March 12, 2025 ยท 6 min read
Most people who reach out to us aren't designers. They run a bakery, a coffee bar, or a small food brand, and they know their product is good. What they don't know is how much work goes into making the visuals match. These are the questions that come up again and again before a project begins.
The first conversation is rarely about logos or colour palettes. It's usually about money, timelines, and whether the whole thing is going to be worth it. People want to understand what they're paying for and how it will change anything for their business. Fair enough. Those are the right questions to ask.
A full identity for a small food business usually lands somewhere between four and eight weeks. That includes the strategy workshop, the design rounds, and the final files. If you only need packaging or a social media template set, it's quicker. The variable is almost always how fast you respond to feedback, not how fast we work.
No. Some clients start with a logo and a basic colour system, then come back for packaging or a photoshoot a few months later. Others prefer to do everything in one go because they're launching a new product or opening a second location. Both approaches work. What matters is that the early decisions leave room for what comes later.
That's usually a good thing. Clients who have thought about their brand before arriving tend to have clearer opinions, which makes the process faster. Sometimes the ideas are just references or a feeling about a certain style. Other times it's a sketch on a napkin that actually has something to it. We take all of that seriously and build from there.
Yes, but not in every small decision. You'll be involved in the strategy workshop, in reviewing the main directions, and in the final refinement. The day-to-day design work is ours to handle. That split keeps the project moving and makes sure you're not spending your evenings answering emails about font weights.
If you're still figuring out what you need, it might help to read about what to prepare before a first consultation. It covers the practical side of getting ready for that initial meeting, from gathering examples to thinking about your budget range.
And if you're unsure whether you need a full identity or just a refresh, the piece on choosing a service format walks through the tradeoffs between different levels of engagement. It's written for people who don't have an in-house marketing team and need to make the call themselves.
The honest answer to most of these questions is that it depends on your situation. That's not a dodge. It's just that a neighbourhood deli and a specialty coffee roaster have different needs, even if they share the same city and the same kind of customers. The point of the first conversation is to figure out which path makes sense for you.