The Process is Simple.
The So Very Madly branding process, in six steps.
Hiring a designer is a strange purchase. You are buying judgement, and judgement is invisible right up until it arrives.
Most studios describe their process in words that could mean almost anything.
Discovery. Ideation. Alignment. Here is mine instead, in plain order, with real timeframes attached to each part so you can see where your money and your weeks actually go.
You do not need to know what you need before you email me. Working that out is step one's entire job. Arriving with a vague sense that something is off is a completely normal way to begin, and it is how most good projects here have started.
Nothing below is padded to look impressive. If a step takes a week, it says a week.
The So Very Madly branding process is six steps: we talk, we define the actual problem, I go away and think, I present one strategic direction, we refine it together, and I build the final system and hand over every file. A full brand identity takes 6 to 14 weeks from first call to handover. You work directly with me the whole way through. There are no juniors and no account managers.
The Six Steps.
Every project runs in this order, whether it is a full identity or a single campaign. Smaller jobs move faster; they do not skip steps.
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No deck, no pitch, just an unreasonable number of questions.
A call, or coffee if you are in town. You tell me what is going on and I ask about the parts you did not think were relevant. Nothing is billed yet and nothing is decided. If I am not the right person for the job, this is where I say so and point you somewhere better.
(45 minutes)
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The thing you booked me for is usually not the thing that is wrong.
I look at what you have, talk to anyone who matters, and read the market you are actually competing in. Then I write down the real problem in one page of plain language and we agree on it before anything gets designed. This page becomes the thing we measure the work against later, which is why it is worth a week.
You get a fixed-fee proposal at the end of this step. No surprises after it.
(1 week)
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The step people worry about. This is the part where it looks like nothing is happening. It is the part you are paying for.
You will not get progress screenshots this fortnight, and that is deliberate. Showing you half-formed work invites you to react to sketches instead of ideas, and it makes both of us worse at our jobs. What is happening is reading, writing, drawing, discarding, and 20+ years of pattern recognition quietly doing its thing.
If the silence gets uncomfortable, email me and I will tell you where I am. I would rather answer that than have you sitting there wondering.
(1 to 2 weeks)
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One direction, argued properly. Not three, hedged.
I walk you through the thinking first and the visuals second, so you can judge whether the idea is right before you have an opinion about the colour. You will see the identity applied to real situations, not floating on a grey background. Bring whoever needs to be in the room, and bring your questions.
Presenting one direction is not me limiting your choice. It is me doing the deciding you hired me to do.
(90 minutes)
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Two rounds. Named, scheduled and finite.
You send consolidated feedback, I make considered changes, we look again. Two rounds is enough for almost every project because the hard thinking already happened in steps two and three. If something genuinely needs a third pass we will talk about it honestly rather than quietly grinding for another month.
Feedback from a committee is fine. Feedback from a committee that has not spoken to each other is not, and I will send it back.
(1 to 2 weeks)
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Then it is yours. All of it. Including the working files.
I build the finished system, write the guidelines in language your team will actually follow, and hand over an organised folder of every file. Logos in every format you will need, type and colour specifications, templates, and the source artwork. You own the work outright. Nothing is held hostage, and you do not need to come back to me to change a business card.
01 - Logo suite, all formats and lockups
02 - Colour, type and layout specifications
03 - Guidelines document, written to be used
04 - Editable source files and templates
Licensed fonts are the one exception, because nobody can give those away. I will tell you exactly what to buy and what it costs before we get here.
(2 to 3 weeks)
How long does the whole process take?
Longer than you want, shorter than you fear.
A full brand identity runs 6 to 14 weeks from the first call to the file handover. Smaller pieces of work are proportionally quicker. The variable is almost never me; it is how fast decisions get made on your side.
I book a start date, not a queue position. You will know when I begin and when you will have the files, and if anything moves you will hear it from me before you notice it yourself.
• Full brand strategy and identity 6 to 14 weeks
• Visual identity refresh 4 to 6 weeks
• Campaign concept and art direction 3 to 5 weeks
• Senior freelance support booked by the hour
What does a project cost?
There is no price list on this page, and that is deliberate.
The work varies too much to pretend otherwise. A brand identity for a business starting from nothing, a campaign that has to hold up across billboards and radio, and four days of senior art direction on a project that has gone sideways are not the same job. They should not carry the same number.
Here is how the money actually works instead.
You get a fixed price before anything begins. At the end of step two, once we have agreed in writing what the real problem is, you get one number for the whole project. Not an hourly rate that quietly grows. Not a range that creeps. One number, agreed before I start.
What moves that number: how much strategy is needed before design can start, how many applications get built out, whether photography or motion or copywriting are involved, and how many people need to approve things.
Tell me your budget in the first email. Not so I can spend all of it. So I can tell you honestly what is possible inside it, and whether you would be better off spending it somewhere else entirely. If the number will not cover the work, I will say so on the first call rather than three weeks in.
Who you actually work with.
Cora Brown. Creative director, senior designer, and the person who answers your email.
You get the strategic insight of an agency creative director and the meticulous craft of a senior designer in one conversation. No juniors learning on your dime and no account manager turning your feedback into a game of broken telephone.
Some projects need more hands. A photographer, a developer, a copywriter.
I bring in people I have worked with for years and I direct them myself. You still only ever talk to me.
Frequently asked questions
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No. Most people do not, and the ones who think they do are often wrong in interesting ways. Turning up with a problem rather than a shopping list is the better start.
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Then we talk about why, which is usually more useful than looking at alternatives. Because we agreed the problem in writing before I designed anything, disagreements at step four are almost always about execution rather than direction, and execution is what step five is for.
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Two, and they are scheduled rather than open-ended. Additional rounds are possible and quoted before they start, so nothing appears on an invoice you did not agree to.
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Yes. Full ownership of the final work, including editable source files, transfers to you on final payment. The only exception is licensed fonts, which you buy in your own name so the licence is legitimately yours.
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Often, yes. A good part of my work is senior support for in-house teams and agencies who need another experienced brain for a stretch. The process compresses, but the order of it stays the same.
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Regularly. I am based in St. John's and work across Canada and further afield. Everything except the optional first coffee happens perfectly well over a call.
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An email describing what is going on, one named decision-maker, and access to whatever you already have. That is enough for step one.
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Tell me the date in your first email. Some timelines can be compressed by narrowing the scope rather than rushing the thinking. If the date is genuinely impossible I will say so rather than take your deposit and hope.
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It depends on scope, so there is no single number. You get a fixed price before any work starts, agreed at the end of step two once we both know what the actual problem is. Tell me your budget in your first email, and I will tell you honestly what is possible inside it.