How to choose a branding agency in Dubai is a harder question than it looks, because most agencies show the same thing: good pictures. This note is for a business with a name and a date to open, and nothing yet that looks like one company. It sets out what you are buying, how to read a portfolio for the thinking behind it, and the questions we would put to an agency if we were the client.
Decide what you are buying first
A branding agency decides what a business stands for and then draws it: the strategy, the name if one is needed, the identity and the guidelines that keep it consistent, and the pieces it is applied to. Many also design the website and the content.
Before you compare agencies, decide which of those you need now and which can wait. Then decide whether you want one team to do all of it or several suppliers. One team keeps the pieces consistent. Several suppliers can cost less on paper and more in the time you spend making them agree.
Read the portfolio for the thinking
A portfolio is easy to judge on looks. Read it for the idea instead. Under each project, look for one sentence that says what the brand is about and why the design follows from it. If you cannot find it, ask. An agency that can't tell you why it made a choice is unlikely to defend it when you ask for a change.
Then look at the labels. Good portfolios say which pictures are photographs of real pieces and which are mock-ups or renders. That is not a weakness; it is honesty about what was made. Our own case pages do it, for example on Adventure Park for Emaar and Lento.
Ask how the identity holds at its smallest size
We draw each identity to work on a business card and on a billboard. Ask any agency to show you the same: the mark at the size of a favicon, a tag or a stamp, next to the mark on a sign.
A mark that only works large will cost you later, every time it has to shrink. A mark that holds at a few millimetres will usually survive being made big.
Arabic and English
If you sell in the UAE, ask to see Arabic drawn as part of the identity rather than typed beside it later. Both scripts should look like they belong to the same brand. Bedaya Polyclinic, whose name is Arabic for a beginning, carries both scripts in its identity, and Whispers of Alara has its logo in English and Arabic.
The questions to ask before you sign
- Who will work on our project, and who is our contact? You are hiring a team, not a logo on a website.
- What do you need from us before you start? A good agency asks before it draws.
- How many routes will we see, and how many rounds of changes are included? This sets your expectations and the timeline.
- How long does each stage take? Ask for the stages, not only the end date.
- What do we receive at the end? The files, in which formats, and the guidelines.
- Who owns the work and the rights once it is paid for? Get it in writing.
- How is the fee set, and when is it paid? A fixed fee in writing avoids surprises.
- Which of the portfolio pictures are mock-ups or renders? It tells you how honest the rest will be.
- How do you check that the mark is original? Ask what the check actually is.
- What happens if we disagree on a direction? The answer shows how the agency works with clients.
What moves the fee
Agencies price branding by scope, so the fee moves with what you ask for: the number of applications and packaging items, how deep the guidelines go, whether you need a name, a second script, the rounds of changes and the transfer of rights. Ask for the fee to be fixed in writing before work starts, with what is included listed plainly.
Signs to walk away from
- A logo promised in days, with no questions asked about the business.
- Mock-ups presented as if they were real work.
- No clear contact for your project.
- A result guaranteed in advance.
- Files or rights held back after payment.
How we work, briefly
A branding project with us starts with one conversation about the business, the opening date and who it is for. From that we propose the scope and the order the pieces are made in, with the fee fixed in writing. Read more about our branding agency in Dubai.