Branding agency New York for businesses that have outgrown a logo
As a branding agency New York businesses trust, we start from admitting a logo is the smallest part of it. What you actually need is a system that keeps everything looking like you, applied to the things a customer sees rather than sitting in a PDF nobody opens.
How we work
Branding Agency New York: How We Approach an Identity
Typically, we start with what the brand has to survive: a website header, a phone screen, a van door, an invoice, a storefront sign at dusk. A mark that only works at poster size on a white background needs more work, and that is the most common thing clients ask us to fix.
As a result, from there we develop the wordmark, the color, the type and the rules that hold them together — the graphic design work a brand actually runs on, and we test them at the sizes and in the places you will actually use them before we sign off on anything. See more on brand management best practices.
The system behind the mark
Specifically, guidelines a printer, a social media manager and a developer can all follow without calling you. That means:
- Minimum sizes and clear space, so the mark is not squeezed onto a business card.
- What happens on a dark background, on a photograph, and in one color.
- The type scale, with the specific weights and the fallback for when a font is unavailable.
- Color values for screen and for print, which are not the same thing.
- Which combinations are off limits, which is what stops a brand drifting in year two.
Applied, not just delivered
However, we roll the identity onto the things you need first, usually the website, your social profiles and whatever you hand a customer. A brand that lives in a folder has not launched, and the gap between delivery and application is where most identity projects quietly fail. See examples in our portfolio.
Instead, if we are building the site as well, the identity work from our logo and branding services feeds straight into it, which is cheaper than doing them in sequence and produces a more coherent result.
Refresh versus replace
Notably, if your mark has recognition, throwing it away destroys something you paid for. More often the problem is everything around it: inconsistent type, a color palette nobody ever set, spacing whoever made the last flyer decided ad hoc.
In those cases we keep the mark and fix the system, which costs less and loses nothing. We will tell you which of the two you need after looking at what you have. If all you need is the mark itself, logo design for New York City businesses starts from $250.
What you receive
- Wordmark and mark in every format you need, including editable vector originals.
- A written guideline document, short enough that people actually read it.
- Color, type and spacing defined as a system rather than as examples.
- Application to your website, social profiles and key print items.
- Full ownership of everything, once the final invoice is settled.
Questions
Branding Agency New York: Questions Clients Ask
Does a branding agency New York refresh a brand instead of replacing it?
In fact, usually, yes. If the mark has recognition we keep it and fix what surrounds it: type, color, spacing and application. That costs less and loses nothing you have built.
Do we own the logo files?
Notably, yes, in every format including editable vector originals, once the final invoice is settled.
Can we do branding without a website?
Typically, you can, and sometimes sorting the identity first is the right order. Most clients do both, and together is cheaper than sequentially.
How long does a branding agency New York project take?
Specifically, typically four to eight weeks depending on how much application is included. Identity alone is faster than identity plus a full rollout.
Do you work to guidelines from another studio?
However, regularly. If an identity exists we build to it exactly rather than quietly redesigning it.
What does branding cost?
As a result, it is quoted per project, because a wordmark refresh and a full identity with rollout are very different pieces of work. You get one fixed price against a written scope. A logo on its own starts from $250.
Next step
Start with an audit
As the branding agency New York businesses call when a brand has outgrown a logo, show us what you have and we will tell you whether it needs replacing or simply needs a system around it. You keep the assessment either way.
