You’ve looked at our site – checked our bios, researched our branding case studies and meticulously read our blog and combed through the comments and reviews from our clients and friends. You’ve paced or fidgeted or chewed your nails (even though your mother told you not to). Maybe you haven’t had the best sleep over the past week. You come back to the site for reassurance and find you are becoming comfortable with the idea of handing over your new branding endeavor. Yes, you are sure of it. You have done your research and now it’s time to take that next step – the first step in a journey that leads to something completely unknown. Funny thing is, your feet seem to have completely forgotten what it is they are supposed to do …

It’s to be expected that you are anxious. This is not just a financial investment, but an emotional investment that asks you to put the future of your business into someone else’s hands – often without the slightest idea as to what, exactly, they are doing with your business. At Luxecetera, we get this and want to demystify the process to help you better understand what to expect over the coming months. With any luck, this guide will help clear the path and make your journey a bit easier. Remember, this is a positive, enriching experience and we want you to be comfortable. We value your business and your trust and want you to enjoy, what should be, an exciting and constructive moment. So, read on and come with us, down the rabbit’s hole …

The first thing is getting on our waiting list. We are a small firm and one that prides itself on carefully and thoughtfully creating every brand “from scratch” As you read on, you will notice that we have a well-developed process that ensures every project is thoroughly developed and completed with each client – not dependent of her or him. It’s what differentiates us from a lot of our competitors. A $250 deposit holds your spot in line and waiting times vary. When you make your deposit, we will give you an approximate estimate as to how long the wait will be.

Once we’ve gotten you on the list, you will fill out our initial questionnaire, which is a mix of questions to help us understand the who, what, why, where, and how of you and your company. This is our first real glimpse into your business, so be sure to take the time to carefully think out and develop your answers. It’s essential that you are honest and thorough and (this is really important) detailed. For instance, with a question like “who are your clients,” don’t respond “moms” – there are a lot of “moms” out there. Tell us what kind of moms or families or engaged couples you are looking for. Use descriptive language and really pinpoint your client demographic. These questions are not just an exercise – they are an important part of the process. They get you really thinking about what you want for your business and help us to gain an understanding of what you need.

As soon as your name reaches the top of the waiting list, things kick into high gear. We begin with a consult. This will be our first real meeting since this whole thing began. Meeting new clients is an exciting event at Luxecetera. We’ve learned a little about you from your initial inquiry and the questionnaire, but now we get to assign a voice, personality, and (sometimes) a face to the individual we are working for. This is a time for both of us to ask the other questions and develop a real rapport. Together, we will review the questionnaire and you will have the opportunity to amend and further develop the ideas you expressed there. The designer will give you honest feedback and a professional perspective on your concepts. The phone consult is also a key decision-making time. We will discuss your options in regard to branding packages and help you to decide on one right for you and your business. This is also when you will make your first payment so that we can carry on the conceptualization process and start developing your new brand.

Now that we have your ideas and have come to an agreement about your design package, our designers set to work on creating concepts for your brand. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes branding action (sounds fun, doesn’t it!) at Luxecetera, involving our entire creative team. We have a diverse think-tank working for you, drafting concepts, writing brand statements, illustrating design elements and giving life to your ideas. Creativity literally flies all over the place (usually in the form of scribbled post-its, crumpled pieces of drafting paper and, on occasion, entire computers). We could show you all of this, but we don’t want you to think we’re out of our heads, so, just take our word for it, there is a lot going on. All you have to do is sit back, relax and wait for …

The concepts. Once all of the fantastic magic of conceptualization and design has calmed, you will be presented with the initial concepts for your brand design. Based on your branding package, you will receive a number of items at this time, such as logos, accents, taglines and the like. It is now time for you review these “drafts” and make some decisions. Try them on, see how they fit, use your imagination and picture you and your new brand on the beach or out to dinner with the kids: is this the one? But seriously, think about each concept carefully and consider what works and what doesn’t. The good thing is that you and we have already taken the time to think things through before we ever got started putting ink to paper, so these concepts should be very close to what you had imagined in the initial stages of this process. Our experience has taught us what works in this regard-that is why we have all of these steps. However, it doesn’t mean that every concept is perfect every time. So, if there are real issues in this stage, now is the time to identify them.

In a perfect world, you receive three “perfect” concepts and your toughest decision is which “perfect” design works best for you. But, we aren’t as vain as all that and know that revisions will, most likely, be necessary – however minor they may be. In most cases, you find that at least one of the concepts (usually two) is to your liking and you’re ready to move forward with that design. At this point in our journey it’s time to take a step back and see how we can make your chosen brand fit even better. Revision is a normal process and an important element in the design package. We are professionals and conduct ourselves as such, so don’t be afraid to offer critiques of the concepts we’ve provided. You won’t hurt our feelings (much, haha). That said, it is also important to keep in mind that revision does not constitute a re-conceptualization. If you have been a proactive part of this process, the concepts we send you should be very near-perfect visual representations of the ideas you helped to create. All that will be necessary is a few tweaks here and there, such as color changes, font alterations, layout, etc. In other words, with very few exceptions, we will not scrap these designs to create a new slate of concepts. That is not revision. Again (underscore this), we work to make this a reciprocal process – so long as you are onboard and active in that process, you will see concepts that match with your wants and needs.

Hard to believe, but we’ve arrived at our destination! After the revision process, you receive your completed concept or concepts and you choose … the most perfect, greatest, fantastic design for your business ever created! Well, hopefully. You’ve chosen a design and are left with a few decisions concerning your branding package. There is an opportunity to now upgrade. If you initially signed on for a logo and decide you want an entire branding package, we can do that. We are at the point of wrapping up, so consider those options. Whatever you decide, you now have a new brand and we move on to creating your deliverables:

For the logo, you will receive your logo in vector and layered .psd format, a lookguide with fonts, colors and instructions.

Brand packages will include the logo in vector and layered .psd format, patterns, accents, watermark files, the lookguide with fonts, colors and instructions.

Once those are received and reviewed, your second payment for the package is due. After the payment is received, you will be given the brand “projects,” 3 or 6, depending on your package, all built around the added brand accents.

And so, after all of that-the thinking, deciding, conceptualization, creation, revision and completion of your brand – all that is left to do is for you to fall in love with your business’ new look and feel. You have done it! Pop the champagne, order a deep-tissue massage, treat yourself to an expensive dinner and celebrate making an intelligent and beneficial investment in your business.

Tags: branding process, design process