Strategy sign-off
Week 3–4Positioning, audience, voice direction. If the substrate isn’t right, we stop here — the visual system can’t fix a foundation problem.
Brand Master Book
The build-ready system. Six workstreams. Two gates. One bound book that survives the third vendor.
The core engagement
One manual. Every team. Every vendor.
Not a static PDF. A working system with components, lexicon, and governance — engineered to survive vendor turnover.
Most brand guidelines are aspirational. They sit on a server. Teams open them once, vendors ignore them, and 18 months in the brand has quietly drifted into seven slightly different brands.
The Brand Master Book is a build-ready system. Not a moodboard, not a logo lockup PDF. A working manual that ships with spec’d components, copy lexicon, and governance rules — every claim measurable, every standard defensible.
Six workstreams. Two decision gates. One book that survives the third vendor.
The process
Discovery to handoff in five moves.
Two structured gates — logo concepts and a one-page branding preview — before we commit to the full Master Book build. You see the work at every stop-point, never a surprise reveal at the end.
- 1Week 1
Discovery & Brief
Kickoff meeting, pre-work questionnaire, visual brief with your references. Working brief signed by end of week.
- 2Week 2
Strategy & Foundation
Positioning, audience persona, brand promise, voice principles, narrative framework. The substrate the rest of the engagement rests on.
- 3Week 3–4
Logo Development (Gate A & B)
Gate A: three logo directions presented, you pick one. Gate B: the refined logo + voice principles + visual system applied to sample surfaces. Sign off before the full Master Book build commits.
- 4Week 4–5
Master Book build
Full system assembly — components, governance design, page templates, verbal lexicon. The 60–120 page bound manual built end-to-end, V1 ready for your review.
- 5Week 6–7
Client Review & Handoff
You walk V1 with your team, sign Change Orders if needed, accept V2. Signed delivery: final Master Book PDF, verbal lexicon, Deliverables Checklist, 30-minute live walkthrough.
Two-gate process
You sign off twice. Then we ship.
Two stop-points where you can refine, defer, or kill the work. No surprise reveals at the end.
Investment tiers
One scope. One spec.
A fixed engagement with documented deliverables — same governance discipline, same components, same verbal system.
- All 6 workstreams — strategy, verbal, visual, components, governance, training
- Existing logo audited and integrated — no new mark designed
- 14 spec’d components (color, type, space, layout)
- Three verbal pillars + lexicon (approved + banned phrases)
- Governance design — RACI, exception process, audit rhythm
- Two rounds of revisions per gate · Decision log of every governance call
- Everything in Tier A
- New primary logo designed from positioning — three directions, one selected
- Mark in all formats (vector, raster, monochrome, reversed, favicon)
- Clearspace and minimum-size rules embedded in the Book
- Two rounds of logo revisions · Trademark-ready files for legal counsel
- Everything in Tier B
- Extended visual identity — sub-marks, monograms, secondary palette
- Photography direction + iconography starter set
- Brand expression for two priority surfaces (web hero or packaging)
- Migration plan from old identity (asset retirement timeline)
- Three rounds of revisions per gate
What’s the difference between the three tiers?
Scope of logo work. Tier A ($2,000 · 4 weeks) keeps your existing mark and audits it into the system. Tier B ($2,500 · 5 weeks) designs a new primary logo. Tier C (Custom · 6+ weeks) extends to sub-marks, monograms, secondary palette, and a migration plan. All three deliver the same six workstreams and the same Master Book format.
What happens at Gate A and Gate B?
Two stop-points before we commit to the full Master Book build. Gate A (week 3) is the Logo Concepts presentation. Gate B (week 4) is the One-Page Branding preview — the refined logo synthesized with voice principles and visual system. You sign off on the direction here. Only then do we build the 60–120 page Master Book.
Can we add a landing page or other creative on top?
Yes. The same team that builds your Master Book can apply it — landing pages, application UI, packaging, presentation systems. No re-onboarding. Scoped as a Strategic Add-on against the spec the Master Book already establishes.
What happens after delivery?
You receive the full package — bound PDF, verbal lexicon, Deliverables Checklist — and a 30-day window to decide on the Owner’s Rep & Governance retainer. The retainer is optional. The Master Book is yours to keep, forever.
PrincipalLuca Baldisseri
FormatMaster Book · 60–120 pp · verbal lexicon
EngagementBrand Master Book · Tier 02
Edition2026 — Vol. 02
