{Branding & identity}
Branding and identity
We design a brand identity that works everywhere it appears: a mark with its lockups, two typefaces, a colour set that passes contrast, the file set, and a short guide.
From $3,500 CAD, plus HST · Quoted after a 30-minute call for work outside a package
- Who it is for
- Small businesses, practices and startups whose mark has to work on a screen, in print and on a sign, including teams refreshing a mark people already recognise.
- What you get
- A mark and lockups, type with licences in your name, colour with contrast recorded, the files and a ten-page guide.
- Timeline
- Agreed in the written quote
{Examples, labelled}
Identities, and what each had to survive.
A paid identity re-drawn at the client's request, and an identity concept from the studio. More marks are in the brand archive.
Client work, anonymised · Retail and e-commerceLatitudeA compact mark and three colours with stated jobs, drawn for a platform, a car window and the side of a bus.
What changedNone claimed. The client asked not to be named.
Explore the project
Concept · ChildcareWonderhill daycareAn identity and landing page for a daycare, built to answer whether there is a spot before anything else.
What changedNone. A studio concept: nothing shipped, nothing measured.
Explore the project- Studio archive · design work, no results claimed
The brand archive
Marks, palettes and the applications they were tested on, one paragraph each, with no results claimed.
Open the archive
Every project is labelled before you see it: client, client work anonymised, studio concept or practice. What each label means
{What you get}
What leaves with you.
A logo is the smallest part. You need a mark that reads at twenty pixels and on a van door, two typefaces, a colour set that passes contrast, and a short guide so the next person does not undo it.
The mark, and its lockups
Primary, stacked and icon-only, drawn on a grid, tested at 20 pixels and at sign size.
Type, with licences you own
Two faces, a display and a working one, and the licence in your name rather than ours.
Colour with contrast recorded
Every pairing checked against WCAG 2.2 AA, with the ratios written into the guide.
Files for the real world
SVG, PDF, PNG and favicon, in colour, one-colour and reversed, ready for a printer or a sign shop.
A usage guide people read
Ten pages: clear space, minimum sizes, what not to do, and the type and colour values.
Social and print set-up
Profile images, covers, a letterhead, an invoice header and a business card, laid out.
You probably need this if…
- Your logo disappears at favicon size.Too much detail, or type set too fine to survive a 16 pixel square.
- Three people have three different versions of it.No master files and no guide, so everybody redraws it slightly.
- Your colours fail contrast on your own website.It looked right in the logo, and now the buttons cannot be read.
{The test}
One mark, from favicon to fascia.
The test every mark we draw has to pass: the same artwork, from a browser tab to a shop sign.
16 px · favicon- 20 px · a tab
- 48 px · an app icon
- Hang tag and above
{How it works}
From your constraints to the guide.
Your constraints shape the mark more than taste does, so they come first.
TimelineAgreed in the written quote
Before the quote
Hear the constraints.
Who you serve, where the brand has to live (a van, a window, an invoice, a website) and whether the name is settled.
You receiveA written scope and one fixed quote.
First
See two or three directions.
Each shown where the brand will actually appear, not on a grey card. You choose one.
You reviewTwo or three directions, in context.
Then
Refine and test.
The chosen mark is drawn on a grid and tested at 20 pixels, reversed, one-colour and at sign size. Type and colour are set, with every contrast ratio recorded.
You approveThe final mark, type and colour.
At handover
Take the files.
SVG, PDF, PNG and favicon in every version, a ten-page guide, and the type licences in your name.
You keepThe file set, the guide and the licences.
{Packages & prices}
One number for the identity.
Two packages with published prices, each agreed in writing before any work starts. Identity covers the mark, the lockups, type, colour, the guide and the file set. Bundled with a website build it costs less than buying the two separately, because the design work overlaps.
| Package | Price | What is included | Not included | Timing | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IdentitySmall businesses, practices and startups that need a mark that works on a screen, in print and on a sign. | $3,500CAD per project, plus HST |
|
| TimelineAgreed in the written quote | Ask about this: the Identity package |
| Identity with collateralBusinesses that need the brand on everything at once: cards, stationery, social, signage. | $6,500CAD per project, plus HST |
|
| TimelineAgreed in the written quote | Ask about this: the Identity with collateral package |
| Deliverables | Mark, lockups, type, colour, guide, files |
|---|---|
| Timeline | Agreed in the written quote |
| Directions shown | 2 to 3, then one refined |
| Revision rounds | Agreed in the written quote |
| File formats | SVG, PDF, PNG, favicon |
| Type licences | Bought in your name |
| Price | Identity, $3,500 CAD per project, plus HST; Identity with collateral, $6,500 CAD per project, plus HST |
| Not included | Printing, signage and photography |
| What moves the quote |
|
| Quoted separately, or not ours |
|
| Terms | Canadian dollars, plus HST. One project, one fixed quote, agreed before any work starts. |
Where we are not the right fit
- You need naming, a trademark search, printing or sign fabrication. Those are separate pieces of work or a lawyer's job.
- You want twenty logo options to choose from. We show two or three, in context, then refine one.
{Before we begin}
What owners ask before a rebrand.
Price, timing, what you keep and what we will not do. Straight answers, including the limits.
Ask us something elseDo I own the logo and the files?
Yes, on final payment, including the working files and the full file set. Typeface licences are bought in your name, so they stay with you too. We ask only to show the work in our portfolio, and we will leave it out if you would rather we did not.
How many logo options do I see?
Two or three directions, each shown where the brand actually lives rather than on a grey card. You pick one, then we refine it through the rounds the quote names. Showing twenty options is how a project gets decided by committee.
Can you refresh what we have instead of starting over?
Often, yes, and it is usually the better call when the mark is recognised. We redraw it on a grid, fix what breaks at small sizes, sort the colour and type, and write the guide. Keeping the recognition you have already built is worth more than novelty.
What should we have decided before a brand project?
Tell us whether the name and positioning are settled, and where the identity has to appear: screen, print, a storefront, a vehicle or packaging. If the name is still changing, we scope that separately; the identity quote covers the mark, lockups, type, colour, guide and agreed file set.
Do you print signs or install vehicle graphics?
No. We can include production-ready artwork for agreed signage or vehicle applications in the quote, but fabrication and installation are outside the identity project. Printing and sign work are listed separately so you can take the files to your supplier.
How much does a brand identity cost?
Identity: $3,500 CAD per project, plus HST. Identity with collateral: $6,500 CAD per project, plus HST. Identity covers the mark, lockups, type, colour, guide and file set; Identity with collateral adds the everyday applications. Anything beyond those is quoted in writing before work starts. What moves it: how many applications you need, whether the name is settled, and whether signage or packaging needs production artwork. Bundled with a website build it costs less than buying the two separately.
How long does a brand identity take?
Agreed in the written quote. The pace is set by how settled the name and positioning are, and by how quickly decisions come back on the two or three directions. Revision rounds: agreed in the written quote.
Do we need to meet in person?
No. We work on calls and shared boards, and we show every direction where the brand will actually live. In-person sessions are possible in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph.
{Keep reading}
Where a new identity goes next.
Related services, the sectors that buy this work, and guides that answer the questions before a call.
Last reviewed
Tell us where the brand has to live.
Tell us what you want to build in three short steps. A person on our team reads it, replies by email and, if it fits, agrees the scope and a fixed quote in writing before anything starts.