Blog · Choosing a studio
Five questions to ask before signing with a studio
Before signing with any design studio, ask who will do the work, what exactly you receive, who owns it at the end, how changes are handled and how either side can leave. Written answers to these five questions matter more than a portfolio, and they apply whether the studio is down the road or abroad.
Why the answers matter more than the portfolio
A portfolio shows what a studio has made for other people, in conditions you cannot see. It says little about what happens once your own project starts: who answers the emails, what counts as extra, who holds the files if the relationship ends badly. Those are questions about the arrangement, and a studio can answer all five in a short email.
None of them depends on location. A studio in the next town can be vague on all five, and a studio in another country can be exact. The point is to get the answers in writing before any money moves.
1. Who will actually do the work?
Proposals are often signed by a founder and executed by someone you meet later, or never. Ask for the name of each person who will touch your project and what each one does. In a large agency the answer may be a team of five; in a small studio it may be one senior person from brief to launch. Both are legitimate. What matters is that you know which one you are buying, and that the person who sold the work is not replaced after the deposit. We covered the trade-offs of the smaller model in what a two-person studio does differently, and what it cannot do.
Availability belongs in the same answer. Ask how many projects the person assigned to yours is running at once, and what happens during holidays or illness. A studio that can say "one other project, and here is the handover plan" is describing its real capacity. One that says "we always have time for you" is describing its sales process.
2. What exactly will I receive?
"A brand identity" is not a deliverable. A logo in three colourways, a set of source files, a one-page colour and type guide, a website of a stated number of pages: these are deliverables. Ask for a list, and ask what is left out. The Design Business Association's guide to writing a design brief advises detailing what you need in the services required, and says the more detail you include, the better the response will be. The same holds in reverse: the more detail a studio puts in its proposal, the less room there is for a dispute later. The reasons two quotes for the same brief can sit thousands of pounds apart usually come down to this list, as we set out in why one branding quote says 800 and the next says 12,000.
3. Who owns it when the project ends?
The default is less friendly than most clients assume. GOV.UK's guidance on ownership of copyright works states that the first legal owner of copyright is the person who created the work, not the person who commissioned it, unless you agree otherwise in writing. A contract that says nothing leaves the studio holding rights you have paid for.
Ask three things: are the rights assigned to you or only licensed, when does that happen (on final payment, in practice), and who is registered as holder of the domain. We go through each in who owns the logo, files and domain after a project ends.
4. What happens when I want to change something?
Every project meets change: a new idea after the first round, a service you forgot to mention, a stakeholder who arrives late. Ask how many rounds of revisions the price includes, what a round is, and how extra work is priced before it is done. A fixed day rate stated up front is easier to live with than a surprise invoice. If the studio refuses to define a round, expect the definition to appear at the worst moment.
5. How can either of us leave?
Few clients ask this and every contract should answer it. What happens to the deposit if you stop after discovery? What do you receive for the work already done? How much notice does the studio need to give you? Look at the payment schedule too: a deposit, a payment at each stage and a final payment on delivery keeps both sides exposed to roughly the same degree, while a large sum up front leaves you with all the risk. A studio confident in its own process has no reason to avoid the question. One that does is telling you how it expects the relationship to end.
The five answers side by side
| Question | A usable answer | A warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | Named people and their roles | "Our team" with no names |
| What I receive | An itemised list, with exclusions | "A full brand identity" |
| Who owns it | Rights assigned in writing, domain in your name | Silence, or "a licence to use" |
| Changes | A stated number of rounds, extras priced first | "We will be flexible" |
| Leaving | Deposit, notice and handover described | No exit clause at all |
Do the questions change for a studio in another country?
Two things are added: which country's law governs the contract, and whether time zones allow a real conversation during your working day. Neither is a reason to rule a studio out. The first is a line in the contract, the second a matter of overlapping hours. We looked at both in what actually changes when your studio is abroad. The five questions above stay the same, and so does the standard for the answers: specific, written, and given before you sign.
Common questions
Should I ask these questions before or after receiving a proposal?
Before, or alongside it. A proposal answers some of them by accident, and the gaps are informative. Send the five questions in your first reply, and compare how each studio responds, not only what it charges.
Is a verbal answer enough?
No. Ask for the answers in the proposal or the contract. Anything a studio is happy to say on a call it should be happy to put in writing.
Does a studio abroad need a different contract?
Not in kind. The contract still needs to name the deliverables, the assignment of rights, the revision terms and the exit conditions. It should also state which country's law applies and which currency is used for payment.
How many revision rounds are normal?
There is no official standard. Studios commonly state a number, often two or three per stage, but the figure matters less than a clear definition of what one round is and a stated price for anything beyond it.
Do I need a lawyer to review a design contract?
For a small project, many clients read it carefully and ask the studio to clarify unclear clauses. For a larger engagement, or where you intend to build a business on the brand, a short review by a solicitor is inexpensive compared with a dispute over rights.
What if the studio will not answer one of the questions?
Treat the refusal as an answer. A studio can decline for a legitimate reason, but it should tell you why. Silence on ownership or exit terms is the one worth taking seriously.
Louis Denis, Orbe Studio
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