WHAT THINGS COST
How much does a logo and brand identity cost?
Why the logo is the cheap part, and what the rest of the money is for.
Short answer · updated
A complete identity - mark and lockups, a type and colour system, written usage guidelines and an asset pack in every format - costs $1,200 and takes two weeks. A logo on its own costs less than this and covers less of what an identity has to do.
A logo is not an identity
A logo is one mark. An identity is the system that keeps everything you make afterwards looking like it came from the same place: the typography, the colour, the spacing, and the rules for when to break them. Without the system, six months of work by four different people produces six slightly different companies.
This is the single most common thing we are asked to fix, and fixing it costs more than doing it once.
What the two weeks contain
A brief, then a small number of genuinely different directions rather than forty variations of one idea. Showing twenty near-identical options is a way of making the client do the deciding.
The chosen direction is then built out into a system and written down. The guidelines are the part that stops the identity decaying, and they are included in the price here.
What is not included
Trademark search and registration. That is a legal matter, it varies by jurisdiction, and it should be handled by someone qualified rather than bundled into a design fee.
Also excluded: packaging, print production artwork, signage, and naming. If you need the name itself rather than the mark for a name you have, that is a separate job and we will quote it.
Why identity prices vary so wildly
At the bottom, a marketplace logo is a stock mark resold to several businesses, and you will meet one of them. At the top, an identity programme for a large organisation includes research, naming, several sub-brands and a rollout across hundreds of touchpoints, and it genuinely costs what it costs.
In the middle, the honest question is whether you are buying a mark or a system. Ask to see the guidelines document from a previous project. If there is not one, you are buying a mark.
Worked example
| Scenario | How it adds up | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Brand Identity | $1,200 | $1,200 |
| Brand Identity + Visual & Video Pack | $1,200 + $450 | $1,650 |
Each total is the published prices added together.
Included and not included
What each package lists as included, and what its page lists as not included.
| Package | Included | Not included |
|---|---|---|
| Brand Identity$1,200 |
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| Visual & Video Pack$450 |
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What moves the number
- Pushes it up
- Naming, several sub-brands, packaging or print artwork, research
- Pushes it down
- Nothing useful. Below this, you are buying a stock mark
- Separate and unavoidable
- Trademark registration, and commercial font licences
Frequently asked questions
Is this just a logo?
No, and that is the point of the price. A logo on its own is the cheapest part and the least useful without the system around it.
How many concepts do I see?
A few genuinely different directions. Showing twenty near-identical options is a way of making the client do the deciding.
Do I own it?
Yes, once the final payment clears. Third-party fonts stay under their own licences, and we tell you which ones those are before you are committed.
When do I pay?
Fixed-price work is paid in full before it starts. Monthly work is paid monthly in advance and can be stopped at the end of any paid month. Prices are in US dollars.
How do revision rounds work?
Each package states how many revision rounds it includes. A revision round is one consolidated set of changes within the agreed scope. Changes that alter the scope are quoted separately.
Can I get a refund?
Before work starts: Full refund, no questions asked. Ask any time before we begin and you get everything back. After work starts, before delivery: You are refunded the part of the project not yet done, assessed against the work completed at that point. If we have finished the design but not the build, you pay for the design and the rest comes back. After delivery: If the delivered work does not match what the package listed, tell us within 14 days. We fix it, and if we cannot, we refund you in full. Deliverables built exactly to the listed scope are not refundable simply because you changed your mind.
The packages behind these numbers
Each one lists its full scope, what it excludes and how the work runs.
- Brand Identity A logo is not an identity. This is the whole system. $1,200
- Visual & Video Pack A batch of production-ready visuals and short video cuts. $450
The studio behind them: Ads, brand & media.