“How much does a logo cost?” is the question most businesses start with. It’s usually the wrong one. A logo is one part of a brand identity, and most brand problems aren’t about the logo at all; they’re about inconsistency. Five shades of the same colour, three typefaces, a website that doesn’t match the packaging. A good brand identity package fixes that by giving you a system, not just a file.
This guide explains what a proper package includes, what drives the price and how to compare proposals.
What a brand identity package should include
Packages vary, but a complete brand system has six parts. Smaller budgets cover fewer of them, or cover them with less depth.
1. Positioning
Who the business is for, what makes it different and how to say that in one line. This is the foundation every visual decision is checked against. Without it, design choices become matters of taste rather than strategy.
2. Logo and marque
A primary logo, secondary versions (stacked, horizontal, a simplified mark or icon for small spaces) and the rules for using them: clear space, minimum sizes, what not to do.
3. Typography
A small set of typefaces with a clear hierarchy for headlines, body text and details, chosen to work on screen and in print. Check the licensing: some fonts need paid licences for web or commercial use.
4. Colour
A palette with exact values for every medium (screen, print and specialist inks where relevant) and accessible pairings, so text stays readable. A palette that fails contrast checks on your own website will cause problems later.
5. Voice
How the brand sounds, with examples of what to say and what to avoid. Often skipped, and often the reason a well-designed brand still feels inconsistent.
6. Guidelines
A practical guide your team, printers and suppliers can follow. Not a hundred-page document nobody opens; something that answers real questions quickly.
Plus: the files you’ll actually use
Logo files in the formats you need (vector for print and signage, web formats for screens), colour references and templates for common items such as social graphics, presentations or letterheads, depending on the package.
What drives the price
- Depth of strategy. A short positioning conversation costs less than research into audiences and competitors.
- Number of concepts and rounds. More directions explored means more time.
- Applications. Designing the identity is one thing; applying it to packaging, signage, vehicles, a website and templates is more work.
- Complexity. Sub-brands, product ranges or several audiences add depth.
- Guidelines detail. A one-page summary versus a full brand book.
What it costs: a transparent reference
Most studios don’t publish branding prices. We do, in CAD, on our branding page:
- Brand Starter: $1,250
- Brand Identity: $2,500
- Complete Brand System: $4,000
- Premium Brand: $7,500
- Enterprise Brand Project: $12,500
Every engagement covers the parts a business needs at its stage; bigger tiers add depth, applications and guidelines. We recommend a tier after a short conversation about where the business is and where it’s going, because the right level for a new local service business is very different from a product brand going into retail.
Refresh or full rebrand?
A refresh keeps what people already recognise and fixes what’s inconsistent or dated: refining the logo, tightening the palette, adding the missing system. It’s usually the right choice when the brand has equity and the business hasn’t fundamentally changed.
A rebrand makes sense when the business has changed (new market, new offer, a merger), when the current brand actively works against you, or when it was never built properly in the first place.
If you already have a logo you like, it doesn’t have to go. Many projects refine an existing mark and build the missing system around it.
Questions to ask any designer or agency
- Does the package include positioning, or just visuals?
- How many concepts and revision rounds are included?
- Which file formats do we receive?
- Are guidelines included, and how detailed?
- Who owns the final files and the rights? (You should.)
- Are font licences included or extra?
- Can you apply the brand to our website and packaging, or will we need someone else?
On ownership: with us, on final payment you receive the master files and full rights to use them. Make sure any provider puts that in writing.
Branding and your website
Brand and website are best planned together. A website built before the brand is settled usually gets redesigned soon after. If you need both, scope them together; our guide to website costs in Ontario explains the website side, and our website development service picks up directly from a brand system.
Branding for physical products
If you sell products, the brand has to work on packaging, labels and shelves as well as screens, which needs production-ready artwork and an understanding of print. CHRISPS’s founder built a product brand, ODB Wraps, around illustrated product artwork, packaging and exhibition graphics; our ODB Wraps case study shows that work, and our Plankz case study shows product graphics and packaging designed as one system. Ongoing packaging, print and campaign work is covered by our creative retainers.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a brand identity take?
It depends on depth and how quickly decisions are made. Positioning agreed early in writing speeds everything up, because every later choice can be checked against it.
Can we just buy a logo now and do the rest later?
You can, but it often costs more in the end. A logo designed without positioning or a system usually gets revisited once the rest is needed.
How to brief a brand project
A good brief saves time and money, whoever you hire. It doesn’t need to be long. Cover:
- The business: what you do, how long you’ve done it and where it’s heading in the next few years.
- Customers: who buys from you now, and who you want to buy from you.
- Competitors: three or four, and what you think of how they present themselves.
- The problem: why now? A launch, a new market, inconsistency, a name change, growth.
- Where the brand will appear: website, packaging, signage, vehicles, uniforms, social, trade shows.
- What must stay: anything with equity you don’t want to lose.
- Budget and timing: a range is fine, and it helps a designer recommend the right depth.
Mistakes that make branding cost more
- Choosing a logo by committee without agreed positioning to check it against.
- Skipping guidelines, so every supplier interprets the brand differently.
- Picking colours that fail contrast on screen, then fixing them after the website is built.
- Using fonts without checking web and commercial licences.
Start your brand
See the work on our Work page, then tell us what you do and who it’s for through Start a project. We’ll recommend where to start, which is sometimes a refresh rather than a rebrand.
Written by the CHRISPS studio in Cambridge, Ontario. Prices are CHRISPS’s published starting points in CAD at the time of writing.