You are the client, but also a co-author

In a branding project, the studio brings methodology and expertise. However, the raw materials, organizational memory, and decision-making authority lie entirely with you. When either side is lacking, the project not only slows down but also goes off track. This article discusses the specific tasks you need to perform at each stage to keep the project on the right path from the beginning.

Before signing the contract: set the right foundation

Many projects start off on the wrong foot from the very first call, when clients describe their requirements using aesthetic references instead of business problems. "I want the logo to look modern, minimalist, and luxurious" is not a brief. It is a description of a desired outcome based on personal taste, without any information for the studio to work with.

Before meeting with the studio, the person in charge from your side should be able to answer four questions: what problem is this business solving for whom, what makes customers choose us over competitors, what perception does the brand need to change in the next twelve months, and who is the final decision-maker when both sides disagree. Perfect answers are not necessary, but honest answers are.

The figures above are not the designer's fault. In most cases, the system is handed over to a team that was not involved in the building process, does not understand the reasoning behind each decision, and does not know how to use the delivered materials. Proper participation from you right from the early stages is the main prevention for this issue.

Information gathering phase: tell the truth, no embellishments

The information discovery session is where the studio listens more than it speaks. This is the stage where the client plays the most significant role and is often undervalued.

What the studio needs is not the most beautiful version of your business but the most honest one. Current weaknesses, reasons customers leave, past positioning that does not align with operational reality, internal conflicts about direction. All this information helps the studio avoid building a brand that looks good on paper but cannot operate in reality.

Marty Neumeier writes in The Brand Gap that a brand is "the gut feeling people have about your product, service, or organization." This means the studio cannot create a brand. The studio can only design signals to guide that perception. And to design the right signals, the studio needs to know what your reality is.

Typography is the language that is seen. Every visual decision communicates something. The question is whether it communicates the right message.

Ellen Lupton, designer and design professor

Strategy approval phase: decisions based on criteria

After discovery, the studio will present the positioning strategy and brand foundation. This is the most critical branching point of the project. If the client approves the strategy incorrectly or just to get it over with, everything built afterward will be based on a flawed foundation.

The correct way to approve a strategy is to compare each point with business reality, not personal preferences. The question to ask should be: does this positioning accurately reflect what customers are truly seeking from us, or is it what we want them to think about us? These two things are often not the same.

If there are adjustments at this stage, it is much better than making changes after the logo has been finalized. The cost of making changes at the strategic level is almost negligible. The cost of making changes after the identity system has been implemented is entirely different.

Design stage: feedback with reason

When the studio presents the design concept, your task is not to judge based on personal feelings but to evaluate according to the criteria agreed upon in the strategic phase. Valuable feedback is tied to objectives: this color looks too intimate for the business segment we are targeting, or this arrangement does not reflect the priorities in how we communicate with clients.

Feedback that lacks value, and is also unfair to both sides, is purely subjective without reasoning: it doesn’t look elegant, I don’t like it. Feelings are signals that need to be explored further, not directives for correction. The studio is responsible for asking more questions to understand what lies behind those feelings. You have the responsibility to ask yourself: is this my taste or a judgment for the benefit of the brand?

Wally Olins defines a brand through four vectors: product, environment, communication, and behavior. When reviewing designs, ask whether each visual decision is consistent with all four vectors, not just the presentation in front of you.

Approval phase: receiving the system, not just the file

When the project concludes, the client receives not just a logo and color palette. They receive a system that includes usage principles, the logic behind each design decision, and operational guidelines for internal teams and external vendors.

The approval phase requires at least one handover meeting with actual users of the materials present, not just the project manager. If the marketing team, content team, or advertising agency will use this system after the studio departs, they need to understand the reasoning behind the rules, not just know what the rules are. Understanding the reasoning is essential for proper application in situations not covered by the guidelines.

What clients often overlook: the decision maker must be present

One of the most common reasons branding projects drag on is not poor design, but internal authority issues. The studio presents to an intermediary, who escalates to a higher level, the higher level provides different feedback, the intermediary relays it back, and the studio adjusts based on filtered information. This cycle repeats three or four times, progress breaks down, and no one is clear on who is at fault.

The final decision-maker for the brand needs to be directly involved in at least three points: the information discovery session, the strategy review session, and the first concept presentation. They do not need to be present at all times, but these three points are where their decisions will shape the entire remainder of the project.

Byron Sharp in How Brands Grow argues that brand identity can only accumulate when signals are consistently repeated over time. That consistency starts from internal alignment during the project process, not after the files are delivered.