Approach

A rebrand covering strategy and brand identity typically runs 10 to 16 weeks, depending on the size of the brand, the amount of touchpoints, and how much groundwork already exists. Add a brand website or launch campaign into the mix and you’re looking at 16 to 24 weeks. Larger or multi-market rebrands might require this timeline to extend further, while a smaller identity refresh can land in less time.

A new brand built from the ground up usually takes longer than a rebrand, since there’s little existing material to react to or build from. This has the biggest impact on the strategic phase, which will naturally be more extensive. Naming or other new IP creation adds time too, since these elements should be locked in place before any visual or verbal identity work begins. Founders should expect 12-18 weeks from first workshop to a fully realised brand, with that timeline extending to 18-26 weeks if a website or launch is needed.

Both start with brand strategy: positioning, audience, personality and a singular brand truth that informs every creative choice that follows. From there, a brand identity brings that strategy to life visually and verbally. On the visual identity side, that includes everything from a logo suite, colour palette, typography system, imagery and art direction style, iconography and graphics, and motion or animation principles. On the verbal identity side, that covers things like your tone of voice, naming and tagline, messaging framework and best practice copywriting. This is all packaged into a flexible brand system, backed by brand guidelines and toolkits that help ensure day-to-day brand application.

It runs alongside the visual identity development, once a brand strategy has been clearly defined. Verbal identity is the system that determines how a brand sounds, which influences its messaging (what we say) and tone of voice (how we say it). Our process at HOW+HOW looks at visual and verbal communication as two equally important parts of a brand identity, with design working in tandem with copywriting to create one singular statement.

We create a brand for the business you’re becoming, rather than who you are today. That means avoiding any creative decisions that box you into current trends and instead building a flexible identity system that’s built on your one unique, enduring truth. That way, your brand can grow and scale with you instead of degrading from day one.