The biggest variable is not how many logo options you look at. It is how many things the identity has to work on. A mark, a typeface, and a colour set for a website is a different job from the same identity rolled out across packaging, vehicle livery, signage, and twelve document templates.
The second variable is how much of the thinking arrives with you. Clear answers to who you sell to, what you want to be known for, and which competitors you are tired of being compared to shorten the discovery phase significantly. That time is a real cost line.
Third, the number of people who have to say yes. Every extra approver adds a revision round and usually flattens the work. Projects move fastest when one person holds the final call and the others give input once.
Fourth, production readiness. When a manufacturer needs specific dielines, spot colours, or a written substrate specification, that is specialist preparation. It is not padding. It is the work that prevents a reprint.
- Count applications before comparing quotes.
- Write down audience and positioning before design starts.
- Name one decision maker with final approval.
- Ask the printer what they need before the design is finalised.