1. Start with the places your identity must work
A useful brand identity checklist covers the logo, colours, typography, everyday applications and handover. Request a defined set of assets, review them with real content at their intended sizes, and record what your team must be able to do with the final files. Approving an attractive presentation is one decision; accepting a usable identity requires those practical checks too.
Begin with a short list of uses: perhaps a website header, social profile, quotation document and product label. Put the most important first. Add the person who will maintain each item and the software they use. A template that depends on an unfamiliar tool may create extra work even when its appearance is right.
Describe the audience, the offer and the impression you want to convey in plain language. Replace “make it premium” with something specific, such as “product information should feel calm and carefully organised, while prices remain easy to find”. Bring examples with reasons, rather than asking a designer to combine several unrelated references.
Separate your requests from the quoted package
The checks below are suggestions for agreeing and reviewing a project. They are not a list of automatic package inclusions. Ask your provider to mark each requested item as included, separately quoted or unnecessary for your uses. Resolve that distinction before design work starts.
2. Define the logo suite and its practical limits
Ask which logo versions are proposed and what each is for. Depending on the agreed applications, that might mean a primary arrangement, a compact version and treatments for light or dark backgrounds. More variants are not inherently better: your team needs a clear choice for each situation.
Review the mark in your actual website header and profile crop, rather than only centred on a large presentation slide. Check whether the name remains readable, fine details survive and the shape feels balanced beside ordinary content. If a small use needs a simpler version, discuss that before approving the suite.
Ask for decisions someone else can follow
- Which version should staff choose for each agreed use?
- What spacing and minimum size does the designer recommend?
- Which backgrounds work, and which combinations should be avoided?
- What should happen when the full name will not fit?
If print, embroidery or signage matters, identify it now and ask whether preparing for that process is included. A screen mockup does not settle a supplier's production requirements. Get those requirements before requesting the relevant artwork, and agree who will check it with the supplier.
3. Review colour and typography with real content
A palette becomes useful when each colour has a role. Ask which colours are intended for backgrounds, body text, emphasis and supporting elements. Review combinations, not just attractive swatches. A pale accent that works as decoration may be difficult to read as small text on white.
For digital applications, include text contrast and resizing in the review. W3C WAI's Easy Checks includes preliminary checks for these areas. Test the proposed combinations in actual content; a palette alone cannot establish the accessibility of a finished website. Agree any broader evaluation separately.
Ask to see headings, paragraphs, prices and captions together. Use a long product name, a multi-line heading and the languages your business needs. Check that the chosen typefaces contain the required characters and that the people creating routine materials can use the agreed setup.
Record colour references for the agreed media and the names and weights of the selected fonts. Ask the provider which font files or subscriptions your team would need, who arranges them, and what alternatives are proposed if your software cannot use them. Resolve those dependencies before making a typeface central to everyday documents.
4. Test the visual language beyond the logo
Put the proposed identity into a small set of applications you actually need. Examine how type, spacing, colour and images work together. Covering every object in a logo tells you less than seeing whether a routine announcement and a detailed product page feel related while doing different jobs.
For a reusable social layout, try replacing a short headline with a longer one and swapping a portrait photo for a wide image. Check the crop, line breaks and space for essential details. Agree which elements staff may change and which should remain fixed. A polished sample is useful; an editable layout also needs to survive ordinary content changes.
Our Maison Astral case study shows a brand mark, colour palette and typography applied across a jewellery website and its catalogue. It offers a concrete example of identity working through a customer-facing presentation. Use that kind of connected view when reviewing your own proposed applications.
Keep the review tied to the quote. Website development, packaging artwork, photography and additional templates are separate deliverables to discuss if you need them. An application shown to explain a design direction should be clearly identified as either a presentation example or a file you will receive.
5. Ask for guidelines your team can use
The useful question is whether the guidelines answer recurring decisions. Someone preparing a new document should be able to find the right logo, choose a suitable colour combination and apply the intended type hierarchy without reconstructing the original design presentation.
Agree the depth of guidance your work needs. You might request logo spacing, colour roles, heading and body styles, image treatment and examples of unsuitable usage. These are topics to discuss, not a promise that every identity package includes a detailed manual for every channel.
Try one routine task before acceptance
Give a colleague the proposed guidance and ask them to update one agreed template with a new headline and image. Observe where they hesitate. If they cannot identify the right file or preserve the layout, record the missing instruction and discuss the fix with the provider.
Name the person who will maintain the approved assets. Keep one clearly labelled final set, with earlier explorations stored separately. Record a version date and a route for requesting future additions, so a supplier does not accidentally work from a rejected draft.
6. Use a buyer acceptance worksheet
Copy this worksheet into your project document and adapt it to the agreed scope. Add a named reviewer, evidence link, status and decision date to each row. Use “accepted”, “needs revision” or “outside scope” so missing work is not confused with something you never commissioned.
| Area | What to request and demonstrate |
|---|---|
| Scope | List the agreed assets, applications, revision rounds and exclusions; distinguish examples from deliverable files. |
| Logo suite | Show each agreed version at its intended size and background, with clear guidance on which to choose. |
| Colour and type | Record colour roles and font choices; review real text, required characters and intended colour combinations. |
| Templates | Replace sample content in each agreed layout using the team's intended tool; check fit and editing instructions. |
| Guidelines | A colleague completes a routine task using the guidance and can locate the correct assets. |
| Handover | Open the agreed files, identify their purpose, and record outstanding dependencies and the person responsible. |
Consolidate feedback through one decision-maker. Describe the issue, its context and the requested result: “the name becomes unreadable in our profile crop” is actionable. “It needs more impact” leaves the designer guessing. Check how revision rounds are defined and submit coordinated feedback within the agreed process.
7. Check the files and outstanding responsibilities
Before closing the project, open the agreed delivery files in the tools your team or suppliers will use. Ask for a simple file index: what each item is, when to use it and whether it is intended for editing or direct placement. Discuss editable source files and ready-to-use exports explicitly in the scope.
Check practical dependencies with the provider. Which fonts, stock images or other third-party assets appear in the work? Who supplies or arranges any required licences or accounts? Which materials are supplied by your business? Record the answers and any outstanding actions; receiving a folder alone does not answer those procurement questions.
Keep unresolved items visible. A missing agreed export needs an owner and a completion decision. A newly requested packaging layout needs a scope discussion. Store the accepted files with the worksheet and guidance, and make sure the person managing the identity knows where to find them.
8. Match the checklist to the service you need
Digital Studio's Brand design starts at EUR 1,990 for a one-off project. It includes logo and identity, extended into a visual language with up to three reusable social-template layouts and brand guidelines. Two revision rounds are included. Prices are indicative and billed in EUR.
Use this checklist to explain your priority applications and agree the details of the work. Extra applications, particular file formats and dependencies should be discussed against your requirements. Bring your business name, audience, existing materials and a short list of everyday uses.
To start, send a free Brand design enquiry with what you need to create and who will use it. No payment is required to enquire. The next useful decision is a clear scope that connects the design work with your team's practical needs.
