A process you can follow without becoming a part-time designer.
You bring what you know about your business. The rest is my job.
One process, start to finish.
01Opportunity
02Foundation
03Character
04Identity
- You tell me about your business and the people you sell to
- That turns into a written plan
- The plan turns into a look and a voice
- I design your identity from it
- Every design choice points back at something you said at the start
The process is the one I teach in the graduate brand program at CU Boulder.
Each step takes about a week. We talk at the end of every one. Move faster to stay focused, or stretch it out when the week gets away from you. The order stays the same either way.
“Michael’s approach was the most structured and refined experience I’ve participated in when developing a brand. I enjoyed working with him directly throughout our project and having his full attention in comparison to a traditional agency engagement.”
Dustin SteermanFounder, Vert
Why it works.
Built on what makes you different.
We study your category first, so every design choice has a reason behind it.
One story your team agrees on.
The strategy is settled before anyone looks at a logo, so the design conversation has something to point at.
You always know what’s next.
Every step has a clear beginning and end. You’ll know why it matters to your business, and why the next one follows.
A brand your partners can build from.
Your team and every agency, developer, and printer you hire work from the same page.
How it works.
Opportunity
Weeks 1-2
Your business, your customers, and the people you compete with. Nobody knows your work like you do, and this step turns what’s in your head into the building blocks of your brand.
- Define your 4Cs: company, consumers, category, culture
- Map where your competitors live, and the space none of them claim
- Name what you stand for and how you’re unique
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Foundation
Week 3
Everything we’ve discovered turns into your unique plan. Here we define what your brand is and who it’s for. Why it matters. How it acts.
- Your brand idea, your audience, and archetype
- Vision, promise, and belief
- Values, actions, and personality traits
- Collected in one easy doc you can hand to anyone
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Character
Week 4
The plan turns into your own look and feel. Words and pictures tell your story. Nothing gets designed until we land on the right direction for you.
- Taglines, headlines, and key messages
- Mood boards and visual references
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Identity
Weeks 5-6
Your brand identity, designed to match everything we wrote in the first three steps.
- A logotype and brand mark, with versions sized for every use
- Color and typography
- Image art direction and supporting visuals
- Your brand shown in use, across the applications that matter most to you
- A brand manual and every source file
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Who it’s for.
- Founders and small teams who need the whole brand settled at once and in use right away
- A new product, a new audience, or a name that no longer fits the business
- A team that has argued about a logo and wants it settled earlier
You work with me directly, start to finish. I’m in every meeting, and I do the design myself.
Pricing.
Every version delivers a complete brand. Pick the one sized for your business.
Brand Program
From $9,000
Six weeks, four steps. We work out the strategy together in live sessions, and I design your brand identity from what we decide.
- Working sessions to guide every step
- Positioning, messaging, and brand strategy
- Logo, identity system, and applications
- Brand manual and all source files
Brand Identity
From $18,000
I research and write the positioning myself, then design your brand identity from it. You see finished work at each stage.
- Weekly updates and finished work at each stage
- Positioning, messaging, and brand strategy, written for you
- Logo, identity system, and applications
- Brand manual and all source files
These are starting prices, and the program is built to fit what you need. Packaging, a social campaign, website art direction, multiple logo directions, customer interviews, and naming are all yours to choose. I scope every project in a proposal so the price matches what you pick.
Not sure which one fits? Book a call and we’ll sort it out together.