Process

Estimating Your Project

When we get an email or a call from a prospective client (that's you!) asking about our services, we usually set up a meeting with them to go over the details:

 

• what is it,
• what do you want it for,
• how long do we have to do it,
• how much do you have budgeted for it, and
• what resources do you already have for it?

 

Of course, there's a lot more detail in each of those areas, but those are the basics. We need to know what you want done and what you need the final product to do in order to assess what will be required to create it, as well as what the inherent value of the project will be (like most design firms, we base most of our project fees on the basis of the value of the finished product to your organization as opposed to straight hours taken to create it). We need to know a timeline in order to match up available resources (us, plus any subcontracted services like copywriting, editing, printing, programming, and so on) with your planned launch date. We ask for a budget not because we want to know what the absolute maximum we can charge will be; rather, we ask for a budget so we can set some appropriate limits on resources, scope, and time so you don't end up getting an estimate for something that's either too little or too large. And we always like to know what you've already done, what resources might be ready for us to run with, and who on your team we can utilize for the project.

With the answers to these questions in hand, we prepare a detailed estimate outlining:

 

• a project description, telling you what we're working on,
• materials you need to provide us,
• a detailed listing of our scope of work (what we'll do at each stage of the project)
• a schedule of when these things will be accomplished (along with milestones for key items and reviews/collaborative steps with you),
• a table of estimated fees,
• a table of estimated expenses,
• a listing of rights transferred,
• and terms.

 

There may also be other items, such as proposed information architecture site maps, depending on the specific type of project we're estimating. 

 Once we have the estimate prepared, we like to meet with you and go over the whole thing, to make sure we understand the scope correctly, and to answer any immediate questions you have about any part of the estimate. Then we encourage you to take the estimate with you, read it again, talk it over with your stakeholders, call us with additional questions, and then—only when you're happy with everything—sign the estimate and send a copy back to us. 

Once we have the signed estimate, we can begin work!

Want to know more, or see a sample estimate? Contact us and we'll get you the information you need! 

Still Time to Get Ten Percent off the Project of Your Choice in 2010

Ok, we get it. You've waited half the year to get moving on your marketing. Or your rebranding project. Or your website. Well, stop waiting already. Need an excuse to get moving? Here's one: SAVE SOME CASH:

In honor of Notchcode's tenth birthday, we want to offer everyone ten percent off the project of their choice this year. Need to re-brand your organization? Ten percent off. Want to create a social media plan and get it implemented? Ten percent off. It doesn't matter if your project budget is large or small—we'll discount our fees by ten percent as another way of saying "thanks"!

If you have any questions about this offer, or how to best use it to your advantage, just get in touch!

Some Important Details

• Just let us know after we present the project estimate to you that you'd like to take advantage of our ten percent discount. It's important to let us know before we begin work, since almost all of our projects require a portion of the total estimated fees to be paid up front, and we want to make sure you're charged the correct amount.
• The discount applies to Notchcode's fees only; fees for services or goods provided by third parties, like printing,  hosting, copywriting, and so on, are not eligible for the discount.
• The discount applies to one project started in 2010 per client; projects already in progress at the start of 2010 are not eligible. Eligible projects do not have to be completed in 2010, however.
• This discount cannot be combined with other discounts, such as discounted rates for retainer work, discounted rates negotiated for special circumstances or other reasons, and so on.
• Our hourly rates for out-of-scope work, rush or overtime work, and other a la carte work are not eligible for this discount.

We've had a number of clients, new and old, take advantage of this already: A non-profit's annual report. Another non-profit's annual report. A small business website. And a startup's brand identity project. We want your project to be next. So get in touch today and let us know what project you want t o spend (ten percent less) cash on.

The Brand Identity Process

There are five steps in the process of creating a new brand image for any organization. While the size of an organization or its budget may determine the depth or length of one stage or another, all of these steps will be found in a sound brand-creation process. While it may be tempting to skip steps, in favor of “just getting it done”, the result will inevitably suffer. All five stages benefit from a true collaboration between the brand designers and the client organization. The result of this collaboration is a brand identity that communicates the essence of the company to their audience.

Research

Your branding solution needs to mesh perfectly with your business strategies and goals, and the research phase is what makes that possible. What makes your brand unique and appealing to your clients? How does it stand out from your competition? And, most importantly, what does your brand say about your organization? Notchcode will look at the history of your brand, as well as other competitive brands in your industry, for answers to these questions. Visual identities, slogans, color, typography, and symbols are some of the variables that will be considered. We will assess what your stakeholders need out of the brand, and how they perceive your current brand identity. We will also look closely at your company to understand your organization’s essence, and how your organization fits into your industry. An audit of competitors’ brand strategies and identities will also put your brand into the larger context that your clients perceive.

Brand Strategy

All the information generated in the Research phase will allow us to create a unifying idea and positioning strategy for your brand. We will go through a summary of what we’ve learned about your company, your competition, and your industry, and clarify your branding goals.  We will revisit the vision of your company to explore the soul and essence of who you are as an organization. We will look at the future of your company and your industry, identifying trends and their impact on your brand positioning. We will create the Big Idea that can quickly articulate your brand. We will narrow the focus of our efforts through a process of understanding, clarifying, positioning, and distilling down the essence of your brand. This will result in a central idea, unifying concept, key message, and voice and tone for the brand.

The end result of these first two phases is the Brand Brief. This document outlines all that has been learned, what the brand strategy looks like, value propositions, positioning, naming, brand architecture, and visual identity goals. An agreement on strategy, positioning, goals, and next steps completes this phase, and moves us into creating the Design Concept.

Design Concept

This stage seeks to integrate meaning with form, creating a symbol that speaks to the essence of your company. Strategy, creative imagination and intuition, design experience, and obsessive attention to detail are key qualities that we rely on in this phase. If we are redesigning an existing brand, we will analyze the equity that exists in the current brand mark, and gain an understanding of its importance for the organizations’ stakeholders. This will ensure that the new brand identity makes full use of the existing brand’s value, when appropriate, carrying over the built-up brand familiarity from the old mark to the new.

Notchcode will also generate concepts for logotypes, color strategy, and typography. These elements, along with the brand mark, will be tested for practical applications on letterhead, brochures, websites, and in both large and small sizes. Using real-world applications of the brand concepts will allow us to test the viability of each idea, seeing how it works “in the wild”. Usually many iterations of the concept will be tried out before arriving at a solution that not only expresses your company’s essence, but also works in the real world. If issues crop up, this is when we deal with them. Does the logo color look right on a computer screen? How small can we reproduce the logo and tagline before it becomes illegible? Does it need to be readable at even smaller sizes? Are there colors that some clients would find offensive? What sort of collateral imagery will work with this brand mark? Knowing the answers to these and other questions at this stage will ensure that the brand identity will be durable, useful, and effective once it becomes a part of your organization’s essence.

While we may have started out with literally hundreds of original concepts, we will narrow down the field to no more than three for a final presentation to your organization. Once a decision is made and a concept selected, we will move on to the next phase: Brand Expressions 

Brand Expressions

In this stage we will refine and finalize the selected brand identity. This will include tweaking design, color, and typographic elements, refining tagline language and placement—even ordering ink samples from the printer to proof final color selections. All elements of the brand identity will be “locked down” and used in the application of the brand to various elements of your communications program.

With the brand finalized, we will work with your legal team to initiate trademark protection of the brand’s mark, tagline, and other elements. This step is crucial in ensuring the equity your new brand creates is safe and secure.

In preparation for your brand launch, we will begin applying your new brand to a broad range of materials, beginning with stationery, business cards, websites, and more. Depending on your marketing strategy and budget, some elements (such as ads, or a particular brochure, for example) may be scheduled for design and production at a later date. We will also create design applications for any secondary brands at this stage.

Managing Assets

This final stage will launch your new brand into the public realm in a planned, energized manner. We will begin by making the brand a solid presence internally, generating excitement and loyalty to the branding program within your organization. This enthusiasm and commitment to this important new part of your company will ensure a smooth transition from the old mark to the new, and a consistent, united front from your company upon the brand’s public launch.

In developing a launch strategy and plan, we will assess potential launch timelines, taking into account both previously-planned marketing efforts and ones focused on the brand launch itself. While we are strong advocates of a single launch effort, your budget may mandate a phased-in rollout, and we will plan that scenario into our overall strategy, if necessary.

We will encourage key people in your organization to be “brand champions”—advocates for the new look and language that the brand will bring to the organization. The goal is to use these brand champions to act as advocates for the new brand as it launches—both inside, and outside, the company. A thorough set of standards and guidelines will be created and presented to all organization members, to ensure they have the necessary tools and resources to implement new brand applications. It will contain standards for logo placement, clear areas, color, typography, and more. Examples of brand application in advertisements, on vehicles, ephemera, in brochures, and on websites will be included. This guide will be conveniently available both online, with usable, PC-application-friendly logo files; and in printed form, with logos on a CD-ROM.

Conclusion

This process may seem involved. Detailed. Long. But, unlike just “designing a new logo”, it can make your current clients more loyal, and draw more prospects to your door. The reason for this is simple. Through our program of research, positioning, design, and refinement, your new brand identity will resonate with your audience in a way that a quickly-conceived logo just can’t. By presenting your new brand in a consistent manner, integrating it smoothly into your marketing strategy, it creates an elevated perception of your company. In short, it’s a strategy designed to increase your brand’s equity, visibility, and coherence.