1. Discovery
Before anything is drawn: who the audience is, what the organisation does that its competitors do not, where the work will appear, and what constraints already exist — an existing typeface licence, a parent-brand rule, a printer already chosen.
This stage produces a written brief that both sides sign off. Its purpose is to make disagreement happen now, in words, rather than later, over artwork. A project without an agreed brief has no standard against which work can be judged, which is how revision rounds become unlimited.
2. Direction
Two or three distinct territories, shown as enough evidence to judge — type, colour, imagery, and an applied example or two. Not finished artwork. The point is to choose a direction while changing direction is still cheap.
The most useful thing a client can do here is say what is wrong rather than what to change. "It feels too corporate for our audience" is actionable. "Make the blue darker" solves a symptom and hides the actual objection.
3. Development
The chosen direction is built out properly: the system tested against real content, edge cases, and the smallest and largest sizes it will ever appear at. Marks are drawn at final quality, kerned, and tested in single colour and in reverse.
4. Refinement
Two rounds of revision are standard, gathered as one consolidated set of comments each time. Consolidation matters more than it sounds: comments arriving individually over a week produce contradictory instructions and rework that nobody asked for.
5. Handoff
Final files in every format needed, organised and named predictably, plus the guide that explains their use. For identity work this includes source files. Get in writing, at the contract stage, who owns what — the default under Canadian copyright law is that the creator owns the work unless it is assigned in writing, which surprises a lot of clients.
Timelines
| Project | Typical elapsed time |
|---|---|
| Logo and basic identity | 4–6 weeks |
| Full identity system with guide | 8–14 weeks |
| Annual report | 6–10 weeks after final copy |
| Packaging range | 8–12 weeks including press checks |
| Website design | 6–12 weeks depending on page count |
These are elapsed times, not effort. The variable is nearly always how long approvals take, which is why the number of approvers gets agreed at the start.