Brand launch: what to brief, and when

What has to be ready on launch day?

Walk through how someone will find you, understand the offer and buy. Name the materials they encounter along the way. For an appointment business, that may be a sign, a service page and a booking confirmation. For a product business, the label and order page may both be essential.

Mark which items must work before you can take a customer. Put optional materials on a separate list. This lets you protect the opening essentials if something slips.

Give each essential an owner and a supplier. Include the person who approves it. If nobody owns the booking confirmation, it can remain unfinished while everyone discusses the home page.

If you're still deciding how much brand work to commission, start with the startup branding guide.

How early should you start?

Ask suppliers for their requirements and available dates before setting the brand handoff deadline. Find out when they need approved artwork and how long proofing, production and delivery take. Include installation if the job needs it.

Work backward from the date each item must be in use. Allow time to review a proof and correct it. Ask what happens to the schedule if approval moves. A supplier's production estimate may start only after your final approval.

The item with the longest dependency sets an important deadline for the brand work. A sign may need approval before installation can be booked. Packaging may need a physical sample before you commit to the full order. Confirm the sequence with the people doing it.

Share those dates with your brand provider before accepting the offer. A brand delivery date alone does not cover the time other suppliers need afterward.

In what order should you brief the work?

Gather production requirements early. They can affect the design: a sign's available space, a package's shape or the fields a booking system displays. Gathering requirements does not mean approving artwork.

Settle the business description and main messages, then agree on the visual direction. Develop the identity against the actual uses you've listed. Let suppliers plan around drafts when necessary, but label drafts clearly and state what remains open.

Once the direction is approved, brief the applications from the same guide and files. Website and packaging work can proceed together if both have the decisions they need. Check where they depend on each other. A printed web address, for example, needs a confirmed destination before the print order is approved.

Keep one approved source folder with a named owner. Separate drafts from released files. If a decision changes, tell every affected supplier and record which version replaces the old one.

What does each supplier need?

Send the relevant guidance with the artwork. A logo file alone leaves the supplier to guess its size, background and relationship to other information.

Have each supplier open the files and confirm they can use them before work begins. Ask for their required formats and settings. Those requirements vary with the job; a file that worked for one printer may need preparation for another.

Also check what the purchase includes. A packaging mockup shows a design in context. Ask who will adapt it to the supplier's production template and check the final artwork.

What should you check before approval?

Check the version the supplier will actually use. Record its filename or proof reference with the approval. “Looks good” in an email thread is unclear if the thread contains several versions.

Read the information separately from judging the design. Check names, product variants, addresses and opening hours against your approved source. Open the printed web address. Test each QR code from a proof at its intended size and confirm where it leads.

Review physical work at its intended size and viewing distance where practical. An office print can reveal tiny text or cramped spacing. It cannot establish how the final material and printing will reproduce color. Ask the supplier which proof or sample can show that.

For the website, use your phone to follow the path a customer will take. Read the offer, submit an inquiry or follow the booking steps, and check the response. Coordinate any purchase test with whoever manages orders so it is handled correctly.

Compare the finished pieces together. Check that the business description and contact details agree. Have another person read the final information before you authorize an expensive or difficult-to-change order.

What happens when you're ready to launch?

Make the destination ready before directing people to it. Check the live page and inquiry route before publishing a post or distributing printed materials that link there.

Give the team access to the approved files and explain which versions to use. Remove drafts from the folder people use for everyday work. Keep a separate record if you need the history.

If you're replacing existing materials, record what has changed and what still needs replacing. Prioritize anything that sends customers to the wrong place or gives them outdated information.

After launch, look at the actual items in use. Check the installed sign, the delivered packaging and the live profile crops. Record faults with a photo or screenshot and assign each correction. The approved artwork remains the reference when the delivered result needs fixing.