HOW TO HIRE · MARKETING, DESIGN & TECH

How to hire a brand designer in the UK
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.

No licence applies to brand designers. The identity is yours only once copyright is assigned in writing — here is how to get that, what to ask and what the scope should list.

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THE 60-SECOND VERSION

Hiring a brand designer in five steps

  1. Check the name firstSearch the UK trade marks register for your business name before any design work. A rebrand forced by a clash costs more than the first one.
  2. Look at identities they builtWhole systems, not just logos: the sign, the website, the packaging, the social templates, for businesses like yours.
  3. Agree the scope as a listDiscovery, logo, colours, type, guidelines, templates, each with the number of concepts and rounds of changes.
  4. Put the assignment in the contractCopyright in the final brand assets passes to your business on payment, signed by the brand designer.
  5. Pay in stages tied to deliverablesA deposit for discovery, a stage for the chosen route, the balance with the final files and the signed assignment.

BEFORE YOU BOOK

Check before you book

No register applies

No law licenses brand designers or branding agencies in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, and no qualification is required. You are relying on the brand designer's past work, the people they have worked for and what the contract says.

Ask for two identities now in use and a client you can speak to about how the project ran.

Copyright assignment for the brand assets

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 makes the author of an artistic work its first owner unless it was made by an employee. A freelance brand designer or agency is not your employee, and under section 90 a transfer of copyright only works if it is in writing and signed by them.

Have the contract assign copyright in the logo, brand marks, patterns and templates to your business on final payment. legislation.gov.uk →

Trade mark search on the name and mark

A trade mark is a separate right from copyright. The Intellectual Property Office checks new applications against marks already registered, so a brand that is close to an existing mark in your field can be blocked or challenged.

Search the UK trade marks register by word and by image, and ask the brand designer to search before presenting concepts. gov.uk →

ICO fee if they handle your customer data

Some branding projects include customer surveys or interviews. A business processing personal data must pay the ICO data protection fee unless exempt; for most small firms it is £52 or £78 a year.

If the brand designer will contact your customers, ask whether they are on the ICO register and how the data is kept. gov.uk →

VAT

Brand design is standard-rated, so a registered brand designer adds 20% to research, the logo suite, guidelines and templates, and to the day rate for extras. Registration becomes compulsory once a brand designer has VAT-taxable turnover over £90,000 in any rolling 12 months; from then VAT must be charged and shown as a separate line on the invoice.

Ask the brand designer for the VAT number with the proposal and for VAT shown against each stage payment. gov.uk →

“What exactly is in the brand scope, and what is not?”

A good answer: A written list: research, logo, colour palette, typefaces, guidelines, a set number of templates. Signage, packaging and the website priced separately or clearly included.

“Will you assign the copyright in everything you create for the brand?”

A good answer: Yes, in a signed clause, effective on final payment. A brand designer who offers only a licence is keeping ownership of your identity.

“How many routes and revision rounds are included?”

A good answer: A number for each: often two or three routes and two rounds on the chosen one, with the price of any extra round.

“Which typefaces will you use, and do I need licences?”

A good answer: Named fonts, whether they are free for commercial use, and who buys the licence if one is needed for your website and print.

“Have you searched the name and the mark against the trade marks register?”

A good answer: A brand designer who knows the register and will search before concepts, or who tells you to take advice before you file.

“What will the brand guidelines cover?”

A good answer: Logo use and spacing, colours with print and screen codes, type hierarchy, imagery and tone, with examples of right and wrong use.

“Who keeps the source files, and in what format?”

A good answer: You get the editable masters and vector files, not just exports, so another designer can pick up the brand later.

Getting the quote right

  • Each deliverable listed: research, logo suite, colours, typefaces, guidelines, templates
  • Who actually attends the workshops and draws the routes: the brand designer you met, an employee, or a subcontracted designer
  • The number of routes and revision rounds, and the day rate or fee for extras
  • A copyright assignment to your business on final payment
  • Font and stock image licences: included, or bought by you
  • The VAT number, with VAT at 20% as its own line beneath the deliverables
  • Stage payments linked to deliverables, with dates

Walk away if

  • No signed copyright assignment, only "you can use it"
  • A full identity promised in a day for a token fee
  • No live brands to show, only mock-ups
  • They will not name the fonts or say how they are licensed
  • The whole fee in advance, before discovery has started
  • No mention of the trade marks register for a new business name
LOW
£120
TYPICAL
£300
HIGH
£1,500

What a brand designer costs: £120–£1,500 per project

Brand design is quoted per project, priced on the scope: research, the number of routes and rounds, guidelines and the templates included. Brand Designer price guide →

Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.

KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE

Brand designers near you, with the badges that matter shown

ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.

Or post the job free and let them come to you.

  1. DiscoveryA workshop or questionnaire on the business, its customers and competitors, ending in a short written brief you agree.
  2. RoutesTwo or three design directions shown in use, on a shopfront, a website header and a business card, not just on a white page.
  3. RefinementThe chosen route developed within the agreed rounds: shape, colour, type and the supporting graphic elements.
  4. Guidelines and templatesThe rules for using the brand, and the templates in the scope, built and checked for print and screen.
  5. HandoverThe full file set, colour codes, font licences, guidelines, and the signed copyright assignment once you have paid.

Brand identity
The full visual system: logo, colours, typefaces, imagery and how they are used together.
Brand guidelines
The document that sets the rules for using the identity consistently.
Route
One design direction presented for the brand, before one is chosen and refined.
Assignment of copyright
The signed transfer that makes your business the owner of the work.
Font licence
The permission, often paid, to use a typeface on your website, print or products.
Brand architecture
How a business's main brand and any sub-brands or products relate to each other.

AFTER

When the job is done

File the assignment with the company papersWith the final invoice. It is your proof that the business owns its brand if you sell, register a trade mark or change designer.
Roll the brand out against the guidelinesTry the logo on the website header, a social icon, a printed letter and a sign. Raise problems while you are inside the agreed rounds.
Back up the master filesStore the vector masters, editable templates and font licences somewhere the business controls, not only in the brand designer's cloud folder.
Review it on LocufyYour review helps the next person choose; Locufy only accepts reviews of booked work. If there is a problem with the brand designer, the make-it-right step gives them a chance to fix it first.

STEP 1Write to the brand designer firstSet out the problem, the date and what would put it right. Trading as a business, the brand designer owes you reasonable care and skill under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and where that was missing you can require the work done again or a lower price.
STEP 2Let Locufy follow it upUnder four stars, you are asked whether to send the problem to the brand designer before reviewing. We chase it with them, and your review follows.
STEP 3Get consumer adviceTrading Standards takes complaints through the national helplines: Citizens Advice on 0808 223 1133 in England and Wales, Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 800 9060, and Consumerline on 0300 123 6262 in Northern Ireland, which is its own helpline there.
STEP 4The small claims routeIf nothing else works, claim from the brand designer in the small claims court: up to £10,000 in England and Wales, up to £5,000 in Scotland by simple procedure, and up to £5,000 in Northern Ireland.

Hiring a brand designer: questions people ask

Only if copyright is assigned to you. Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 the freelance creator owns what they make, and an assignment must be in writing and signed by them to take effect.

No. No licence, register or qualification applies to brand designers anywhere in the UK, so the portfolio, references and contract are what you judge them on.

It is a separate decision from design. Search the UK trade marks register first; an application to the Intellectual Property Office lists the goods and services the mark covers and is checked against existing marks.

Usually £120–£1,500 per project, with £300 typical. A logo and palette sits at the bottom; a full identity with guidelines and templates from an agency sits at the top. See the brand designer price guide for the detail, or enter your town above for brand designers near you.

Logo versions and clear space, colour codes for print and screen, typefaces and sizes, photography or illustration style, tone of voice, and examples of correct and incorrect use.

If they are VAT-registered, at the standard 20% rate. A sole trader under the £90,000 VAT threshold need not charge it, so ask which applies.

MORE GUIDES

More hiring guides in marketing, design & tech

How to hire: Logo DesignerHow to hire: Graphic DesignerHow to hire: Web DesignerHow to hire: CopywriterHow to hire: IllustratorHow to hire: Social Media ManagerHow to hire: UX / UI DesignerHow to hire: PR ConsultantAll 701 hiring guides →

Brand designers near you

Brand designers in LondonBrand designers in ManchesterBrand designers in BirminghamBrand designers in GlasgowBrand designers in BelfastAll brand designers on Locufy →

Sources — checked October 2026

  1. Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 11 — first ownership
  2. Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 90 — assignment in writing
  3. gov.uk — search for a trade mark
  4. gov.uk — register a trade mark
  5. gov.uk — pay the data protection fee
  6. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 — reasonable care and skill
  7. Citizens Advice — more help with a consumer issue
  8. gov.uk — make a court claim for money: court fees
  9. VAT rates — VAT rates for goods and services: standard rate 20% on most goods and services
  10. GOV.UK — Register for VAT: when to register