Brand identity design for Toronto businesses ready to scale.
Strategy, logo, visual system, and brand book in six weeks. Most Toronto projects fall between CA$8,500 and CA$14,500. Available in English, 中文 (繁體 + 简体), and 한국어.
The problem with most Toronto brand identity work
Two things go wrong before a single logo gets sketched.
The first is sameness. Walk through a hundred Canadian SMB websites this week and you will see the same Webflow template, the same off-the-shelf serif paired with the same neutral sans, the same beige and forest-green palette that crept across LinkedIn in 2024 and never left. The brands look identical because they were built from the same handful of templates by people optimizing for speed, not for a business that needs to stand out in a crowded Toronto market.
The second is the cheap shortcut. A founder, sensing the sameness, hires a CA$500 freelancer on Fiverr or Upwork. What comes back is a logo file. Sometimes a passable one. What does not come back: positioning, audience definition, messaging architecture, a defensible visual system, or any reasoning for why the logo exists. Six months later the founder is rebranding again, this time at five times the cost, because the first round was a mark without a brand underneath it.
Both paths waste money and momentum. The fix is to do the strategic work first, then build the visual system on top of it.
Our 4-phase brand identity framework
Six weeks. Four phases. One named deliverable per phase.
Phase 1: Discovery (week 1)
We start by interviewing your team, your customers, and the audiences you want to reach next. We audit your current brand against three to five named competitors and document where the white space sits. Deliverable: a 12-page Discovery Report covering audience, competitor positioning, and current brand health.
Phase 2: Strategy (weeks 2 to 3)
Positioning, messaging architecture, and visual direction. We define who you are for, what you stand for, and how you sound. We test two visual directions with mood boards, then narrow to one before any production work begins. Deliverable: a Brand Strategy Document that becomes the source of truth for every design decision in phases 3 and 4.
Phase 3: Design (weeks 4 to 5)
Logo system, color palette, typography, imagery direction, and applied examples on the surfaces your business actually uses (website hero, pitch deck cover, business card, social profile, packaging mock if relevant). Two revision rounds built into the phase. Deliverable: a Visual System Master File with all source artwork in editable Figma and Adobe Illustrator formats.
Phase 4: Launch (week 6)
We compile the work into your brand manual, hand off the editable files, and run a 90-minute internal training session so your team can apply the brand without us in the room. Deliverable: a 40-page Brand Manual plus editable Figma and Illustrator files, fully owned by you.
Service tiers and pricing
| Tier | Starting price | Scope | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand Foundation | from CA$8,500 | Logo, color, type, 20-page brand book, primary applications | 4 weeks |
| Brand System | from CA$14,500 | Foundation plus strategy workshop, 40-page brand book, 12 applied templates, 90-day support | 6 weeks |
| Bespoke Engagement | by quote | Multi-language rollout, packaging, naming, multi-region launch | 10 to 16 weeks |
Pricing reflects scope, not negotiation. We do not run hours-based billing.
Most Toronto businesses that come to us land in Brand System. Brand Foundation fits founders who already have positioning clarity and need the visual layer built fast. Bespoke Engagements are reserved for clients launching across multiple languages, retail markets, or product lines in a single coordinated effort.
What is included in every tier: source files, full ownership transfer, training session, and 30 days of post-launch support for questions and small adjustments.
How we work
The cadence is predictable. A weekly check-in call at a fixed time agreed in week one, 30 minutes, with the same two people from our side every week. Two structured revision rounds per phase, scheduled in advance. One named approver from your side, because design by committee is the fastest way to a watered-down brand.
Between calls you get a shared Figma board, a Loom recap of every meeting, and a single Slack channel or Teams channel that we monitor during business hours.
The 852 Promise. If your brand book is not delivered by week six, your final invoice is reduced by 10% per week of delay.
Case study: Elite Tenants rebrands for the enterprise
When Richard Campbell, CEO of Elite Tenants, came to us in early 2026, the company had a working tenant-screening tool, a small base of Ontario landlord customers, and a brand that signaled "useful side project" rather than "enterprise SaaS for landlords and brokerages." The product was ready to scale. The brand was not.
Over six weeks we ran the full Brand System engagement. Phase 1 surfaced what Elite Tenants actually was: not a screening tool but a risk-management platform for the people who write the leases. Phase 2 rebuilt the positioning around that insight and produced a messaging architecture aimed at brokerages and property management firms, not individual landlords. Phase 3 delivered a new logo system, a charcoal-and-cream visual identity, and applied templates for sales decks, dashboards, and marketing assets. Phase 4 shipped a 40-page brand manual in English and 繁體中文 to support the Hong Kong-Canadian property investor segment Elite Tenants was already serving.
The outcome: Richard's team is now positioned to charge enterprise prices, and the company grew their operation significantly through the months following the rebrand.
"The 852 process forced us to make positioning decisions we had been avoiding for two years. The brand system gave us the credibility to charge enterprise prices."
Richard Campbell, CEO, Elite Tenants
Read the full Elite Tenants case study →
Why 852 Tangram
- Strategy first, design second. Every project starts with positioning, not Pinterest boards.
- Available in three languages. English, 中文 (繁體 and 简体), and 한국어. Native speakers on the team, not Google Translate.
- Fixed timelines, fixed price ranges. No hourly billing, no scope creep, no surprise invoices.
- Six weeks to a brand book, in writing. The 852 Promise.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a brand identity project take?
Brand Foundation runs four weeks. Brand System runs six weeks. Bespoke Engagements run 10 to 16 weeks depending on scope. Timelines are fixed at contract signature. If we miss our six-week commitment on Brand System without a documented client-side delay, your invoice drops by 10% per week of delay under the 852 Promise.
What's the difference between Brand Foundation and Brand System?
Brand Foundation delivers the visual identity (logo, color, type, 20-page brand book, primary applications) in four weeks at CA$8,500. Brand System adds a strategy workshop, a 40-page brand book, 12 applied templates, and 90 days of post-launch support, in six weeks at CA$14,500. Foundation suits founders with positioning clarity. System suits teams that need both strategy and design.
Do you keep ownership of the design files?
No. Full ownership transfers to you at project close. You receive editable Figma source files, layered Adobe Illustrator files, exported assets in PNG, JPG, SVG, and PDF, and your typeface license documentation. No watermarks, no royalties, no ongoing license fees from us.
Do you offer multilingual delivery?
Yes. We design in English, 中文 (繁體 + 简体), and 한국어 from week one, with native speakers in the design and writing room. We do not run translation as a final-step add-on; languages are scoped into the strategy phase.
What's your revision policy?
Two structured revision rounds per phase, scheduled in advance. Round one happens mid-phase, round two happens at phase end. Additional revision rounds are quoted before being committed, not run open-ended. The structure prevents the open-ended revision spiral that turns 6-week projects into 12-week projects.
How is this different from a CA$500 Fiverr logo?
A Fiverr logo is a mark without a strategy. You get a file. You do not get positioning, audience research, a messaging architecture, a typography system, applied examples, or a brand manual. When the brand needs to scale (new website, new market, new product line) the file does not. The typical outcome is a second rebrand within 18 months. Our Brand Foundation tier costs 17 times more on day one and saves the cost of the second rebrand.
Pricing recap
Brand Foundation: from CA$8,500, four weeks. Brand System: from CA$14,500, six weeks. Bespoke Engagements: by quote, 10 to 16 weeks. All pricing in CAD, fixed at contract signature, with the 852 Promise on every Brand System engagement.
Or read the Elite Tenants case study (8 min).