending on the level.
- BuildType and colorSettled, so every surface is built from one set of decisions.
- BuildAssets and guideExported in the formats printers ask for, with usage guidance.
Each step sits inside one of the five in the Method.
Three levels, and the honest difference
Priced separately from the website on purpose.
A real system
Brand Identity
from $1,500
A logo system, typography, color, a messaging foundation and the essential assets.
- A logo system, not a single lockup
- Typography and color systems
- A messaging foundation
Research first
Full Identity System
from $2,500
Everything in Brand Identity, plus research and positioning, an extended system and fuller guidance.
- Research and positioning
- An extended system
- Fuller guidance
Changing the look and the website together? Brand + Website runs them as one project.
Every project is scoped and priced in writing before it begins.
Compared
Refresh, or rebrand
| Refresh | New identity | |
|---|---|---|
| Best when | You are known locally under your current mark | The business has changed and the identity has not |
| What changes | The mark is cleaned up; type and color settled | The mark, the system and the messaging are made |
| Not a reason | Being bored of it | A quiet phone, which is usually visibility or conversion |
When a rebrand is worth doing sets out the one test that settles it.
What this is not
Stated plainly
Not a rebrand campaign.
Announcing a new identity — the launch, the messaging around it, the sequencing — is a separate decision and a separate piece of work.Not a logo in isolation.
A single image with no system behind it produces the situation this work exists to fix: a mark that works in one place and is quietly redrawn by whoever needs it somewhere else.Not required before a website.
Brand work can run alongside a build or entirely on its own. Where the two run together they are quoted together but priced as two things, so you can see what you are buying.Built in
Who this was built for
Built from the name outward, with no site to start from.
Clients
In their own words
Missy founded LearnSmart; the brand, the site and the words were made rather than migrated.
“We worked closely together deciding on how I wanted things worded, color schemes and pictures.”
Read the full review
Absolutely a wonderful experience from start to finish. Skyler helped me make my idea come to life! He worked with me every step of the way, and asked my input at every turn. We worked closely together deciding on how I wanted things worded, color schemes and pictures. He listened to my preferences and changed things as soon as I asked. He was very timely in his response, never letting more than a couple of hours pass without a response, any day of the week. His work Is extremely professional and he is very knowledgeable. From start to finish, it only took two weeks to fully develop my site and have it up and running. I could not be happier with how my new website and branding/logo turned out. I would recommend him over and over again!
Questions
Branding, answered
Do I need branding, or just a logo?
If you need one file for one purpose, you need a logo. If the same business has to look like itself on a website, an estimate, a van and a sign, you need the decisions around the logo too: the type, the color, and the rules for using them. A Brand Refresh from $750 is the smaller version of that.
Can I get branding and a website together?
Yes, and it is usually the better order of operations. Brand + Website typically runs $3,950–$5,950+ depending on brand scope, website package and copy needs. Doing the identity first means the site is built from settled decisions rather than provisional ones.
Will you write my tagline?
Only if there is something true to say. A messaging foundation is part of Brand Identity, and that covers how the business describes itself. A slogan invented to fill space under a logo is not an asset.
We already have a logo. Is it wasted?
Usually not. A Brand Refresh exists for exactly this: cleaning up or refining what you have, settling the typography and color around it, and writing the short guide that stops it drifting again.
How is this priced, and how is it paid?
Brand Refresh from $750, Brand Identity from $1,500, Full Identity System from $2,500, and Brand + Website typically $3,950–$5,950+. Where branding runs alongside a website project, the standard terms apply: 50% to start and 50% before launch, with larger or custom engagements using milestones defined in the proposal. Everything is scoped and priced in writing first.
Do I own the finished identity, and do I get the source files?
After final payment you own the finished work and the design and content created specifically for you. Ask, and you get the project files that go with it: the vector logo files, the working files, and the exports you need to hand to a printer or a sign maker. Two things cannot come with them, and no studio can hand them over: commercial typefaces and stock imagery are licensed to a named party, so those licenses are bought in your name rather than transferred. And Kreated keeps its own reusable internal systems, tooling and components. Nothing specific to your business.
Can I see brand work you have delivered?
LearnSmart Educational Consulting is the engagement with brand identity in its recorded scope, delivered and live, alongside the website, local SEO and analytics.
What is the difference between brand strategy, brand identity and marketing?
Brand strategy decides who the business is for, what it stands for and what position it is trying to own. Brand identity expresses those decisions visually and in words. Marketing puts the resulting offer in front of people. They work in that order. An identity built without the strategy underneath looks considered and says nothing in particular.
When should a business rebrand rather than refresh?
Refresh when the business is still the same business and the presentation has aged. Rebuild the identity when what the business does, who it serves or what it claims has genuinely changed, and the current identity now describes a company that no longer exists.
Where to go next
Before deciding
For contractors specifically, the contractor website checklist covers whether the site presents one consistent identity.
Read more
Before deciding between a refresh and a new identity, when a rebrand is worth doing sets out the one test that settles it, and the situations where a rebrand is the wrong purchase.
Morrow Coffee Co. is a self-initiated concept rather than a client project, and is marked as one wherever it appears. It is there to show the standard of the creative work, not to imply a client.