How we work

Whether you have a large or small design project, we are happy to hear from you.

Our clients find it useful to have a defined process, so we each know what to expect, when. Therefore, we have created processes for different types of design project, based on the needs of previous clients. Outlined below is a brief overview of how we work and our pricing structure.

Who we work with

Small businesses and start-ups
Larger companies with busy marketing departments
Design and communication agencies

The initial process for new clients is:

Discovery call
From your initial contact, we’ll arrange a convenient time to have a no-obligation discovery call.
Short questionnaire
If your project is large (e.g. a logo or new identity, website or brochure), we will send you a short questionnaire. This will help us understand your requirements, and help you consolidate your thoughts. We will go through the questionnaire on our call and fill in any gaps.
Proposal
After our call, we’ll put together a bespoke proposal for your project, outlining the work involved, costs and an approximate timeframe.
Start date
If you decide to go ahead, we will agree a start date and schedule, and get your project booked in.

Our processes and pricing

Every project is unique and requires a bespoke service so we don’t have fixed rates for design. However, we understand budget may be a deciding factor for you. Therefore, to give you a rough idea, we’ve outlined some popular design projects below.

Logo & visual identity design

We love working with small, owner-managed businesses and start-ups on their visual identity projects.

These can range from a simple typography-based logo to something more illustrative. Depending where you are with your strategy planning, we can either jump straight in with the creative work or help you define your brand strategy. We can carry out in-depth ideal client and competitor analysis to help you see where your brand can stand out.

Our logo design process

Brief – You tell us what you’re looking for. We can help with your thinking by providing our branding questionnaire.
Research – We discover who your ideal clients are, what makes you different from your competitors, and generally get to know you.
Brainstorm – Together we look at the brief and research, and fill in any gaps.
Concepts – We’ll create initial moodboards for you to review, to ensure we’re on the right track visually. This phase includes 2 rounds of review and feedback.
Logo design – Using your feedback from the concept stage, we’ll provide 2-3 logo designs to choose from. This phase includes 2 rounds of review and feedback and we’ll show you how your logo will look in real-life situations.
Deliverable – Your final logo design in various file formats and style guidelines are provided.

Logo and visual identity prices

Logos are between £750 – £3000.
Ongoing brand identity work can be provided on a consultancy basis.

Book a discovery call with Karen
to discuss your logo and visual identity project.

Website design & build

Websites vary hugely in size and complexity. We build all our sites on WordPress, the industry-standard for content management systems (CMS). Our background working for software companies means we are well-versed in usability. We will also ensure your website has on-site search engine optimisation (SEO) and is ready for your SEO goals.

Our website design process

Brief – You tell us what you’re looking for. Together we confirm the goals of the website and functionality requirements.
Research – We look at your competitors’ websites and market trends, alongside your visual identity and style guidelines.
Planning – We produce wireframe diagrams showing the page layout and user’s flow through the site, to achieve your site goals.
Content – This is usually your role, but we can recommend several brilliant copywriters we’ve worked with if you need support with your written messaging.
Concepts – Initial designs of the different types of pages required. This phase includes 2 rounds of review and feedback.
Build – Once the initial concepts have been signed off, the build starts on the server. The site will be built using the content provided and we’ll liaise with your copywriter on any recommended text edits. We will test for usability, accessibility and mobile responsiveness throughout the build process. This phase includes 2 rounds of review and feedback.
Deliverable – Your finished website live to the public, fully optimised for mobile screen sizes, usability, search engine traffic and your marketing goals.
Maintenance – We offer a monthly maintenance package that ensures your site is monitored for vulnerabilities, and includes an agreed amount of content updates per month.

We can also offer in-house training to enable you to update the site yourself.

Prices for websites

A small website (up to 6 pages)
Start at £1,500
A small website (6-10 pages with a simple online shop)
Start at £2,000
A medium website (up to 20 pages and online shop)
Start at £4,500
A large website (with online shop and extra functionality)
Between £5,000 – 15,000

Book a discovery call with Karen
to discuss your website project.

Arte Form iPhone X mockups - Website by Arnott Design

Move to Cambridge - Website by Arnott Design

Print design

We also specialise in graphic design for print and love to design flyers, company stationery and brochures. If you have an event coming up, we can also design your booth graphics, popup banners and printed collateral for that.

Our print design process

The process for a brochure would be as follows, but smaller projects will have a much more concise and simple process.

Brief – You tell us what you’re looking for. Together we confirm the audience, goals and usage of the piece.
Research – We look at your competitors’ marketing and market trends for your industry, alongside your existing visual identity and style guidelines.
Content – This is usually your role, but we can recommend brilliant copywriters we’ve worked with if you need support with your written messaging.
Planning – We work with the copywriter to produce a page plan.
Concepts – Initial designs of the cover and a couple of sample spreads. This phase includes 2 rounds of feedback/review.
Layout – Once the initial concepts have been signed off, we liaise with the copywriter to input the initial draft into the template pages. It’s important we work collaboratively with the copywriter to ensure the page real-estate is used effectively – for the aesthetics, readability and marketing goals. This phase includes 2 rounds of feedback/review.
Deliverable – Final brochure files, sent to the printers.

Prices for printed collateral

Business cards / Letterhead / Compliments slips
Start from £120
Flyers / Posters / Simple leaflets
Start from £180
Popup banners / Large-format graphics for events
Range from £120 – £1200
Brochures / Books
Range from £1200 – £6500
Packaging
Start from £1500 per item
Product labels
Start from £500 per product

Prices for print design are completely bespoke, depending on requirements, so do get in touch with us to discuss the specifics of your project.

We have great relationships with several printing companies and can obtain competitive printing prices. We are also happy to work with your regular printers.

Book a discovery call with Karen
to discuss your print design project.

Superfoodies Tins - Packaging design by Arnott Design

The Legend of the Goose Girl - Book design by Arnott Design

Payment

Payment for most projects is 50% upfront, 50% on completion. Whereas, for smaller projects and for regular clients, we may just invoice you on completion or at the end of the month. If you have a large project, payments will be spread out and based on project milestones.

If these prices sound like the right range for you, the first step is for you to book a discovery call with Karen to discuss your design project.

What our clients say about us

“We have worked with Karen on a regular basis over the past seven years and she has always delivered the highest level of service. I have worked with a wide range of designers and agencies and Karen is absolutely at the top of the league in terms of her professionalism, creativity and the fact that she is such a pleasure to work with.”

Mark LongBusiness Development Manager – Superfoodies

“I cannot thank Karen at Arnott Design enough for so enthusiastically getting behind our book project, ‘The Legend of the Goose Girl’, and coming up with the design that has created a beautiful product; one that my team and I are very delighted with. My team and I have no hesitation at all recommending Karen; you will be engaging a very efficient, competent, first-class graphic designer. Her good reputation is well deserved.”

Rupert ProcterAuthor – The Legend of the Goose Girl

“I have had the pleasure of working with Karen on the brochure project for International House London. Karen’s commitment and flexibility throughout the project were brilliant. Her enthusiasm and creative thinking were apparent from the first point of contact. Karen’s attention to detail and the ability to adapt accordingly to client style and direction made it easy to work with her.”

Eva UddinHead of Marketing – IH London brochures

“Karen did an excellent job of delivering a new website for our business. She guided us through areas where we were unfamiliar and delivered an end result that was beyond our expectations. Most of all, nothing was too much trouble.”

Imran TayabaliPartner – Tayabali & White

“Karen is meticulous about all things design, so I knew she would be a great person to work with on my logo. As my own business, it was personal as well as professional and that’s not always easy. Karen and I worked collaboratively to achieve a great versatile logo that represents the brand. I love seeing it everywhere!”

Vicky WestmoreFounder – The Little Creative Workshop

“I would have no qualms about recommending Karen. We are really happy with our website and it has already generated new leads for us. Great professionalism and speedy turnaround for any technical questions we had.”

Paul BarkerChartered Accountant – PBH Accounting

“Karen is a highly talented and knowledgeable graphic designer, understanding every aspect of web design. I am really pleased with my customised WordPress site which is totally unique and would highly recommend Karen. She was a joy to work with.”

Sarah GreenDirector – Move to Cambridge

“Karen made the process of developing a new visual identity for Liv Systems straight forward and productive. The new identity has had an immediate impact and we are already receiving positive interest as a result of our new logo and brand marks. Thank you also for the new website. As a company that practices human-centred design, we were pleased to find someone that places emphasis on accessibility and usability.”

Christopher LoweHuman Factors Specialist

Book a no-obligation discovery call with Karen Arnott.

Book now