Branding Questionnaire Template (Australia)

Updated on 22 August 2026

A branding questionnaire is the intake document a designer, agency or freelancer sends before starting work on a brand. Its job is to turn a vague brief into decisions: who the business serves, what it wants to be known for, who it competes with, what it must not look like, what the deliverables are and who signs off. A good one prevents most of the revision rounds that destroy the margin on brand projects.

The source template has strong demand and a strange problem: the page never shows the questions. Its copy explains which builder widgets the form uses, its own PDF link is broken, and the whole description was pasted into the meta description at nearly a thousand characters. This version publishes the full question set, and adds the two things most Australian intake forms leave out — whether the client actually holds the rights to the fonts, photographs and marks they are handing over, and a trade mark check before anyone commits to a name.

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Branding Questionnaire

Completed by for on . The answers here become the agreed brief for the project. Where you do not know an answer, say so rather than guessing — an honest gap is more useful than a placeholder.

1. Business Basics

Trading name:
Registered entity name:
ABN:
Main contact and role:
Stage of business:
Markets served:

What the business actually sells:

2. Audience

Buys today:
Should buy tomorrow:
Influences the purchase:
Deliberately not for:

3. Positioning

The promise, in one sentence:

Why anyone should believe it:

Words to own:
Words and claims to avoid:

4. Competitors and References

Competes with:
Brands admired, and why:
Must not be mistaken for:
Tried and rejected before:

5. Visual Direction and Constraints

Existing assets:
Colour notes:
Tone of voice:
Smallest use:
Toughest application:

OptionalDigital accessibility requirementsInclude contrast and digital-standards questions.

Digital accessibility or contrast requirements constraining the palette:

OptionalNaming projectInclude the naming and clearance questions.

OptionalRebrandInclude the questions a rebrand needs and a new brand does not.

OptionalPackaging in scopeInclude pack formats and mandatory label content.

6. Deliverables and Practicalities

Deliverables required:
Formats and systems:
Launch or deadline:
Budget range:
Spend already committed:

7. Rights and Materials

Font licences held:
Image and illustration licences:
What the client expects to own:

Ownership of the finished design is dealt with in the services agreement, not in this questionnaire, and any assignment of copyright has to be in writing and signed. Nothing here transfers any rights.

8. Approvals

Signs off:
Revision rounds included:
Others who must see the work:

Anything else we should know:

Completed for the client by

Date:

Questions that produce decisions

Clients answer "what feeling should the brand have?" with words that mean nothing to a design decision. The useful questions are comparative and exclusionary: which three brands in any industry do you admire and why; which competitor must you not be mistaken for; what has been tried and rejected; what must appear on the packaging by law; where will the logo be smallest.

This questionnaire is organised to end in decisions — business and audience, positioning and competitors, visual direction and constraints, deliverables and practicalities, and approvals. The approvals section matters more than it looks: a project with three unnamed decision-makers is a project with unlimited revisions.

Rights in the inputs, and in the outputs

Two rights questions belong in intake. Inputs first: does the client hold the rights to the photographs, fonts, illustrations and existing marks they are handing over? Font licences routinely distinguish desktop, web, app and logo use, and stock image licences often exclude use inside a mark. Asking for the licence terms is cheaper than finding out after launch.

Then outputs. Under the Copyright Act 1968 the author of a design is generally the first owner, and where the designer is a contractor rather than an employee the client does not acquire copyright by paying for it — an assignment has no effect unless it is in writing signed by the assignor. There is a distinctive Australian wrinkle nearby: copyright in a photograph commissioned for a private or domestic purpose, which the Act includes a wedding party within, generally belongs to the person who commissioned it. So ownership questions in Australia are not answered by a single rule of thumb, and the questionnaire asks what the client expects rather than assuming.

Check the name — and remember a business name is not a trade mark

If naming is in scope, a clearance question belongs in intake. A name that collides with an existing registration in the same classes is a name the client will eventually abandon, usually after signage and packaging.

The specifically Australian trap is the business name register. Registering a business name with ASIC does not give you ownership of that name or any right to use it as a brand, and it does not stop someone with a registered trade mark from objecting. The questionnaire asks about both registers, plus domains, handles and the markets the name has to work in. It is a prompt to get a proper clearance search — the questionnaire is not one.

Scope, budget and application constraints

Intake is the cheapest moment to discover that the client expects a full brand system, a website and packaging for the price of a logo. The practicalities section asks for the deliverable list, the launch date driving it, the budget range and what has already been committed — print runs, signage, vehicle livery — because committed spend changes what a designer can safely recommend.

Identities fail in application, not in presentation. Asking early where the mark will be smallest, whether it must work embroidered or engraved, and whether contrast standards apply to the client's digital products saves an entire redesign. For regulated categories the questionnaire asks what mandatory label content has to fit, so packaging is designed around it.

What each section covers

Business basics: Trading and registered name, ABN, what the business sells, stage and markets.
Audience: Who buys, who influences the purchase, and who the brand is deliberately not for.
Positioning: The one-sentence promise, the reason to believe it, and words to own and avoid.
Competitors and references: Who they compete with, who they admire, and who they must not resemble.
Visual direction and constraints: Existing assets, colours, tone, and the smallest and roughest applications.
Naming and clearance: Optional. Whether a name is in scope, what searching has been done, and which markets matter.
Rebrand specifics: Optional. Equity to preserve, stock and signage in use, and how the change is communicated.
Deliverables and practicalities: Deliverable list, launch date, budget range, committed spend and formats needed.
Rights and materials: Licences held in supplied assets, and what the client expects to own and when.
Approvals: Who decides, how many revision rounds are included and how sign-off is recorded.

Practical and legal points for Australian brand projects

Check the client's licences for supplied material
Font licences commonly separate desktop, web, app and logo use, and stock image licences often exclude use within a trade mark. Ask for the licence terms rather than assuming the client checked.
Put the transfer of design ownership in the contract, in writing
An assignment of copyright has no effect unless it is in writing signed by or on behalf of the assignor. If the client is to own the identity, the services contract needs that assignment — usually on final payment.
Copyright Act 1968, s.196
Know the commissioned-photograph rule
Copyright in a photograph commissioned for a private or domestic purpose generally belongs to the person who commissioned it, so ownership of imagery is not settled by a single rule of thumb.
Copyright Act 1968, s.35
Search the trade mark register before committing to a name
A clearance search across the relevant classes and markets is cheaper than rebranding after launch. Check each market the name has to work in, not just Australia.
IP Australia — trade mark search
Do not treat a business name registration as ownership
Registering a business name with ASIC does not give ownership of the name or a right to use it as a brand, and does not prevent a trade mark owner from objecting. Both registers need checking.
ASIC — business names
Ask about mandatory label content early
Regulated categories carry compulsory label information and it has to fit. Surface the requirement at intake so packaging is designed around it.
Agree contrast expectations for digital work
If the identity will be used in a website or app subject to accessibility standards, the palette has to work at the required contrast. Decide it at intake.

How to use this questionnaire

Send it before the kick-off call. Let the client answer in writing first so the call is spent on the interesting disagreements.
Turn on the sections you need. Switch on naming, rebrand, packaging or accessibility depending on the project.
Insist on the comparative answers. The competitor, admired-brand and must-not-resemble questions drive design decisions. Chase them if blank.
Resolve rights and clearance. Check the client's licences in supplied assets and flag any unsearched name before design starts.
Confirm approvals. Get the named approver, the rounds included and the sign-off method agreed in writing.
Attach it to the contract. Download the DOCX or PDF and attach the completed questionnaire to your services agreement as the agreed brief.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a branding questionnaire be?

Long enough to reach decisions and short enough to be finished. Around forty questions, grouped so a client can answer a section at a time, is the practical range. This version uses optional sections so a logo-only project is not asked packaging and naming questions.

Who owns the logo when the project is finished?

In Australia the designer generally owns copyright as author unless they are an employee, and a transfer to the client has no effect unless it is in writing signed by the assignor. Paying the invoice does not transfer it by itself. The questionnaire asks what the client expects so the services contract can contain the right assignment, usually taking effect on final payment.

Does registering a business name protect the brand?

No. Registering a business name with ASIC does not give you ownership of the name or any right to use it as a brand, and it does not stop a registered trade mark owner from objecting. The registers are separate and both need checking, which is why the questionnaire asks about both.

Does this questionnaire replace a design contract?

No. It is the brief, not the agreement. It captures what the client wants and what constrains it; the services contract covers fees, stages, ownership, revisions, termination and liability. Attach the completed questionnaire to the contract so both documents describe the same project.

What should I do if the client's chosen name looks risky?

Say so in writing and ask them to get a clearance search before you build the identity around it. You are not giving a legal opinion; you are flagging that a collision in the same classes can force a rebrand after signage and packaging are printed. Record the recommendation so the decision is documented.

Can I use this for a rebrand?

Yes — turn on the rebrand section. It adds what a rebrand needs and a new brand does not: what equity in the current identity must be preserved, what customers currently recognise, what stock and signage exist, and whether the change is announced or eased in.

What about fonts?

Ask for the licence every time. Font licences routinely distinguish desktop use from web, app and logo use, and a licence covering the client's studio may not cover embedding in their product or using a glyph inside a mark. Five minutes at intake, expensive after launch.

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Disclaimer

This questionnaire and guide are general information about Australian practice, not legal, trade mark or accessibility advice, and nobody has reviewed your project. A clearance search and a written services agreement are separate steps this document only prompts.