Brand
The system: strategy, naming, verbal and visual identity, and the guidance that makes it usable.
Buy now- Strategy and category audit
- Naming and verbal identity
- Mark, type, colour, layout
- Written guidance
- Website design and build
- Ongoing asset production
- All working files yours at handover
Websites
Design and build on a system you already have, in a CMS your team can edit.
Buy now- Strategy and category audit
- Naming and verbal identity
- Design, every template
- Build, CMS and training
- Accessibility evidence
- Ongoing asset production
- Running on a real URL in week four
Brand + Websites
Both, run back to back with a shared middle. Cheaper than buying them separately, because the second one does not start from scratch.
Buy now- Strategy and category audit
- Naming and verbal identity
- Mark, type, colour, layout
- Design, build, CMS and training
- Accessibility evidence
- Ongoing asset production
- One team, one schedule, one handover
Retainer
A set number of design days each month once it is all live, booked in advance rather than quoted.
Buy now- Strategy and category audit
- Naming and verbal identity
- Mark, type, colour, layout
- Website design and build
- Ongoing asset production
- Two, four or six days a month
- Three-month minimum, then monthly
What moves the number
| Factor | Effect |
|---|---|
| Markets | One market sits near the bottom of a band. Four or more sits near the top |
| Naming | Adds roughly a fifth. Defending the name you have adds nothing |
| Sub-brands | The first two are inside the band. Beyond that it is a separate architecture piece |
| Existing research | Usable research takes a week out of Ground, and we price it out |
| Languages | A second language is its own engagement, not a percentage |
The awkward ones
Is the band a starting price?
No. It is the range the last sixty-one projects landed in, and roughly two thirds sat in the middle third of it. If your project is going to be above the top of a band we will say so on the first call, before you have spent anything, and we will say why.
What happens if it is not working?
Stop at week three. You pay for weeks one to three, pro rata, and you keep everything we have made by then including the working files. No notice period, no exit fee — one email ends it. Four clients out of sixty-one have taken that exit.
Is there a rush fee?
No. We cannot go faster than nine weeks, so there is nothing to charge you for trying. If you need it sooner than we can start, we will tell you the first date we can and you can decide.
Do you work with startups?
Yes, and the honest version is that the bottom of the Brand band is still a serious amount of money for a company that has not raised. If that is you, take the brand check first — it is free, it takes two minutes, and it will often tell you that you are a year early.