FAQs

Our team will walk you through a clear process to help you scope your work within your budget and timeline.

Branding & Design

What is the difference between identity design and branding?

Identity design involves the core visual elements used in your materials: logo, font selection, color palette, business cards, and stationery. Your brand is made up of everything that contributes to your company’s personality–the way you interact with your customers, how you want to be perceived, and, most importantly, how your audience perceives your company to be. We can work with you on both of these, which includes the visual, written, structural and visceral aspects of your company.

When does a small business need to think about their branding?

All the time. And as early as possible.

Many businesses put off branding because they perceive the process to be financially restrictive, or they consider other projects to be more time-sensitive. That’s often because the role of branding is misunderstood. Branding is the process of connecting a company's business plan with their marketing and production plans. If it’s completely ignored, or, if marketing comes before branding, issues stemming from confusing messaging and production inefficiencies bog down your company's ability to grow. The branding process decreases these kinds of distractions by creating a structure that fits your company.

Since good communication is the life-force for business, it’s important that the core of what you’re trying to present is something your audience embraces. Defining your brand helps you clarify that message, then build your business around it. This way of approaching communication helps you maintain not only your image, but also your way of doing things inside and outside of your company.

Invest in the future of your company by building relationships through consistent messaging.

When should we brand or rebrand our company?

Here are a few common indications that you're ready to professionally brand or rebrand your company:

You've been in business for a few years but your company doesn't seem to be getting the recognition you deserve.
You're scrambling to produce marketing materials as each trade show or big meeting rolls around.
Your materials are mismatched and sound like they were written by several different people (likely, because they were).
You've been in business for awhile, but still can't decide which style fits your company best, so you're trying out new things.
Times have changed, and so has your audience or product—you need a fresh image to show you've still got it.
You've undergone a lot of internal changes, and evolved into a new company that needs to reconnect with your audience or expand your reach.
You need a new image to help save the future of your business.

Pricing

How is pricing determined?

After reviewing your project with you, we will provide an estimate range for the scope of work based on various factors, including but not limited to, the complexity of the work, the turnaround time, and the skill sets required to complete the work. We offer branding packages at flat rates, and charge hourly rates for most other work. Rush timelines incur a 50-100% upcharge on the hourly rate.

As a remote team, we keep our operating costs to a minimum. This way, your money goes toward supporting the quality of our service, not the fanciness of our office space. Kari hand-picks each team member for your project so you only pay for those with the skills and experience to match your particular needs.

Do you provide discounts to startups?

We provide discounted package pricing options to startups through our partners. If you are currently involved in an accelerator, incubator or co-working space, please contact your program director for details.

If you are a program director for an accelerator, incubator or co-working space, please reach out to us to set up a partnership program to offer discounted rates for your cohort or members: Partner with PLOT >

If you are not a member of any group listed above, check out our affordable, branding, design and marketing resources for your startup here: leandesignforstartups.com.

Do you provide retainer agreements?

Yes, we provide two options, but only to clients with whom we have an established relationship.

Monthly Retainer: Minimum: 10 hours per month for a minimum of three months.
Alternatively, we may provide a discount when a large amount of work is agreed to up front, along with a downpayment and monthly installment payments.

The type of work eligible for retainers includes maintenance or expansion of a website we built for you, as well as creating branded marketing collateral.

Branding, logo design, UX research, audits or strategy work is never included as part of a retainer agreement.

What expenses are clients required to cover?

Your proposal will list anticipated expenses that you will be responsible to cover, and will include estimates for each of them when possible. These may include printing costs, licenses for third-party tools, fonts or images.

Working Together

We've never worked with a design firm before—what should we expect?

Every designer or firm will have different skill sets, approaches and preferred ways of working. It’s important that you look for one that makes you feel comfortable, who has the skills for your particular project, and who can explain their role in previous projects with clarity.

As creative work often requires, the process of coming up with the best solution for your business is not always straightforward and predictable. It takes a level of openness—and sometimes sacrifice of ideas previously clung to—to arrive at a solution that will deliver impeccable results. We want the result to be an objective response to your practical problems, so we always begin a project by defining what the problems are so we know when we’ve solved them.

Because there is a level of subjectivity to aesthetic preferences, you will be provided with 2-3 options for most any project request. That is standard practice for the design industry.

Any further questions about the process can be happily addressed during our initial meet n’ greet conversation.

How long will it take to complete our project?

It’s a team effort—both your schedule and ours will impact the speed at which we can deliver your project. Your ability to provide any necessary resources, content and feedback on our work in a timely way is the best way to keep your project on track.

General timeframes to expect:

Visual Identity Design: 6-12 weeks

One Sheet Design, Presentation Design: 1-2 weeks

Website Design & Development: 4-24 weeks. (Varies widely depending on the complexity of the project.)

We work on a project-by-project basis. This is typically what clients need. Before we begin your first project, we will do a deep-dive to understand your brand and business goals. Then we will discuss your project pipeline and provide recommendations to make the most of your budget and timeframe. We will present you with a proposal, including a detailed estimate to outline the scope of work involved, and a contract to sign. Getting things in writing keeps everyone on the same page (and makes our lawyers happy).

Kari can work solo with your team. Need a Brand Strategist, Creative Director? Hiring full-time is expensive and risky. Kari can be on call for questions big and small for a fixed monthly rate. 3-month minimum, works remotely unless on-site is required for special circumstances

Want to keep us on retainer? Once we complete our first project together, we may be available for a retainer, provided at a 3-month minimum.

We don't work on spec. Our portfolio, testimonials and years and variety of experience should speak for itself.

We don't work for equity.We love startups and the entrepreneurial spirit, and we know how tricky it can be to manage a tiny budget. That's why Kari created Lean Design for Startups. Check it out >

We (mostly) don't work on rush projects. We've learned that if a company is rushing to complete a project it's typically because they haven't been willing to work on their foundational brand message and core identity, which is what drives solid communication and product development. We believe branding—not design—is critical to creating sustainable businesses. We understand there are some exceptions, and special opportunities that you may not have known about until yesterday, so we will approach this on a case-by-case basis.