Rethinking your brand doesn’t need a 6-month odyssey. With the right constraints, 4 weeks can be enough to create a clearer, stronger system.
Week-by-week
- Week 1: Discovery, audit, and alignment
- Week 2: Direction explorations and messaging
- Week 3: System design (logo/tone/typography/colors/components)
- Week 4: Rollout essentials and QA
Keys to success
- Decide fast; validate faster
- Document decisions and rationale
- Ship a minimum lovable brand system (expand later)
Want a guided 4-week sprint? We’ve helped teams do this with minimal disruption.
A practical 4‑week plan (detail)
Week 1 — Discovery and Alignment
- Stakeholder interviews (30–45 mins each) covering goals, constraints, decision criteria
- Brand inventory: logo files, color/typography, messaging, past campaigns, analytics
- Competitive scan: 5–7 peers; positioning, tone, visual distinctiveness
- Success definition: 2–3 measurable outcomes (e.g., demo requests, sign‑ups, lead quality)
- Deliverables: research summary, creative brief, success metrics, risks register
Week 2 — Direction and Messaging
- Three brand directions (mood, principles, value narrative)
- Messaging workshop: problem → value → proof → action
- Rapid copy frames: headline/tagline variants, 3–5 supporting claims
- Deliverables: one recommended direction with rationale + copy grid
Week 3 — System Design
- Visual system: logo refinements, clearspace, do/don’t
- Type scale, color tokens, components (buttons, cards, CTAs), image guidelines
- Accessibility pass (contrast, focus, keyboard)
- Deliverables: brand system Figma file, component tokens, sample screens
Week 4 — Rollout
- Prioritized asset list: website hero, pricing, email header, social kit, deck cover
- Handoff: usage docs, file structure, versioned exports, CMS notes
- Launch checklist + QA (preflight below)
- Deliverables: final brand kit, implementation plan, 30‑day optimization plan
Cadence that keeps decisions moving
- Kickoff (Mon W1)
- Direction review (Thu W2)
- System checkpoint (Wed W3)
- Final sign‑off + launch plan (Thu W4)
- Async rules: ≤48h feedback window; unresolved notes auto‑defer to “later” list
Common risks and how we de‑risk them
- Scope creep → Define must‑haves; everything else goes to a backlog
- Too many approvers → One decision owner; others are advisors
- Aesthetics > outcomes → Tie choices to metrics (below)
- Asset sprawl → Single source of truth; versioned exports; file naming rules
- Last‑minute change requests → Cut‑off 48h before launch; changes roll to v1.1
Tool stack we use (lightweight)
- Research: Google Analytics, Search Console, Hotjar (sample size permitting)
- Design: Figma components + tokenized styles
- Management: Notion/Linear for decisions and scope
- Delivery: Structured exports, SVG/PNG sets, PDF guidelines
How we measure success
- Site: conversion lift on primary CTA (baseline vs 14/30 days)
- Clarity: reduced bounce on hero/pricing
- Speed: fewer design iterations to ship new pages
- Consistency: checklist pass rate on new assets
Brand launch preflight (copy/paste)
- [ ] Logo exports (RGB/CMYK), favicons, app icons
- [ ] Type scale + web font files/licensing
- [ ] Color tokens with accessible pairings
- [ ] CTA states, focus styles, link rules
- [ ] Social templates (post, story, cover)
- [ ] Email header + signature
- [ ] One‑pager and deck cover
- [ ] CMS guidance (titles, excerpts, images)
Quick FAQs
- Can we do it faster than 4 weeks? For small brands, yes—compress to 2–3 weeks by picking one direction early and trimming deliverables.
- What if we can’t get stakeholder time? Appoint a single decision owner and limit review windows; async comments only.
- Will this break our current site? No—ship incrementally: hero → pricing → high‑traffic pages first.