Branding Questionnaire Template (UK)
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 this improves on has strong demand and a strange problem: the page never shows the questions. Its body copy explains which builder widgets the form uses, its own PDF link is broken, and the whole description was pasted into the page's meta description at nearly a thousand characters. This version publishes the full question set, and adds the two things almost every UK intake form leaves 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 falls in love with 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 company name:
- Company number:
- 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:
Digital accessibility or contrast requirements constraining the palette:
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 transfer 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, not adjectives
Clients answer "what feeling should the brand have?" with words that mean nothing to a design decision. The questions that help 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 last section matters more than it looks: a project with three unnamed decision-makers is a project with unlimited revisions.
Rights in what the client supplies, and in what you produce
Two rights questions belong in intake. First, inputs: does the client hold the rights to the photographs, fonts, illustrations and existing marks they are handing over? Font licences frequently distinguish desktop, web, app and logo use, and stock image licences often exclude use as part of a mark. Asking for the licence terms is cheaper than discovering the problem after launch.
Second, outputs. Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 the author of a design is its first owner, and where the designer is a freelancer rather than an employee the client does not acquire copyright by paying for it — an assignment must be in writing and signed. So the questionnaire asks what the client expects to own and when, and points both parties at the contract that has to say it. That single question removes the most common late-stage dispute in brand projects.
Check the name — and remember a company name is not a trade mark
If the project includes naming, 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.
There is a specifically British trap worth naming here: registering a company at Companies House does not give trade mark rights, and it does not mean the name is free to use. The two registers are separate, and the questionnaire asks about both, along with domains, handles and the markets the name has to work in. This is a prompt to get a proper clearance search — the questionnaire is not one and does not pretend to be.
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 rather than adjusted afterwards.
What each section covers
- Business basics
- Trading and registered name, company number, 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 the words to own and avoid.
- Competitors and references
- Who they compete with, who they admire in any industry, and who they must not resemble.
- Visual direction and constraints
- Existing assets, colours to keep or avoid, 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 and domains matter.
- Rebrand specifics
- Optional. Equity to preserve, stock and signage in use, and whether the change is announced or eased in.
- 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 in the output and when.
- Approvals
- Who decides, how many revision rounds are included and how sign-off is recorded.
Practical and legal points for UK 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
The author is the first owner of copyright, and where the designer is not an employee an assignment must be in writing and signed to transfer it. If the client is to own the identity, the services contract needs that assignment — usually on final payment.
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, s.90Search 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 the position for each market the name has to work in, not just the UK.
UK IPO trade mark searchDo not treat a company registration as a trade mark right
Registering a company name at Companies House is a separate process from trade mark registration and confers no right to use the name as a brand. Both registers need checking.
Companies HouseAsk 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 must work at the required contrast. Deciding this at intake avoids retro-fitting an inaccessible palette.
Name one approver
One named decision-maker and a fixed number of revision rounds is the most effective protection against scope creep on brand projects.
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 rather than on data capture.
- 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 they come back blank.
- Resolve rights and clearance. Check the client's licences in supplied assets and flag any name that has not been searched, 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 the UK the designer owns copyright as author unless they are an employee, and a transfer to the client must be in writing and signed. 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 the company name protect the brand?
No. Companies House registration and trade mark registration are separate. A company can be incorporated under a name that infringes someone else's registered mark, and incorporation gives no right to use the name as a brand. Check both registers, 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 in the questionnaire so the decision is documented.
Can I use this for a rebrand rather than a new brand?
Yes — turn on the rebrand section. It adds the questions 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 already 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 that covers the client's studio may not cover embedding in their product or using a glyph inside a mark. It is a five-minute question at intake and an expensive one after launch.
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Disclaimer
This questionnaire and guide are general information about UK 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 you to take.
