Question 1

Should we do the brand work before or alongside a website project?

Accepted Answer

Brand first is ideal because the website builds directly on it - identity, guidelines, tone all carry straight into the design and copy. In practice, most clients don't have the luxury of doing them sequentially - there's a funding round coming, a market entry to prepare for, or the current website is already costing them opportunities. Running them together works well as long as the key brand decisions are made early enough to shape the website. If you're not sure which route fits, we can talk you through it based on your timeline and what you're working toward.

Question 2

Should I hire a freelance designer or work with an agency like Adopter?

Accepted Answer

A good specialist freelancer can do excellent work - and if you have one, you may not need to change anything. The risk is that a freelancer is one person. If they're ill, overbooked, or move on, you lose both capacity and all the context they've built about your brand. You're also reliant on one person's range - they might be strong on pitch decks but not whitepapers, or social graphics but not conference materials. The right agency gives you the same personal attention and responsiveness as a good freelancer, with the breadth and continuity a single person can't offer.

Question 3

How much can our team do independently after the project?

Accepted Answer

We provide all editable source files, templates, and brand guidelines so your team can build on them going forward. Most clients use these to handle routine work like social graphics, one-pagers, and slide decks independently. For one-off pieces like investor decks, whitepapers, or conference materials, templates only get you so far - each one needs to be shaped for a specific audience and purpose, so it's usually quicker and more effective to have us produce them while your team focuses on everything else. As your company grows, what you need from us usually changes too - less day-to-day production, more high-value projects.

Question 4

How does ongoing design support work and what does it cost?

Accepted Answer

For clients on a LinkedIn or marketing engagement, design is included in the monthly fee - social graphics, templates, and routine updates are covered without separate costs. Bigger projects like whitepapers, conference packs, or investor decks are quoted separately whether or not you're on a retainer. If you need regular design support on its own, we can set up a standalone monthly retainer, or you can come to us for one-off projects as they come up. Costs range depending on the project details like scope and timeline - we offer design support at different levels of complexity to match the budgets and requirements of both scaling companies and larger organisations.

Question 5

What if we don't have any brand guidelines yet?

Accepted Answer

We'll create them as part of the project. It's common - a logo exists, maybe some colours, but nothing documented or consistent enough for a team to use independently. We build guidelines around where your company is commercially and who you need to look credible to. What you get is scaled to your stage - an early-stage company typically needs a clean, simple set of rules their small team can follow, while a larger business with multiple departments, partners, and external agencies needs something more comprehensive. If you do have existing guidelines but they're outdated or incomplete, we work with what's there and extend them instead of starting over.

Question 6

What if I need something designed urgently?

Accepted Answer

We've done it before - pitch decks for live funding rounds, conference materials with a week's notice, one-pagers ahead of a meeting that just got confirmed. For existing clients, turnaround on something like a pitch deck is typically under a week, and social graphics or one-pagers within a couple of days. For new clients, we'll tell you upfront what's feasible in the time you have. If something's time-sensitive, tell us early - even a few days' notice makes a difference.

Question 7

How much of our team's time does a brand project take?

Accepted Answer

Most clients spend 5-8 hours total - a discovery session upfront, then two rounds of feedback. Larger projects typically take 10-15 hours spread over 4-8 weeks. The bulk of your time is at the start, helping us understand your business, your audience, and how the brand needs to function. After that, each review round is ready for your feedback and most take under an hour.

Question 8

Can you help structure a pitch deck or do you just design it?

Accepted Answer

Both. If the narrative and flow are solid but the deck doesn't look professional or consistent, we'll redesign it. If the structure needs work too - burying the commercial case, leading with the wrong information for the audience - we'll rework both. We've structured and designed decks that have helped raise tens of millions of pounds, as well as presentations for policy audiences and enterprise sales. Whatever you're preparing for, we've probably done it before.

Question 9

How much does a brand project cost?

Accepted Answer

Brand development starts from around £5,000 for a simple or early-stage visual identity and can reach £20,000+ for a complex brand identity system with guidelines, templates, and application across sales and marketing materials. An early-stage company refreshing its brand ahead of an initial funding round is a different project from an established one repositioning across multiple audiences and sectors, and the price reflects the difference in scope. Pitch decks and whitepapers on their own typically fall between £1,500 and £5,000+ for design, depending on complexity - if you also need support with structure, copywriting, or data visualisation, that further adds to the cost. We scope and price every project individually before work begins.

Question 10

Do I need a full rebrand or can we start smaller?

Accepted Answer

You can almost always start smaller. If your sales team needs a deck that works for enterprise buyers, or your marketing team is producing LinkedIn posts and campaign materials that don't look like they come from the same company - the fix is usually a specific deliverable, not a full rebrand. One-pagers for target companies, branded templates your team can use without waiting on a designer, a refreshed visual system that holds together across sales and marketing. If the problem is bigger than materials - you've repositioned but your brand still tells the old story, or you're being compared against established competitors and your brand doesn't match the calibre of what you're selling - that's when a full brand project makes sense. Whether you start with a single deliverable or a full rebrand, we scope every project individually so you know exactly what you're getting and what it costs before we begin.

Design & brand for deep tech and climate adaptation companies

The problem

What you get

Brand development

Pitch decks and investor materials

Reports and whitepapers

Social media graphics and templates

Conference and event materials

Sales and campaign assets

How it works

Brand and project work

Ongoing design support

Why specialist knowledge matters

Let's talk about your design needs

Frequently asked questions

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