Frequently asked questions

The things people want to know before working with us.

Branding, websites, marketing, costs, timelines and what working with a design agency is like. Here are the straight answers.

Working with us

  • We’re a branding, website design and marketing studio based in Christchurch, working with businesses across New Zealand. We build brand strategy and identity, design websites, and run campaigns and ongoing marketing. Every project starts with strategy, so what we make looks good and does a great job for the business.

  • Established businesses that have outgrown how they look. Owners who know their numbers, value expertise, make decisions and see brand, web and marketing as an investment.

    Our best clients bring us a problem or an opportunity and give us room to work out the best answer. If you’re after the cheapest quote, or a designer to brief one small job at a time, there are plenty of good people who work that way. We’re built differently.

  • Georgia leads the strategy and creative direction on every project, with an exceptional team of designers, content and project leads doing the work. You’ll know everyone by name, and the people in your workshop are the people making your brand.

  • Usually, pretty quickly. We can generally book a Power Session within 10 days of you getting in touch. Bigger brand, website or marketing projects typically kick off within four to six weeks, depending on the brief and our schedule.

    Got something urgent? Talk to us. Tight deadlines are something we’re very good at, and with a great client and quick decisions we can make nearly anything happen. We do love an organised client though. Give us a deadline, a decisive team and a bit of warning, and we’ll be very happy gals.

Pricing and Investment

  • Most of our projects sit between $10,000 and $50,000 + GST. Brand starts from $10,000, websites from $8,000, and our brand, website and launch package, The Full Send, sits in between. Creative Sprints and Ongoing marketing starts from $3,000 + GST.

  • Deposit to book your spot, then staged payments at key milestones. You’ll know exactly what you’re paying and when before anything starts.

  • Yes. The Power Session is $980 + GST, and if you go ahead with a George Design project within 4 weeks of your Power Session, the full amount comes off it.

Branding

  • A branding agency works out how your business should be positioned, understood and recognised, then designs the identity that makes it happen.

    That can include strategy, positioning, messaging, naming, logos, colour, typography, guidelines and rolling the brand out across your website, signage, packaging and marketing.

    At George Design, it always starts with strategy.

  • A logo is one piece. A brand identity is the whole visual system: logo suite, colours, typography, graphic elements, photography direction and the rules for how it all works together.

    A strong identity means people recognise you even when your logo isn’t in the room.

  • Usually when the business you’ve built has outgrown the brand you started with.

    Common signs: you’re compared on price when you should be the obvious pick, you’re attracting the wrong customers, your team describes you six different ways, or your website, signage and sales deck look like they’ve never met.

    Sometimes the answer is a full rebrand. Sometimes it’s a refresh. We’ll tell you which.

  • Brand strategy and identity projects start from $10,000 + GST. That covers the strategy, the identity and your brand guidelines. Bigger projects, with naming, multiple brands or a full rollout, are scoped separately. Most of our brand work sits between $10,000 and $30,000. We’ll recommend the right scope in the first conversation.

  • We can, but we’d be doing you a disservice. A logo without strategy is decoration. If budget’s tight, start with a Power Session and we’ll tell you where your money will work hardest.

Website

  • Our websites start from $8,000 + GST for a custom-designed service-business site, with strategy, copy and SEO foundations built in.

    Ecommerce, bookings, memberships, large amounts of content or third-party integrations add to the scope.

    We’ll spell out exactly what’s included before we start.

  • Most websites take 4 to 6 weeks from kick-off to launch, depending on the number of pages and how quickly content and feedback come together.

  • We design and build on Squarespace and Shopify, and work on WordPress and Webflow through our developer partners.

    Squarespace suits most service businesses. Shopify is our go-to for ecommerce.

    We’ll recommend the platform your business needs, rather than squeezing you into our favourite software.

  • Yes. We design and build Shopify stores, including strategy, UX, product and collection structure, email integrations, SEO foundations and launch support. We can also redesign an existing store without rebuilding it from scratch.

  • Yes, regularly. It’s ideal for service businesses that want a strong, easy-to-manage site. We handle the strategy, sitemap, copy, custom design, build, SEO foundations and launch.

  • Yes. Sometimes the bones are good and it needs better structure, copy or design. Sometimes it needs a new platform. We’ll look at what you have before recommending a rebuild.

  • Yes, and we recommend it. We write around your positioning, your customers’ questions and the search terms that matter, so the words and the design are developed together. They should behave like they’ve met before.

  • Every website includes SEO foundations: page structure, headings, metadata, internal linking and redirects. If you want to grow organic traffic more aggressively, we can scope keyword research, content and ongoing SEO.

Marketing

  • Yes. Our ongoing marketing service is called a Creative Subscription, starting from $3,800 + GST per month.

    You get ongoing access to our team across strategy, campaigns, content, social, email, website updates, design and Meta advertising. We plan with you, decide where to focus, review performance and work towards agreed KPIs. Every month starts with a strategy meeting.

  • Our Creative Subscriptions start from $3,800 + GST per month, with the level of investment based on the amount and type of support your business needs.

    We work on a minimum six-month commitment, and often recommend 12 months. Good marketing needs enough time to plan, test, learn and improve rather than starting from scratch every few weeks.

    We'll recommend a subscription based on your goals, internal resources and the areas where our team can have the greatest impact.

  • Every subscription is shaped around the business. It can include marketing strategy, campaign planning, content creation, social media, email marketing, design, website updates and Meta ads.

    We use Rella to plan and schedule social content, so you can review and approve everything before it goes live. The aim is to put the time where it’s most useful each month, rather than filling a quota.

  • Yes, but only inside a Creative Subscription. Ads work best when we can shape the whole picture: the campaign idea, creative, offer, landing pages and email. That way we can act on what the data’s telling us, instead of fiddling with an ad account in isolation.

  • Yes. Social strategy, content ideas, creation, planning and scheduling can all be part of a Creative Subscription. We plan social around your priorities, campaigns and KPIs, so every post has a reason to exist.

  • A freelancer makes what you brief. A Creative Subscription gives you a team that looks at performance, brings ideas, plans campaigns and tells you when something isn’t working. If you already have someone in-house, we work alongside them as an extension of the team.

Creative Consultancy

  • A focused hour with Georgia to plan a campaign, pressure-test an idea, work out what kind of project you need or get unstuck.

    You’ll leave with a written summary, a priority hit-list and next steps within three working days, plus a recommendation and a price if there’s a project in it. $980 + GST, credited against any George Design project.

  • Georgia in your corner for six months: two 45-minute sessions a month, voice-note and message access between sessions, and three George Design implementation days. Built for business owners who want a senior strategic thinker on call while they grow. $12,000 + GST.

  • Yes, and most people do. Book a Power Session first and we’ll work out together whether ongoing consultancy makes sense.