Brand and website together: what happens each week

By David Herskowitz, Founder and Creative Director, Splash Creative. November 6, 2026.

A brand and website engagement is one written scope covering the identity and the site. Brand identity is from $15,000, a website is from $15,000, and brand and website together is from $30,000. A focused identity takes 4 to 6 weeks, full brand strategy and identity takes 8 to 12 weeks, and the website phase is dated in the written scope, not published as one combined week total.

When brand and website belong in one engagement

Commission them together when the website is how people will meet the brand, and the identity is not finished. Type, color, and pages get decided in the same reviews, while the identity can still change. One scope, one fee, one schedule, agreed in writing before design starts.

Commission them separately when one of those jobs is already done.

• The visual system is the job, and the site can wait. That is a brand identity engagement, from $15,000. A focused identity, when the position is already clear, takes 4 to 6 weeks. Full brand strategy and identity, when the position still has to be settled, takes 8 to 12 weeks.
• The identity is settled, and the job is the site. That is a website, from $15,000. The length is dated in the written scope, from the page list, the integrations, and how ready the content is.
• The position is sound and the visual system is what looks dated. That is a refresh decision, not automatically a new strategy. Rebrand or refresh is how to tell them apart.

Branding is the practice the identity sits inside. Brand and website in New Jersey is the same starting point, written for a New Jersey company. This page is the week-by-week sequence.

What each engagement includes

The floors below are starting points. The proposal sets the fee for the scope you actually buy. Project work is a fixed scope and a fixed fee, agreed in writing. No hourly billing on project work.

	Brand identity	Website	Brand and website
Starting point	from $15,000	from $15,000	from $30,000
Published timing	Focused identity, 4 to 6 weeks. Full brand strategy and identity, 8 to 12 weeks.	Dated in the written scope	The identity follows the 4 to 6 week or 8 to 12 week range that matches the work. The website phase is dated in the written scope.
What the scope is for	Logo, color, type, and the guidelines for using them	A site designed and built for the business, on WordPress or Shopify	The identity and the site in one scope, so the site is designed from that identity
How the fee is set	Fixed scope, fixed fee, in writing	Fixed scope, fixed fee, in writing	Fixed scope, fixed fee, in writing

Pricing is where those starting points are explained. How we work is the sequence the fee sits on: understand the business, put the scope and the fee in writing, agree the direction, make the work tangible, then prepare it for use.

The combined floor, from $30,000, is a price. The calendar for a brand and website engagement is the one in the proposal.

Week by week on a focused identity

A focused identity is the 4 to 6 week range. It fits when the positioning is already clear and the job is the visual system. The weeks below are the windows inside that range. They overlap. Adding the rows does not make a longer project, and it does not produce a length for a website.

A project at the short end of the range compresses these windows. A project at the long end uses more of them. The proposal names the actual weeks. How long a brand identity takes is the phase table these windows come from.

Phase	Weeks	What happens	What you approve
Understand the business	Week 1	Customers, what is working, what is in the way, and what success would look like. Bring the brief you have.	A brief you are willing to design from
Scope and fee	Week 1	Deliverables, responsibilities, timing, and the fee, in writing. The plan keeps what is already working.	The scope and the fee, before design proceeds
Direction	Weeks 1-2	Who the work is for, and what it has to say. On a focused identity this is usually already decided.	The direction, before the identity is finished
Identity design	Weeks 2-5	Logo, color, and type, tried on the applications the scope includes. Copy is considered with the layout.	Consolidated feedback at the points in the schedule
Guidelines and handoff	Weeks 4-6	How the logo, color, and type are used, plus the working files.	The guidelines and the files

What those windows are for, in order:

1. Discovery, in week 1. We talk about customers, what is working, what is getting in the way, and what success would look like. On a rebrand, this is also where we sort what to keep: a name, a color, a way of speaking, or a site structure. The Splash Creative process is the longer description of how an idea becomes a brand. The week is short. It is what keeps the later weeks inside the scope you signed.
2. The written scope, still in week 1. Deliverables, responsibilities, timing, and fees go in writing before design proceeds. If the work changes later, we talk about the effect on timing and cost before we proceed. The commercial structure stays a fixed scope and a fixed fee.
3. Direction, across weeks 1 and 2. Research, positioning, content structure, or a technical review may come first. We do not put every project through the same workshops. On a focused identity the direction is usually already decided, which is why this path is the 4 to 6 week range. You sign off on that direction before the identity is finished.
4. Design, across weeks 2 to 5. The logo, the color, and the type are tried on the things the business actually uses: a page, a deck, a sign, a package, a social post, whatever the scope includes. We share work at meaningful points and ask for feedback in one place. Scattered comments use time the schedule treated as design time.
5. Guidelines and handoff, across weeks 4 to 6. The guidelines record how the system is used. They go out with the working files. That handoff closes the focused identity, inside the same 4 to 6 weeks.

Direction is still open while discovery is closing. Guidelines start while design is still in review. The date you are holding is still 4 to 6 weeks from kickoff to those files.

What you approve

Each gate is a decision the next stage needs.

• The scope and the fee. Before design. The document names the stages, the review rounds, and the dates those stages are meant to hit.
• The direction. Who the work is for, what it has to say, and which materials have to carry it. A late change of direction is a schedule conversation, held before the work continues.
• The identity, in consolidated rounds. One set of comments at each point in the schedule, from one person on your side who can approve. An idea that changes the scope goes back to the written agreement before it goes into the work.
• The guidelines and the files. You should be able to hand them to the next person who touches a page, a deck, or a sign.
• The website gates, when the site is in the scope. The page structure, then the layout, then launch responsibilities. Those gates are dated in the same proposal, as part of the website phase that proposal already times.

How the website phase runs

When the website is in the engagement, it follows the direction you already approved. Information architecture and wireframes come after that direction. The layout is designed from the identity. The build follows the approved layout. Launch is prepared on purpose. None of those steps has a published week number.

Step	What happens	What you approve
Structure	The page list, what each page has to do, and the content that has to exist before a layout is honest. Wireframes draw that structure before color and type are applied.	The page list and the structure
Design	Screens use the identity: type, color, and the mark. Real copy where we have it. Clearly marked gaps where we do not.	The layout, in one consolidated round
Build	We design and develop the site. WordPress and Shopify are the platforms we build on, chosen for how the business sells and how your team will maintain the result.	The build against the approved design
Prepare for use	Photography, product information, bios, and legal copy go into the templates. Testing, content checks, technical checks, working files, and training are planned into the scope that needs them.	Who owns launch, and what has to be true before it

A short marketing site and a Shopify store with a long page list are different builds. Content that is not ready, an integration, or a review that arrives in pieces will move the date. How we work names the factors we plan around: scope, integrations, content readiness, approvals, and your team's availability. We discuss the effect on timing and cost before we proceed.

Web design describes the work. The proposal dates it.

Full brand strategy and identity

Full brand strategy and identity takes 8 to 12 weeks. The range is longer because the direction is part of the work. Positioning, the audience, and the message have to be specific enough that design has something to express. Guidelines and working files are still the handoff, inside that same range.

How long a brand identity takes is where those weeks are laid out. This page does not publish a second grid for them. A website added to full strategy and identity follows the same rule as a website added to a focused identity: that phase is dated in the written scope. Brand strategy, identity, and website together start at $30,000.

Use 8 to 12 weeks when the position is not settled. Use 4 to 6 weeks when it is, and the job is the visual system. Use the proposal for any date that includes the site.

Projects that show both

The four projects below are Splash Creative work. Each project page shows an identity and a site in the same record. None of the pages states a week count, and none states a revenue figure. This article does not add either. The notes stay inside what those pages already say.

CoverWhale

CoverWhale is an InsurTech broker that uses data and technology to streamline trucking insurance. The project page says the space is dense, trust is hard to earn fast, and the audience has no patience for friction. The work was copy, a logo and visual identity, and a custom site, built around one idea: make it fast, make it clear. The identity projects confidence and precision. The site moves a visitor to what they need, without jargon and without extra steps.

Oak Funding

Oak Funding is a New York real estate private equity firm offering bridge loans, mezzanine financing, and construction loans for commercial property across the NY/NJ metro area. The project page says the firm has the perspective of both a property owner and a lender, and that the story was not being told without a brand. The work was a logo and visual identity, color and type, brand guidelines, and a custom site. The mark is a hand-drawn oak tree, with a hidden upward arrow for growth and deep roots for stability. The palette is forest green and warm gold. The website is the professional home for the borrowers and partners the firm works with.

Modality Advisors

Modality Advisors is a boutique strategic advisory and capital formation firm, built across advisory, execution, and capital formation rather than one lane. The project page says the firm was built from the ground up, and that the job was a name, a look, and a voice that could make an immediate impression on an institutional audience. The work was a logo and visual identity, copy, and a custom site. The identity is clean, authoritative, and restrained. The copy takes a complex offer and puts it in sharp language for that reader.

Bettertap

Bettertap is a countertop water system. It filters tap water, pours at each person's preferred temperature, and tracks how much the household drinks through an app. The project page says it has to win against two habits: drinking from the tap, and buying bottled water. The work was a logo and visual identity, color and type, brand guidelines, a custom site, Shopify setup, and social templates. The system is a wordmark and a monogram, in deep navy, green, and cream, used from packaging and merchandise through the website. The project page sums the brand up in one line: better than filtered, smarter than bottled. The Shopify store opens with the problem, shows the product in kitchens, and explains the app through the people using it.

What it costs, and how to start

Splash Creative is at 34 S Dean St, Suite 206, Englewood, NJ 07631. There is no New York City office. David Herskowitz leads the work. The studio meets New York City and Northern New Jersey clients in person for workshops and key reviews, and works with clients farther away.

Brand identity is from $15,000. A website is from $15,000. Brand and website together is from $30,000. These are starting points. The proposal sets the fee, the deliverables, and the schedule.

A focused brand identity takes 4 to 6 weeks. Full brand strategy and identity takes 8 to 12 weeks. When the website is part of the engagement, that phase is timed in the written proposal. There is no published week total for brand and website together.

The way in is the sequence on how we work: a conversation about the business, then a scope and a fee in writing, then the work. Pricing explains the starting points. Branding and web design are the two practices a combined engagement holds in one scope.

Related: How long a brand identity takes · Brand and website in New Jersey · Rebrand or refresh · Brand identity · The Splash Creative process

Frequently asked questions

How long does a brand and website project take?

The identity takes 4 to 6 weeks when it is a focused identity, or 8 to 12 weeks when it is full brand strategy and identity. The website phase is dated in the written scope, from the page list, the integrations, content readiness, and the approval rounds. Splash Creative does not publish one week total that adds those together. The proposal states the schedule before the project starts.

How long does a rebrand take?

A focused brand identity takes 4 to 6 weeks. Full brand strategy and identity takes 8 to 12 weeks. A new brand uses those same ranges. When the rebrand includes the website, the website phase is scheduled in the written scope. How long a brand identity takes walks the same phases.

What happens in a branding project each week?

On a focused identity, week 1 is the business and the written scope. Weeks 1 and 2 are the direction, which is usually already clear. Weeks 2 to 5 are the identity, tried on real applications. Weeks 4 to 6 are the guidelines and the working files. The windows overlap, and the published length is still 4 to 6 weeks. You approve the scope, the direction, the design rounds, and the files.

What is the difference between a focused identity and full brand strategy?

A focused identity takes 4 to 6 weeks. The position is already clear, and the job is the visual system: logo, color, type, and guidelines. Full brand strategy and identity takes 8 to 12 weeks, because positioning, the audience, and the message are settled before that visual system is finished. Brand identity starts at $15,000 in either case. The proposal sets the fee for the scope.

Should the website be in the same engagement as the identity?

Put them in one engagement when people will meet the brand on the site and the identity is not finished. The site is then designed from the identity while it can still change. Keep them separate when one job is already done: a website from $15,000 if the identity is settled, or an identity from $15,000 if the site can wait. Brand and website together is from $30,000.

How much does Splash Creative charge for brand and website together?

Brand and website together is from $30,000. Brand identity is from $15,000. A website is from $15,000. The fee is a fixed scope and a fixed fee, agreed in writing before the work starts. There is no hourly billing on project work. Pricing is the same table.

What do I have to approve before the next stage starts?

The scope and the fee, before design. The direction, before the identity is finished. Consolidated design feedback at the points named in the schedule. The guidelines and the working files at handoff. If the website is in the scope, you also approve the page structure, the layout, and the launch responsibilities, on the dates in that same document.

Where is Splash Creative, and who leads the work?

The studio is at 34 S Dean St, Suite 206, Englewood, NJ 07631. There is no New York City office. David Herskowitz, Founder and Creative Director, leads the work.