Our FAQs will help you understand our process and things you may want to consider.
However it’s impossible to list every question you may have. Drop us a line via our contact page or via direct email here.
We will get back to you within 24 hours during the working week – Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm AEST (Melbourne, Australia).
I’D LIKE TO WORK WITH YOU, WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?
Well that’s exciting news! We’d love to hear more about your project. Please get in touch via email or through the form on our contact page. We’ll reply and set-up a time to discuss the opportunity with you, after which, and we both feel we are a good fit for each other, we will send you our client briefing form and a detailed proposal.
HOW LONG DOES THE DESIGN PROCESS TAKE?
How long is a piece of string you may ask? As every project is unique the exact project timing will differ, however, generally you can expect the following estimates listed below. Likewise, many of the steps in the process will happen at the same time and not sequentially, reducing overall time.
Branding: 4-6 weeks. After the creative concept presentation, once a week you will receive our progress update and then you have 2-3 days to provide feedback for the next week of iteration. Depending how many changes you require and the speed at which you reply will affect your project completion date, however, the majority of projects are completed within this timeframe.
Website: 6-12 weeks. The process of creating a website will vary a great deal from one to another. A simple website (2-3 simple pages) could be done in as little as 4 weeks, while some of the largest and complex projects may take over 6 months. Regardless of the size, we will establish a timeline of stages and objectives to help us on our way. As with branding, the speed at which you provide feedback, content and copy for the website will greatly affect the launch date.
Packaging: 8-16 weeks. As with website design, the complexity around designing and developing packaging will vary greatly. Keeping to timelines and milestones in the delivery of packaging is dependent on all individuals and stakeholders in the process. Prompt responses from you and requests from your manufacturer to approve artwork proofs and first articles are necessary for the project to keep moving forward. Print methods and the final look and feel of your packaging may also shape your project timeline. No two printing presses or manufacturers are the same. The design of product packaging acts as the soul of a brand and brings life to the product, hence its critical to spend the time to getting it right.
WHAT ARE YOUR PAYMENT TERMS?
To start any new project, we require a 50% non-refundable deposit as a retainer. The remaining 50% is paid on completion of your project (before we send final files to you). We are happy to negotiate (where reasonable) payment terms that suit both parties. Our invoices are set at 14-day terms.
WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY A 50% DEPOSIT TO GET STARTED?
As a small studio a deposit secures the project with us and provides our client a guarantee that the project will be started. Equally, part payment protects or own IP (intellectual property) during the various phases of the project with final payment not required until after the project is signed off and completed. This method instils trust between us both and kicks of the relationship on the right footing.
WHAT IS A CREATIVE BRIEF AND WHY DO I HAVE TO FILL IT OUT?
After our initial phone call we will ask you to fill in our creative briefing form (if you haven’t already). A creative brief is vital to any design project, as it provides us with all the information needed to exceed your expectations and focuses on the desired results of the project. It will ensure we are all on the same page.
We often find a detail or key indicator in the creative brief that was not known from the initial phone call. This detail will influence and even shift the overall project outcome.
After receiving your briefing form, we will arrange a 1-hour project kick off and run through the creative brief with you.
HOW WILL I BE INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS?
Without spending time with you we cannot provide you with the best possible outcome for your brand. There are many stages of the process we will wish to collaborate with you on and ask for feedback throughout the life of your project. From the initial phone call, to the creative brief kick-off (often as a workshop), through to the design concept presentation and then the revision stages.
So, while this may seem like a lot of commitment from you, it’s important we connect at these points to ensure the best possible outcome for your brand. It’s worth mentioning that when we request feedback from you its crucial that you do so within the timeframe set (usually 2-3 days). If not, this can hold up your project. Obviously in the real world this is not always possible, so please let us know and we can agree to new timelines for the project. All of our clients are equally important to us and it’s our job to provide care and attention to all.
WHAT WILL I GET FROM YOU AT THE END OF THE PROJECT?
Once the project is completed you will receive (digitally) final files in PDF, JPEG, and/or PNG format with any other additional files created for the newly branded materials. Depending on the project, this may include brand strategy, developed logo suite, brand colour palette and fonts, icons, patterns, branding system, packaging files, images, or illustrations.
MY PROJECT IS URGENT, CAN YOU FIT ME IN ASAP?
As a small studio we are limited by what we can commit to as we will have other wonderful clients we need to look after and who have booked time in advance with us. However, we know the world doesn’t always work to a schedule and are very happy to see what can be done, subject to the reason and the necessity. Let’s chat about it and come up with a solution.
Equally, if a project needs to put on hold for whatever reason, we are more than happy to accommodate.
WHAT TYPES OF CLIENTS DO YOU WORK WITH?
We are delighted to work with a broad section of clients large and small and across sectors, architects and interior designers, builders and trades, engineers and surveyors, enterprise architects and service designers, information tech, fashion and beauty, lawyers and accountants, training providers, homewares and interiors, events and tourism, and the arts.
WILL YOU WORK ON INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS?
The great thing about being a design studio is the ability to connect with our clients wherever they are; we do not need to be onsite or even in the same city. Although saying that, if you are local to Melbourne, we do look for every opportunity to meet our clients face-to-face. We have helped clients build brands in the UK, New Zealand and the US and have worked with Chinese manufactures on behalf of our clients.
We use tools and platforms such as phone, email, Zoom, WhatsApp and file sharing platforms to connect and collaborate with our clients.
CAN YOU JUST MAKE ME A LOGO?
Yes, we can, however we’d prefer not too. A brand is more than ‘just’ a logo and should be considered as a whole, rather than an icon that sits the top of a website or letterhead.
Your brand is the emotional connection a consumer makes with your business. Whereas, a logo is only one expression of a brand. In other words, branding is the culmination of various marketing assets to create the soul of the company and expresses its values and offering. Branding is important as it generates recognition, increases business value and helps you to find new customers. A logo on its own cannot do that.
For example, would you ask a chef for plain cooked rice, but not have the whole delicious risotto? It’s about the full experience.
OK, NOW I’M CONFUSED. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BRANDING VS. BRAND IDENTITY VS. A LOGO?
Yes, it can be confusing. Here is a brief outline:
Brand: This is the emotional connection people have with your organisation – what they think of you. It’s important to know this so you can use your branding to ‘design-in’ the perception you aim for.
Brand (Visual) Identity: Is the collection of tangible elements and expressions that create a look and feel for your brand, such as your logo, brand colours, typography (fonts) and brand voice (what you say and how you say it). The more distinct, specific and cohesive these elements are, the higher the likelihood that they will shape a brand that is recognised and admired. It’s important that each element reflects the brand perception you want to make.
Logo: A logo is a graphic device that identifies a brand. Sometimes it’s referred to as a trademark. Your logo can consist of a symbol (an icon) and a wordmark, or a wordmark on its own, and in some cases just a motif or monogram.
WHAT IS A DESIGN CONCEPT AND WHAT IS A DESIGN REVISION?
A design concept is the first stage of the project. Often there will be 3 or more different overall design ideas that we present to you. Here you will choose your preferred concept to take forward, which we then evolve in iterations and feedback cycles into your final brand. Hence, the design revision.
A design revision is a change or modification to the chosen design concept and is typically a slight alteration to the overall design. A revision is simply meant to be an adjustment to progress towards the final design. We provide in our proposal up to 3 rounds of revisions. Additional revisions will be charged at an hourly rate basis. Note: this is highly unusual and can be due to outside factors or forces. It’s important you do not use up your arounds of revisions unnecessarily. Through a phone conversation, a Zoom meeting, or via email, you must ensure you have gathered up all of your proposed feedback and changes at the one time. Adding to this a week later will constitute another revision. It’s very important to us that the project doesn’t blow out unreasonably for both sides.
Worth noting: Requesting a new design concept is not considered a design revision. If requested, a new design concept is in an addition to the project and would need to be cost estimated separately to the original project proposal. Note: this is a highly unusual occurrence.
MAYBE I JUST NEED A REFRESH OF MY BRAND – CAN YOU HELP?
There will be times in your business that your brand needs to evolve. What worked for you 5, 10, or 15 years ago will no longer hold credibility with engaging new markets or audiences. You may have found that your existing cliental is also trailing off. Time for an upgrade!
There are a range of methods we can apply to help refresh and engage your brand. Each brand has its own individual requirements to be considered, it can be as simple as refreshing your website and a slight upgrade to modernise your logo, or could be as involved as revitalising your whole brand identity and brand strategy.
SHOULDN’T YOU USE THE SAME FONT AS THE LOGO FOR MY BRAND STYLE GUIDE?
Quick answer is no. The ideal scenario is for your logo to stand out on its own. The logo needs to be the hero – which in turn supports to create brand recognition. If you have the same font for your logo as standard copy, there is no start and end with hierarchy of your brand elements. This produces a weakening of your brand. Of course, your logo must be compatible with the chosen fonts for the brand, or, which can be more exciting, work as ‘complimentary contrast’ to the copy fonts.
WHAT DO I OWN AND WHAT DO YOU OWN OF THE DESIGN?
In all of our work together you own the right to use, print and distribute digitally all final design work, which will be provided as PDF, JPEG and/or PNG files as appropriate.
However, you do not own or have the rights to use any conceptual presentation material provided through the life of the project. You also do not have any right to the source (native) files use to create your designs. You are paying for the final work, not the methods/tools used to design them. This includes, but not limited to; Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Premier Pro, After Effects or other design files.
These source files are our bread and butter, our IP (intellectual property), and what we have put all of our years of knowledge and expertise into. This is akin to the chef terminology of before; at a well-known restaurant you consume a wondrous a dish from the chef, you would not also ask him/her to supply the recipe, the utensils and how it was cooked it.
However, saying this, source files and full rights can be handed over for an additional fee.
CAN YOU JUST BUILD ME A WEBSITE?
Of course. If you already have branded elements in place and you need help building an architected and beautifully designed website, we’d be more than happy support you in this. You may or may not have a brand style guide to use as a basis point; but we can work this out together.
WHY IS A RESPONSIVE WEBSITE IMPORTANT?
In the world we live today every digital asset we produce must be from a “mobile first” approach. The majority of our audience will engage with our products and services via a mobile device. This not only includes websites, but direct marketing emailers, program apps and other platforms, and even eBooks. So, in reality, mobile is more critical to get right than desktop.
Responsive design is the approach that ensures design and development responds to the user’s behaviour based on their screen size (phone, tablet, desktop), the platform, and orientation (landscape vs portrait). Depending on the screen size and orientation, elements on the page will shift, shrink and change to enable better viewing and legibility while and remaining on brand. A brands website that is responsive to these changes and elements will be viewed favourably amongst consumers.
AFTER LAUNCH CAN I MAKE EDITS TO MY WEBSITE MYSELF?
Yes, you can. We use platforms such as Squarespace and Shopify that are user-friendly and intuitive. They have drag and drop functions and easy upload methods to keep your site up to date without needing to know how to code or with complex and confusing interfaces. We will often add unique coding to enhance your website and reflect your brand, this has no effect on your upkeep and maintenance of it. You won’t break it!
We will book in a training session with you to go through your new website and show you how to edit and manage it. Of course, if this is not your thing, we can continue to support you with your updates on an hourly rate basis.
I FIND SEO (SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION) CONFUSING, CAN YOU HELP ME WITH THIS?
We follow ‘fundamental best practice’ when developing and designing your website for SEO. SEO is an ever-changing thing and impossible to keep on top of if not an expert (which we are not). We ensure the basics to SEO are covered (e.g. site tile, page title, page descriptions, headings, blog title, images, etc.) and each are formatted for key search words. Additionally, platforms such as Squarespace and Shopify have their own inbuilt powerful optimisation to support organic search. This allows us to know that if we to these basics of SEO when building your site, your site will rank well.
Depending on how competitive you need to be in your marketplace, you can hire an SEO expert (which we can help with) to review and offer advice on how to increase your sites ranking. Most of our clients do not require this, however.
Word of note: while all Squarespace sites are pre-built for clean indexing by search engines, the contented add to your site and how it is presented plays an important role in how easily people are able to find you. So, we build ‘fundamental best practice’ into the website package to ensure it is covered off.
I’M JUST STARTING OUT AND KNOW I’LL NEED OTHER SERVICES TO BUILD MY BRAND. CAN YOU HELP ME WITH THIS?
Absolutely. Here at Another Studio we have a range of trusted and talented professionals we can connect you with and work together on your brand development. Be that copywriters and content writers, photographers, illustrators, social media experts, SEO experts, printers, and specialised developers. We can discuss these options when we go through your briefing with us.
CAN YOU HELP ME WRITE MY CONTENT?
Yes we can. We can support you by editing your content and ensuring it has the right voice and is formatted for a friendly website experience. We can also ensure its formatted to rank well in SEO. As suggested above, if you require specialised services, we can help you find the right professional.