What should I have ready before I hire a brand designer?
Less than you think. You need to know who makes the decisions, have a few honest sentences from real clients, and be willing to answer questions out loud. You do not need a brief, a mood board, or a tagline.
What should I bring?
- The decision makers, by name. One or two people is ideal. If a partner or a board has a vote, they should be in the first conversation, not the last.
- What clients actually say about you. Emails, reviews, texts, the thank-you note you kept. The exact words matter more than the compliment.
- Who you lose business to. And your honest guess at why.
- Whatever already exists. Logo files, website login, photos, the deck you keep reusing. Bring the ones you are embarrassed by too.
- A real deadline, if there is one. A launch, a conference, a book.
- A budget range. It doesn’t have to be exact. It keeps the recommendation honest.
What do I not need?
- A brief. Writing the brief is the designer’s job, and it should come from a conversation with you.
- A mood board. Pictures of other companies’ brands tell me what you admire, not who you are.
- A favorite color. We will get there, and it may not be the one you expect.
- A tagline. If you already had the right one, you probably wouldn’t be calling.
- The answer to “which package do I need?” That is what the diagnosis is for.
What matters most?
Candor and a few hours. My process starts with brand therapy: ninety minutes of questions, and you answer them out loud. The clients who get the most from it are the ones who say the unpolished thing. “Honestly, the reason people hire us is...” is usually the start of the brand.
After that, plan on three to six hours of your time across the project, in short pieces: the walkthrough of your diagnosis, and feedback on concepts.
What if I am not ready?
Then you are in good company. Nobody thinks they need brand therapy, and almost nobody feels ready for it. The Brand Smart Check takes about three minutes and will tell you whether it is time.
Sound like you?
Everything starts with a free twenty-minute hello, where we both decide whether this is a fit. Or take the Brand Smart Check first: ten questions, about three minutes, and a straight answer.