"How much for a logo?" is the wrong opening question, and the answer you get to it tells you very little. A logo is one file. A brand is the system that makes a business recognisable on a shopfront, a WhatsApp profile picture, an invoice and a 16-pixel favicon — four places where most identities quietly fall apart.
This is a guide to judging the agency rather than the drawing. Prices sit at the end, because they are the easiest part to compare and the least useful.
What a complete identity contains
| Deliverable | Why it exists |
|---|---|
| Logo system | Horizontal, stacked, icon-only and one-colour versions — real life needs all four |
| Colour system | Primary, secondary and the rule for which goes where, so nobody improvises |
| Type system | Arabic and Latin carrying the same personality, not two unrelated choices |
| Core applications | The three or four surfaces you touch weekly: templates, signage, packaging, invoice |
| Guideline | A document a new designer can follow without phoning you |
If a proposal lists only the first row, you are buying a drawing. That can be the right purchase for a side project — just know which one you are making.
How to read a portfolio
Agencies present their work at its best angle, so look past the presentation. Three habits separate a useful review from an impressed one.
- Look for the boring surfaces. A gradient hero shot proves nothing. A price list, a delivery bag, a clinic sign at night — those prove the system works.
- Look for the one-colour version. Stamps, embroidery, receipts and engraving are all single colour. An identity that only exists in full colour will be improvised by somebody later.
- Look for the same brand twice. Two applications of one identity side by side tell you whether rules exist. Twenty different logos tell you only that the agency can draw.
The Arabic question decides everything
In this market most identities are designed in Latin and have Arabic bolted on at the end. That is why the Arabic version so often looks thinner, lower and slightly wrong next to the English. Arabic has its own proportions, its own baseline behaviour and its own rhythm; a system that was not designed with it from the start will never sit comfortably.
The practical test in a pitch: ask to see the Arabic lockup first, not the English one. The order of the answer tells you the order of the work.
Rebrand, refresh, or neither
A refresh keeps the equity and fixes the execution: the mark is tidied, the palette modernised, the templates rebuilt. It suits a business customers still recognise and whose offering has not changed.
A rebrand replaces the identity and is justified when something real has changed — a different buyer, a different price position, a merger, or expansion into a market where the name does not travel. Moving from Egypt into the Gulf is one of the few genuine cases, because pronunciation and meaning change with the audience.
Neither is justified by boredom. You see your own brand a hundred times a day and your customer sees it twice a month. Fatigue is not a business case, and a rebrand run to escape a reputation problem usually just moves the problem.
The handover checklist
- Editable source files, not only flattened exports.
- Every export you will use: vector for print and signage, transparent raster for digital, a square crop for profile pictures.
- Fonts licensed in your name, or a documented free alternative. Inheriting an identity built on a font you cannot legally use is a common and expensive surprise.
- The written guideline, so the next designer or employee keeps it consistent without you in the room.
Settle all four in the contract before the work starts, not in the last week. The same logic applies to ad accounts and websites — we covered it in who owns your accounts when you leave an agency.
Timeline, and what actually delays it
| Stage | Typical time | What decides the speed |
|---|---|---|
| Brief and direction | 3–5 days | How clear you are on audience and price position |
| Concepts | 1–2 weeks | How many directions are explored |
| Refinement | 1 week | How fast and how consolidated your feedback is |
| Applications and guideline | 1–2 weeks | How many surfaces need designing |
Three to six weeks is normal, and almost every overrun is caused by approvals rather than design. Name one approver before the project starts: a design that survives a committee is usually the one nobody objected to, not the one that works.
What it costs, and what moves the price
Our published range is 7,000–16,000 EGP for a full identity. What pushes a project upward is the number of applications, not the number of logo rounds — a clinic needing signage, a price list, a WhatsApp template and uniforms is more work than a consultancy needing a deck and a letterhead, even when the mark is identical. The full cost breakdown is in how much branding costs in Egypt.
One honest limit: an identity makes a good offer easier to believe. It does not create demand for a product nobody wants, and it will not lower your cost per lead on its own. Get one offer selling, build the identity that makes it look worth the price, then put media behind both.
Identity systems we have delivered are on the branding page, the service scope is on the branding service, and if you want a straight answer on whether you need a rebrand or a refresh, send us what you have now — that one is usually clear in a single conversation.
Quick answers.
01What should a branding agency in Egypt actually deliver?
A logo system with its variations, a colour and type system with usage rules, the three or four applications you use weekly, and a written guideline. A single logo file is not an identity.
02How do I judge a branding portfolio?
Ignore the hero shots and look for complete systems applied in real life — signage, packaging, an invoice, a profile picture. An agency that only shows logos on gradients sells logos, not identities.
03Why does Arabic typography matter so much?
Most identities in this market are designed in Latin first and have Arabic added at the end, which is why the Arabic version always looks weaker. Arabic has different proportions and rhythm; it has to be designed alongside the Latin, not after it.
04What does branding cost in Egypt?
Our published range for a full identity is 7,000–16,000 EGP. The position inside that range is set by how many applications need designing, not by how many logo options you are shown.
05What do I need to own when the project ends?
Editable source files, exports in every format you will use, fonts licensed in your name or a documented free alternative, and the written guideline. If the agency keeps the source files, you rented an identity rather than buying one.
