Why my brand Identity projects take 8 weeks (and why you should get in touch sooner than you think)

Have you ever reached out super excited to work with someone, after silently following them for months, saving up and finally being ready to go ahead, only to find out they're booked up for months?

If you've been thinking about a brand identity refresh and want to know what to actually expect, this post is for you.

Spoiler: it takes around 8 weeks, and the sooner you get in touch, the better.

When clients get in touch with me, they are ready for a new brand look, they are super excited to get started, understandably.

When I explain my process during our discovery call, and say it takes 8 weeks plus often booking a month or two in advance, I can see the confusion or a bit of disappointment across their faces.

I’ve written this blog post to give you a better understanding of my design process and capacity. 

Why does a brand identity take 8 weeks?

Creativity takes time. After looking at your business strategy and the creative direction we came up with during our call, I start a project by playing about.

Putting pen to paper, getting the ideas out of my head and seeing whether they actually work. 

Good design needs time to percolate

Then it needs time to percolate. Going back over a number of days, playing a bit more. Seeing something when I’m walking the dog, reading a magazine or watching tv. 

Sometimes I come back to my desk the next day and think what the heck was I thinking here, this looks rubbish. Other times I look at what I’d previously written off and I see the small tweak it needs to actually work.

Rushing this part of the process will be like writing a blog post or article without editing it. The rough idea is ok but it needs a lot of fine tuning to be great.

And  I don’t want to create ok branding for my clients - I want it to be incredible.

How many projects I take on (and when I’m unavailable)

Each project I work on takes up headspace. With creativity and (as you probably know) running your own business, it’s always in the back of your mind.

I don’t ‘switch off’ when I turn the laptop off to do the school run.

Some of my best ideas come in the shower, or when I’m doing the food shop. I want to make sure that each project I work on gets enough attention (outside of my working hours as well) .

I take on 3-4 projects per quarter and keep the school holidays quieter to be with the kids. I started my business to have flexibility and at home with the kids, that isn’t going to change any time soon.

The waitlist — and why it’s for you, not me

But instead of keeping it a close-guarded secret, I’d like to share this with you. I don’t want you to come to me - all excited - to work together and then be disappointed that we cannot start next week.

That’s why I created a waiting list. 

This waiting list is like one of those signposts in a theme park - 35 min wait time from this point. Except that it doesn’t come as a surprise and you can join the queue when it works best for you.

If you know you want to rebrand at some point soon, but aren’t quite ready yet, this waitlist is for you. 

You’ll know when you are ready - so instead of guessing what my capacity is like, sign up to the waitlist. When you are ready, you can pick the slot that works for you.

Join the waitlist here