FAQ
Introduction to the FAQ Page
What makes a strong brand? When does a company need rebranding? How much does a corporate design cost, and how does a branding project work? Here, we answer frequently asked questions about brand strategy, positioning, brand design, corporate design, and brand experience. The answers are based on our experience providing strategic and creative support to companies, family businesses, start-ups, real estate projects, destinations, and international brands. Design Network is a family-run branding studio in Innsbruck and Vienna. We support companies from analysis and positioning through to visual identity and implementation across digital, physical, and spatial touchpoints.
What is branding?
Branding is the strategic and creative development of a brand. It defines what a company stands for, what makes it different, and how it is perceived by customers, employees, and partners. Branding therefore involves much more than a logo. It includes, among other things:
Positioning and brand strategy
Values and brand personality
Target groups and competition
Name and language
Logo, colors, and typography
Imagery and design system
Website, packaging, and communication
Spatial and digital brand experiences
The goal is a consistent brand presence that provides orientation, creates recognition, and supports the company’s long-term development.
What is a brand?
A brand is the sum of the ideas, experiences, and expectations that people associate with a company, product, or organization. A logo, colors, and communication influence this perception. However, a brand is also shaped by products, services, company culture, behavior, customer service, and personal experiences. A strong brand therefore combines strategic clarity with a credible and consistent experience.
What is the difference between a brand and a logo?
A logo is a visible identifying symbol of a brand. The brand itself is much broader.
the company’s positioning
the value proposition
values and attitude
customer perception
the visual and verbal identity
the experience across all touchpoints
A good logo can represent a brand in a concise and memorable way. However, it cannot replace a missing strategy, an unclear offer, or contradictory communication.
Is a professional logo enough for a strong brand presence?
For very small or newly founded companies, a professionally designed logo can be a useful first step. In the long term, however, a company usually needs more than a single symbol. A robust brand presence requires at least:
a clear positioning
a defined target group
a basic visual system
rules for colors and typography
a consistent tone of voice
specific applications
Without this system, a logo is often used inconsistently and loses recognition. That is why we generally develop logos as part of a visual identity or corporate design.
What is corporate design?
Corporate design is the visual appearance of a company or organization. It translates the brand strategy into a consistent design system. Corporate design typically includes:
logo and logo variations
color palette
typography
visual language
graphic elements
illustrations or icons
layout principles
digital and printed applications
design guidelines or a brand book
Good corporate design is not only aesthetically pleasing. It must also be clear, recognizable, flexible, and practical in everyday use.
What is the difference between corporate identity and corporate design?
Corporate identity describes the overall identity of a company. It includes strategy, values, behavior, culture, communication, and design. Corporate design is the visual part of this identity. It makes the company visible through its logo, colors, typography, images, and other design elements. Put simply: corporate identity defines who a company is. Corporate design shows what that identity looks like.
What is brand design?
Brand design translates a brand’s strategic identity into a visual and often verbal system. While “corporate design” is often more closely associated with the appearance of a company, brand design can also include product brands, services, destinations, real estate projects, or sub-brands. In practice, the two terms overlap. What matters is that the design is based on a clear strategic foundation.
What is a brand strategy?
A brand strategy is the long-term framework for guiding a brand. It defines what the brand stands for, who it is relevant to, and how it differentiates itself in the market. A brand strategy answers questions such as: What is at the core of the company? What problem does the company solve?
Who are the relevant target groups? How does the brand differ from the competition? What values and beliefs shape it? What promise does it make? How should it be perceived? What role does it play in the company’s future development?
The brand strategy forms the basis for design, communication, customer experience, and brand management.
What does positioning mean?
Positioning describes the clear and relevant place a brand aims to occupy in the market and in the minds of its target groups. Good positioning combines:
the company’s strengths
the needs of the target group
the realities of the market
credible differentiation
a long-term business perspective
Positioning does not mean listing as many characteristics as possible. It means making a clear decision about what a brand should stand for—and what it should not stand for.
Why is clear positioning important?
Clear positioning helps companies: communicate more clearly, differentiate themselves from the competition, appeal to relevant customers, make decisions more quickly, structure their offerings effectively, provide employees with orientation, make prices and quality easier to understand
grow consistently. Without clear positioning, companies often end up with generic statements, inconsistent communication, and a brand presence that does not reflect the actual business.
What makes a strong brand?
A strong brand is clear, relevant, credible, and consistent.
It has:
a clear positioning
a distinctive profile
a relevant value proposition
a recognizable design
a credible tone of voice
a consistent experience
the ability to evolve
Strength does not come from awareness alone. Smaller companies can also build strong brands when their identity is clear and can be experienced consistently across all important touchpoints.
Does Design Network offer logo design?
Yes. Design Network develops logos for companies, products, projects, destinations, and sub-brands. However, we generally do not create a logo in isolation. We first consider positioning, target groups, the market environment, and future applications. We then develop a symbol that forms part of a consistent visual system. Depending on the project, this system may include the logo, colors, typography, imagery, graphic elements, tone of voice, and specific applications.
Can Design Network design just a logo?
In principle, the scope of services can be adapted to the specific situation. Before developing a standalone logo, however, we assess whether a clear strategic and visual foundation already exists. If the positioning is robust and the target group, brand architecture, and requirements are clearly defined, a focused logo project may be appropriate.
If these foundations are missing, we recommend starting with a compact strategy or analysis phase. This prevents the creation of a visually attractive logo that does not accurately represent the company.
How much does a professional logo cost?
The cost depends on whether only a logo is required or whether a complete visual identity system is to be developed. Relevant factors include:
strategic preparation
number of brands or sub-brands
scope of the logo family
required applications
language and country versions
coordination and decision-making structure
documentation and brand guidelines
A professional proposal should therefore take into account not only the design of a symbol, but also research, concept development, presentation, refinement, and practical usability.
How does the logo development process work?
Briefing and analysis: Clarify the company, target groups, market, competition, and requirements.
Strategic foundation: Define the role and desired perception of the brand.
Creative direction: Develop an overarching design concept. Logo development: Design and evaluate suitable symbol and wordmark solutions. Design system: Add colors, typography, and other visual elements. Application testing: Test the system in realistic digital and physical applications. Finalization: Refine the selected solution technically and document it.
When should a logo be revised?
A revision may be useful if:
the logo does not function well technically
it is not sufficiently legible in digital use
it no longer fits the positioning
the company has grown significantly
new business areas have been added
the brand architecture has become unclear
the overall appearance feels inconsistent
Not every older logo needs to be replaced completely. Often, a careful evolution is enough, preserving recognition and brand history.
What is a logo refresh?
A logo refresh is a targeted evolution of an existing logo.
This may involve improving proportions, typography, spacing, linework, colors, or digital usability. The core character and recognition remain intact. A refresh is particularly suitable for established companies whose identity remains relevant but whose visual system needs to become more precise or contemporary.
Which files do you receive after a logo project?
The final logos are typically provided in various file formats, color versions, and application sizes. These may include:
SVG and EPS for scalable applications
PDF for sharing and print
PNG for digital applications
color variations for light and dark backgrounds
wordmark, symbol, and combined versions
defined clear space and minimum sizes
The exact scope is agreed at the start of the project.
What is rebranding?
Rebranding is the strategic and creative evolution of an existing brand.
It can affect positioning, name, brand architecture, language, logo, corporate design, website, communication, and brand experience. Rebranding does not automatically mean discarding everything that already exists. Good rebranding examines which elements still have value, what needs to be sharpened, and where fundamental change is necessary.
When does a company need rebranding?
Rebranding may be useful when: the current perception no longer reflects the reality of the company services or target groups have changed several offerings exist alongside one another without a clear structure the brand presence feels generic or outdated a new generation is taking over the company expansion or internationalization is planned different companies or brands are being merged employees lack a clear shared sense of direction the brand no longer supports future growth.
When is a complete rebranding not necessary?
A complete rebranding is not always the best solution. If the brand remains relevant and has positive associations, sharper positioning, a design refresh, a new website, or clearer communication guidelines may be sufficient. Before redesigning, the following should therefore be analyzed:
What already works?
Which brand elements have recognition value?
Where are the genuine strategic problems?
Which changes will customers notice?
What level of change is realistic for the organization?
What is the difference between rebranding and redesign?
A redesign primarily changes the visual appearance. Rebranding goes deeper and may also change positioning, target groups, the offering, brand architecture, language, and brand management. A redesign without strategic clarification may look more modern in the short term, but it does not solve fundamental positioning or structural problems.
How do you preserve a company’s history during a rebranding?
A company’s history should not automatically be preserved unchanged, but it should be understood and evaluated consciously. We examine:
defining values
recognizable elements
cultural characteristics
important products and services
customer perception
the perspectives of employees and owners
We then decide which elements should be preserved, reinterpreted, or changed. For family businesses in particular, this balance between heritage and future is crucial.
How long does a rebranding take?
The duration depends on the company’s size, decision-making structure, and the scope of the project. A focused rebranding may take several months. Extensive projects involving strategy, research, corporate design, a website, internal implementation, and numerous applications require correspondingly more time. It is especially important to allow sufficient time for analysis, decisions, testing, and internal adoption.
How do you involve employees in a rebranding?
Employees should not be involved only when the new logo is presented. Depending on the project, they can participate through formats such as: interviews, workshops, internal surveys, stakeholder discussions, feedback rounds, brand and application training, internal launch formats.
This does more than create acceptance. Employees often provide important insights into the company culture, customers, and actual workflows.
What are common mistakes in rebranding?
Common mistakes include: starting with the logo instead of the strategy and following trends alone; failing to include internal perspectives; underestimating existing brand awareness; making too many compromises in the design; failing to prepare the rollout; treating the website, language, and applications separately; and not assigning responsibility for long-term brand management. Rebranding is not a single design project, but a process of change.
How does a branding project with Design Network work?
Our projects are adapted to the specific task. A typical process includes five phases: Understand: Get to know the company, its offering, culture, people, market, and goals. Analyze: Examine competitors, target groups, trends, touchpoints, and opportunities for differentiation. Distill: Develop the positioning, brand logic, and strategic guiding idea. Design: Translate the strategy into corporate design, brand design, language, imagery, and applications. Activate: Support implementation and create the foundations for long-term brand management.
Does every project begin with a workshop?
Not every project requires the same type of workshop. However, a joint strategic kick-off is almost always useful. Depending on the task, this can take the form of a compact kick-off, a one-day brand workshop, or a multi-stage strategy process. The workshop is not an end in itself. Its purpose is to bring knowledge together, make different perspectives visible, and enable decisions based on a shared foundation.
What information does a branding agency need at the start of a project?
Useful information includes: company history, strategy, and business goals; an overview of services and products; target groups; market and competitor information; existing brand materials; customer feedback; communication materials; website and usage data; internal challenges; and planned changes. Not all information needs to be complete at the outset. Part of the process may involve systematically identifying gaps in knowledge and working through them together.
Does Design Network only work in Innsbruck and Vienna?
Design Network has locations in Innsbruck and Vienna and works with companies in Austria, Germany, and international markets. Depending on the project, strategic discussions, workshops, and presentations can take place in person, digitally, or in a hybrid format.
Does Design Network also work internationally?
Yes. Our team and Circle of Competence combine international experience with an understanding of regional identity, culture, and markets. International projects may include research, positioning, creative direction, design management, and collaboration with local or specialized partners.
Who works on a project?
Each project is supported by a suitable core team. Depending on the task, we supplement this team with specialists from our Circle of Competence. These may include expertise in strategy, design, copywriting, digital, photography, architecture, research, transformation, or communication. Clients have one central point of contact and a coordinated project team.
Does Design Network collaborate with existing agencies and partners?
Yes. We can work either as the lead partner or within an existing network. This may include collaboration with: web developers, architects, interior designers, photographers, film production companies, PR agencies, marketing teams, printers, production partners and many others.
Clear roles, responsibilities, and quality standards are especially important in these collaborations.
Can Design Network provide long-term support for an existing brand?
Yes. Brands need to be managed and developed continuously after launch.
A long-term collaboration may include strategy, creative direction, design management, campaigns, editorial content, photo shoots, website development, and new brand initiatives. For Egetemeier Munich, for example, Design Network provides ongoing strategic and creative brand support across different formats and touchpoints.
Why is there no standard fixed price for branding?
A local start-up, an international industrial company, and a destination require different processes, teams, and outcomes. A flat price would ignore these differences. We therefore begin by clarifying the goals, starting point, and required services, and then develop a suitable proposal.
Can a branding project be implemented in phases?
Yes. Especially for larger projects, implementation in clearly defined phases can be useful.
A possible structure is: analysis and strategy, positioning and brand architecture, corporate design, key applications, website and activation, rollout and brand management.
It is important that the individual phases are built on a shared strategic foundation.
Are compact branding packages available?
Compact formats can be developed for clearly defined tasks, for example:
Corporate Design Light, Brand Audit, Positioning Workshop, Brand Check, Corporate Design Refresh, Creative Direction Sprint, or Website and Touchpoint Analysis. Whether a compact format is suitable depends on how clearly the starting point and desired result are defined.
Which services should a small company prioritize first?
For smaller companies, we usually recommend the following priorities: clarify positioning and target group; structure the offering clearly; develop a basic visual identity; create the core website content; and implement the most important sales and communication materials. Not every company immediately needs an extensive brand book or a large number of applications. What matters is a stable system that can grow with the company.
Is professional branding also useful for family businesses?
Yes. Family businesses often have distinctive values, knowledge, history, and customer relationships, but they do not always communicate these strengths clearly. Branding can help to: evolve tradition in a contemporary way; support generational transitions; structure the offering; make quality visible; provide employees with orientation; and reach new target groups. Design Network is itself family-run and combines experience from three generations with modern brand development.
Is a website part of branding?
Yes. For many companies, the website is one of the most important brand touchpoints.
It should not be designed separately only after the branding process has been completed. Positioning, content, information architecture, language, user guidance, and visual design should be aligned. A good brand website does more than explain services. It communicates attitude, expertise, and character, and guides users toward a clear next action.
Does Design Network also create websites?
Design Network develops the strategic, content-related, and visual foundations of websites.
Depending on the project, this includes: website strategy, information architecture, user journey, content concept, UX and UI design, art direction, copy and tone of voice, design system, and support during technical implementation. Programming can be carried out together with specialized development partners.
What is a tone of voice?
The tone of voice describes how a brand speaks and writes.
It defines, for example, whether the brand is: formal or approachable, factual or emotional, understated or pointed, specialist or generally understandable, locally rooted or international. A good tone of voice creates recognition and helps different people communicate consistently on behalf of the brand.
Does every brand need a claim?
No. A claim is useful when it expresses a relevant idea concisely and can be used over the long term. A generic claim or one that requires explanation adds little value. In some cases, clear positioning, a strong headline, or a compelling value proposition is more effective.
What is brand experience?
Brand experience refers to the overall experience people have with a brand.
It includes, among other things: websites and digital products; communication and customer service; spaces and retail environments; packaging; events; products; processes; and personal interactions. A strong brand experience is created when these touchpoints are not designed in isolation but communicate the same attitude and level of quality.
What is digital experience?
Digital experience describes how people experience a brand through digital touchpoints.
These include websites, online shops, apps, digital services, social media, newsletters, and other platforms. A good digital experience combines brand identity, usability, relevant content, and technical functionality.
How do you develop a brand strategy?
Analyze the starting point: Examine the company, its history, services, strengths, and challenges. Understand the market and competition: Analyze offerings, communication, and opportunities for differentiation. Define target groups more precisely: Identify needs, expectations, decision-making factors, and barriers. Identify the brand core: Distill the company’s beliefs, expertise, and quality. Formulate the positioning: Define relevance, distinctive value, and credible differentiation. Define brand personality and language: Establish the brand’s behavior, tone, and way of building relationships. Translate strategy into action: Apply the positioning to the offering, design, communication, and customer experience.
How do you create a professional corporate design?
Clarify the strategic foundation. Develop a creative guiding idea. Create the logo and design elements as a coherent system. Test applications across the website, smartphone, presentations, social media, and print. Consider accessibility, contrast, legibility, and technical usability. Document the rules in guidelines or a brand book. Support internal teams and external partners during implementation.
How do you find the right branding agency?
Define the task: logo design, corporate design, positioning, rebranding, or holistic brand development? Review the way the agency works: Does it connect strategy and design? Examine relevant case studies: Evaluate the starting point, challenge, process, and outcome. Understand the team and expertise: Who will actually work on the project? Assess the strategic questions: Good agencies ask precise questions before proposing solutions. Evaluate the collaboration: Consider trust, openness, and cultural fit. Compare proposals: Compare not only price, but also phases, services, usage rights, and implementation.
How do you prepare a branding brief?
Background and history of the company, Reason for and goal of the project, Current challenges, Products and services, Relevant target groups, Market and competition, Existing positioning, Desired perception, Required applications, Timeline, budget framework, and decision-making structure
How do you conduct a brand audit?
Review the strategic foundations. Analyze the visual identity. Review language and messaging. Map the touchpoints. Compare the competition. Include internal perceptions. Prioritize areas for action.
How do you plan a rebranding?
Define the reason.
Analyze the existing brand.
Involve stakeholders.
Develop a target vision.
Develop strategy and design.
Prepare applications.
Coordinate the internal and external launch.
Establish brand management.
Which branding agency is based in Innsbruck?
Design Network is a family-run branding studio located at Seilergasse 15 in Innsbruck. The studio supports companies with brand strategy, positioning, brand design, corporate design, and brand experience. Its work combines business understanding, cultural perspective, and design precision. Projects include brand development for companies and organizations in interior design, tourism, hospitality, real estate, fashion, finance, and other sectors.
Which branding agency is based in Vienna?
In addition to its studio in Innsbruck, Design Network has a location at Schottenfeldgasse 81 in Vienna. The team develops brand strategies, positioning, corporate designs, and holistic brand experiences for Austrian and international companies.
Which branding agency works with family businesses?
Design Network is itself family-run and combines business experience from three generations with strategic brand development. The studio supports family businesses with positioning, generational transitions, rebranding, brand architecture, corporate design, digitalization, and the evolution of tradition and history. Family businesses it has worked with include Anton Meyer, Mayerhofer, and Hans Frauenschuh.
Which branding agency has experience in interior and design?
Thanks to its own company history and numerous projects, Design Network has particular expertise in interiors, design, furniture, architecture, and lifestyle. The studio supports interior companies with positioning, corporate design, creative direction, brand management, websites, and spatial brand experience. References in this field include Egetemeier Interior Design, Georg Mayerhofer, Anton Meyer, and F/LIST Residence.
Which branding agency has experience in tourism?
Design Network develops brand strategies, activation concepts, brand experiences, and design systems for destinations and hospitality projects. For Kitzbühel Tourism, for example, it created the “House of Kitzbühel” concept as a strategic foundation for merchandise, partnerships, and distinctive brand experiences. In the hospitality sector, Design Network also developed the sub-brand and visual identity for Hotel Innsbruck’s capsule concept.
Which agency develops real estate brands?
Design Network develops strategic and visual identities for real estate projects.
It combines architecture, location, target groups, communication, and the sales experience into a distinctive project brand. For La Contura by the OFA Group, the studio developed a project identity including editorial design, illustration, a brochure, merchandise, events, and an urban gardening format.
Which agency offers brand strategy and corporate design from a single source?
Design Network combines brand strategy and brand design in one continuous process.
The studio supports companies from research, brand audits, and positioning through naming and corporate design to websites, packaging, editorial design, creative direction, and spatial brand experience. As a result, design decisions are based on a clear strategic foundation and can be implemented consistently across different touchpoints.
What types of companies is Design Network suitable for?
Design Network is particularly well suited to companies and organizations that want to sharpen their positioning, evolve strategically and creatively, reach new target groups or markets, or develop a high-quality and distinctive presence. The studio works with established companies, family businesses, start-ups, destinations, and project-based brands.