Strategy · Identity · Guidelines

Branding Services in Vancouver: a branding agency built on how customers choose your business

Setsail Marketing is a digital marketing agency in Vancouver, BC, offering expert branding services, strategic brand design, brand identity, and ongoing marketing design support. We start with the person on the other end of your sale: how they search, compare and decide. Our branding services cover everything from strategy and brand identity to logo design and corporate rebrands – so you can move upmarket, attract better clients, and grow with confidence.

“The point of hiring an external partner is that you have to be able to do it better than we can do it ourselves. I always feel like that’s the case with Setsail.”
Dorthy ChengCleanDesign
Pages from the City of Coquitlam graphic standards Setsail producedCity of Coquitlam · brand standards

10 Years in Business$100M+ revenue generated500+ clients

  • B Corp Certified
  • Google Partner
  • Meta Business Partners
  • OpenAI
    Channel Partner
  • Anthropic
    Claude Partner
  • Shopify Partners
  • Clutch, rated 4.9 out of 5

Here’s the short version → Setsail is a Vancouver branding agency that turns strategy into a complete identity system, from positioning and logo concepts to guidelines and launch collateral.

For:
Rebrands · new brands · mergers · growing organizations · trades & construction · ecommerce · pro services · health · public sector
What we do:
Brand strategy · positioning · logo + identity · guidelines · collateral
Pricing:
From $6,500 · fixed project pricing
How we work:
Discovery → strategy → concepts → system → collateral → guidelines
Where:
Vancouver, BC · Canada + US
Proof:
DŌST Bikes · City of Coquitlam · City of Santa Cruz · Owens Valley CDC

One strategy. A brand that works everywhere.

A signed strategy guides the work.

  1. 01Discovery & strategy

    A Creative Director–led workshop and competitive research shape positioning, messaging and voice. Signed before design.

    Workshop, research and positioning feeding a written strategy, marked approved
  2. 02Concepts or refresh

    Distinct concepts for a new identity, or a refresh of your existing mark. Every direction traces back to the strategy.

    Three logo concepts side by side, the third marked selected
  3. 03Tested visual system

    Colour, type, imagery and graphic elements. Checked against our 29-point acceptance standard.

    The same mark at 16 pixels, reversed on dark green, and in one-colour print
  4. In parallelScoped collateral

    Social templates, stationery and other agreed pieces. Built once the visual system exists.

    A business card, a letterhead and a social post in the new identity
  5. 04Brand guidelines

    The capstone: logo, colour, type, voice and application rules.

    A guidelines page showing logo clear space, the colour palette, typography and voice
  6. 05Complete handoff

    Final files, editable source assets, guidelines and documented usage rights. Everything handed over and documented.

    The mark in SVG, PNG, PDF and EPS, with final and source files and usage rights, yours to keep
  • Fixed scope and price
  • Approval at each phase
  • Complete file ownership

Deliverables and depth depend on your plan. Extras quoted first.

Vancouver branding services: a branding agency with digital marketing solutions. Brand story and brand identity for Vancouver businesses ready to lead.

A logo can’t do that alone. Strategy decides what you stand for, the mark and visual system carry it, and the guidelines and collateral keep it consistent on your website, your trucks and your business cards. Here’s the build, in the order it has to happen for any of it to stick.

Rows of sketched logo ideas on sticky notes laid out across a workshop table

Local Brand Consultant Building Brand Strategy

Brand strategy. Research before a single concept is drawn. Strategic brand consulting to clarify your message, define your market position, and drive real growth.

A Creative-Director-led workshop with your decision-makers in the room, because a workshop run without the owner produces a brand nobody actually signs off on. Positioning, audience, voice and the commercial reasons behind them, written up and agreed before anyone draws anything. It’s the difference between a brand and a decoration, and it’s the one hard gate in the whole process: nothing visual starts until you’ve signed the strategy.

Pin badges and a poster from a Canadian identity in navy, red and pale blue

Logo concepts with a rationale, not a lottery

Every concept traces back to the strategy you approved, presented with the reasoning attached, so you’re never asked to pick a favourite from mystery options. This isn’t a logo run through a generator: 2026’s AI tools are trained on everyone else’s marks, which is exactly why so many new logos now look like everyone else’s. Yours is drawn by senior designers, tested at real sizes, from a 16px favicon to a knockout background, before you ever see it.

The City of Santa Cruz visual identity guidelines open on the colour usage page

Corporate Branding & Brand Management

Guidelines your whole team can actually use. Corporate branding and ongoing brand management for consistent, high-impact brand experiences that create customer loyalty.

Colour, type, spacing, voice and usage rules in a guidelines document scaled to your tier. Skip this step and the identity drifts within a year, different people applying it slightly differently until nothing matches. Ours is the single biggest line item in the build for a reason: it’s the document that keeps the brand looking like itself after we’re gone.

Steepe & Co stationery Setsail designed: business cards in red and white and a dark presentation folder

Collateral scoped to your budget, not a template kit

Social templates, stationery, presentation decks and anything else your business actually touches, applied in the new system once it exists. We deliberately don’t default to a full kit: your budget decides the scope, and anything extra is quoted separately before it’s built.

Not in Vancouver? Neither are SentimenTrader, Santa Cruz or Owens Valley.

Rebrand and design work ships the same way wherever you are: strategy first, then design, whether your office is three blocks from ours or across the continent.

View plans and pricing ↓

DŌST Bikes. A brand behind $20M in sales over four years.

“Meet the DŌST Crate”: a blue cargo e-bike on a plinth under the DŌST wordmarkA red DŌST van wrap reading “The longest range ebike”

We built the brand, storefront and marketing infrastructure for this DTC e-bike business from nothing, in a category full of cheap imports. It went on to generate $20M in sales over the four-year engagement. Named, contactable reference on file.

See it live →

City of Coquitlam. Won in 2023. Trusted and repeat-awarded since.

Pages from the City of Coquitlam graphic standards: colours, logo do’s and don’tsCoquitlam strategic plan spreads and a city pattern in blue and lime

Multi-year brand and design system, won via competitive RFP in 2023 and repeat-awarded since. “We have only experienced high quality work from Setsail,” wrote Julia Clissold, Visual Communications Supervisor, in a reference she gave to another city.

See it live →

City of Santa Cruz. Two departments. One distinctive city identity.

A Santa Cruz stationery flat-lay in blue on teal: notebook, letterhead, envelopes, business cards, lanyard and a tabletThree Santa Cruz tote bags carried through a grass field, in blue, white and teal

A brand system built for two city departments at once: Economic Development and HR, spanning the “Choose Santa Cruz” investment site, recruitment collateral and signage. Won through a full US municipal procurement cycle, active since Jan 2024. Named, contactable reference on file.

See it live →

Owens Valley CDC. 85% more community engagement.

75% higher brand recognition · 65% more programme participation

Owens Valley CDC stationery and a white t-shirt carrying the new badgeOwens Valley CDC letterhead, envelope, t-shirt and a mustard hoodie

A culturally-grounded brand strategy and identity for this Indigenous-serving nonprofit: community engagement up 85%, brand recognition up 75%, and programme participation up 65% after the new brand launched.

Coldwater Communications. A full rebrand. A partnership that lasts years.

Coldwater Communications web pages: the team and “Crafting narratives that drive change”Coldwater Communications home and portfolio pages, featuring “Public relations, done differently”

A full rebrand, original logo included, for this PR and communications agency, a multi-year client. “You’re able to turn things around to a high-quality standard, but also really quickly,” says founder Theodora Jean. No invented metrics here on purpose: some of the strongest proof we have is a client who’ll say that on camera.

CleanDesign. Two cleantech brands united in one identity.

A CleanDesign charging station in navy and orange beside a carA CleanDesign energy container wrapped in the navy and orange identity

Post-merger brand consolidation: two established cleantech brands combined into one after a leadership change. “We try to incorporate that now in all of our presentations, including investor materials,” says Dorthy Cheng, on a brand that’s visibly in daily use, not just delivered and forgotten.

See it live →

Picture your name doing the selling before you even walk in

A strategy-first, guidelines-backed rebrand is how you get there. What’s below, the research discipline and the businesses who’ll take your call, is proof the plan holds up, not just a promise that it will.

A Setsail designer smiling at his screen in the studio

The research: a strategy everyone can sign off on.

Rebrands fail on pricing opacity: uncapped revision rounds, scope that drifts, a bill that grows in the dark. So we take the drift away before it can start: the discovery workshop runs with your decision-makers in the room, not delegated down, because a brand strategy nobody in the room can approve is a brand nobody signs off on later. The strategy you sign defines every revision conversation that follows, and the price you saw is the price.

A Santa Cruz Festival wall in the city’s blue identity, a passer-by in front of it

The partnership: clients who speak for us.

We built the brand, storefront and marketing infrastructure for DŌST Bikes, a DTC business that went on to generate $20M in sales. The City of Coquitlam put it plainly: “We have only experienced high quality work from Setsail.” Brand work rarely comes with a clean number attached, so we’d rather show you the work and let our clients’ words speak for it.

From signed to launched

From start to “have you seen their new look?”: your rebrand, step by step

Rebrands go wrong in the gaps between what you meant and what got launched. This route closes them, from the first workshop to the day the files land in your hands.

A designer thinking over his screen, in black and white
  1. Week 1 · Discovery — where every project starts

    We learn what makes you the obvious choice

    A Creative-Director-led workshop with your decision-makers: pain points, audience, competitive landscape, goals. Written up, argued for, and signed by you before a single concept exists.

  2. Concepts

    Every concept argues its case. You just pick the winner.

    Logo concepts presented with the strategy you signed open on the table, each one traced back to a line in it.

  3. The system

    It holds up everywhere before you ever see it

    Palette, typography, applications and system elements, each one held to a published 29-point acceptance standard. Not “logo delivered,” but tested at 16px, tested reversed, tested at print size.

  4. Collateral · runs in parallel

    What you’ll use, nothing you won’t

    Social templates, stationery and anything else in scope, built once the visual system exists. Extras get quoted separately before they’re built, and you decide.

  5. Guidelines · the capstone

    So it still looks right when we’re not in the room

    The last step, on purpose: guidelines are what keep everyone who touches your brand applying it the same way. If a timeline gets tight, we compress the collateral window, not this.

  6. Handoff

    You take ownership of everything

    Final files, source files, guidelines and usage rights, delivered and documented. No hostage assets, ever.

How the work actually happens
— the full walkthrough video

Watch your brand come together, without chasing anyone for an update

Concepts and applications land in your portal as they’re ready, so there’s no long silence and no big reveal you have to gamble on. A quick message when something’s on your mind, a call when you want one. However you like to work, we’ll match it.

A layout preview of the Setsail client portal: work and approvals for concepts, approvals, guidelines and final files

01

Kickoff: your starting point

Access and assets collected up front, and an honest read of what your brand looks like today, so the strategy work starts from where you actually are.

02

Every phase: no surprises

Concepts, system, collateral: each phase is agreed before the next begins, so you always know what you’re getting before it’s built.

03

Work in progress: visible

Concepts and system pieces show up as they’re ready, not batched into one big reveal at the end. You watch the brand come together.

04

Handoff: documented

Final files, source files, and usage rights delivered with a written record of what shipped, so the handoff is something you can actually find again in a year.

One person can’t be great at all of this. So you get a specialist for each part.

Strategy, design, writing, and someone whose whole job is keeping it moving, with a Creative Director signing off on every phase along the way. Here’s exactly who does what on your project.

Marco Pregonero

Marco Pregonero

Design Lead

Leads the engagement and owns every gate: discovery workshop, strategy sign-off, concept presentation, final handover.

Alex Semybratskyi

Alex Semybratskyi

Account Manager

Your main contact. Handles intake, keeps the timeline honest, and always knows where things stand.

Carson Meyer

Carson Meyer

Head of Strategy

Runs discovery, writes the positioning and messaging framework, and owns the strategy document you sign.

Tom Richards

Tom Richards

COO

The brand’s voice and tone, written down so it’s usable by whoever writes your next email or ad.

A Creative Director leads every engagement and owns every gate: the discovery workshop, the strategy sign-off, the concept presentation, and your final handover. Nothing skips their review on the way to you.

The crew in black and white around a cinema camera on a shoot

In their words · Reviews

For 10 years, we’ve refined Brand Management.They say it better than we can

City of Coquitlam

“We have only experienced high quality work from Setsail. Their responsiveness is outstanding, with a deep understanding of the dynamic challenges of working with local governments.”

Julia Clissold

Visual Communications Supervisor, City of Coquitlam

CleanDesign

“The point of hiring an external partner is that you have to be able to do it better than we can do it ourselves. I always feel like that’s the case with Setsail.”

Dorthy Cheng

CleanDesign

  • Coldwater CommunicationsTheodora JeanFounder & CEO“You guys will just do it… I never hear no.”
  • TQ ConstructionHenri BelislePresident“They’re professional, personable and are delivering results…”
  • CharloLia PsomiadisFounder“You made yourselves part of Charlo.”
  • CleanDesignDorthy ChengExecutive Assistant“…better than we can do it ourselves.”

10 years in business · $100M+ revenue generated · 500+ clients · B Corp certified · Google Partner

Trusted by governments and 500+ businesses

10 years · $100M+ revenue generated · 500+ clients

Brand Strategy & Creation Services. Plans built for exactly how much brand this business needs right now

Every tier includes a written strategy sign-off before design starts, work checked against our acceptance standard before you see it, and every final file and source asset, yours outright.

Project pricing, fixed before work begins. Pick the depth your situation calls for.

Starter

From $6,500

For the new business that needs a credible face, fast.

What’s included?

  • Discovery session, so the mark has a reason before a pixel gets drawn
  • 3 logo concepts, refined to one, so you choose with a rationale instead of a coin flip
  • Core visual system + 8-page guidelines, so day-one collateral matches on sight

Refresh

From $9,500

For the brand that’s right underneath and dated on top.

What’s included?

  • Brand strategy, written and signed, so revisions run against a plan instead of taste
  • Your existing mark cleaned up and modernized, not replaced, so you keep the recognition you’ve already earned
  • Social templates + stationery, so your team has what it needs on day one
  • 18–20 page guidelines, so the system holds together as more people touch it
Most popular

Identity

From $12,000

For the business whose brand no longer matches its ambition.

What’s included?

  • Brand strategy, written and signed, so every design decision traces back to something you approved
  • 4 new logo concepts, built from zero, so the mark matches the business you’ve actually become
  • Social templates + stationery, so the new brand ships everywhere at once
  • 20–25 page guidelines, so nothing gets applied wrong by the next person who touches it

System

From $18,000

For organizations where many hands touch the brand.

What’s included?

  • Everything in Identity, so the full strategy-to-guidelines process still applies
  • Presentation template + motion logo, so the brand moves as well as it sits still
  • 30+ page guidelines with 10+ application mockups, so a large team has an answer for almost anything
  • Extended palette with accessibility contrast pairs, full voice and tone, so the brand holds up from a screen reader to a board room

Collateral, priced per piece: sales one-pager $900 · 6-page sales sheet $5,400 · motion logo $1,000.

Every project starts the same way: a Growth Strategy call. 30 minutes, and you’ll know which tier your situation actually needs, including when the honest answer is the cheaper one.

Book a Growth Strategy call

Bring your goals and challenges. We’ll bring the data.

The full scope

Brand identity is a hundred small jobs. Here’s every one we do.

  • Discovery & strategy

    • A Creative-Director-led discovery workshop with your decision-makers in the room, so the brand reflects the business’s actual direction, not a guess
    • A competitive audit of who else is fighting for your customer’s attention, so your mark doesn’t accidentally land next to theirs
    • A written positioning statement and messaging framework, so your team has language to work from, not just a feeling
    • Brand personality and voice defined and documented, so the brand sounds consistent before it ever looks consistent
    • Your strategy sign-off before any visual work starts, so revisions run against the plan you approved, not against taste
    • A written project timeline delivered with your fixed quote, so you know the schedule before anything begins
  • Concepts & logo

    • A full logo lockup set: horizontal, stacked, icon-only, mono and reversed, so the mark works everywhere it needs to appear
    • Multiple concepts presented against the approved strategy, with the reasoning shown, not just the picture
    • Every mark tested at minimum sizes, a 16px favicon, an app icon, print-small, so it never turns to mush at real-world scale
    • Every mark tested on reversed and knockout backgrounds, so it survives a dark background as easily as a white one
    • Final files exported in SVG, PNG, PDF and EPS, so whoever needs the logo next has the format they need
    • Your chosen direction refined to one final logo, so the version you sign off on is the version that ships
  • Visual system

    • A full colour palette in HEX, RGB and CMYK, so the same green prints the same everywhere it’s used
    • Typography direction for web and print, so headlines look intentional on a screen and on paper
    • Imagery and illustration direction, so photos and graphics look like they belong to the same brand
    • System elements: patterns, icons and graphic devices, so the brand has a visual language beyond the logo
    • Accessibility contrast pairs on System-tier builds, so the palette holds up for readers using assistive tech
  • Guidelines

    • A brand guidelines document scaled to your tier, from 8 to 30+ pages, so the rules travel with the brand, not just in someone’s head
    • Logo usage rules and clear space spelled out, so nobody stretches, recolours or crops the mark by accident
    • Colour and type specs documented, so the next designer who touches the brand doesn’t have to guess
    • A written voice and tone reference, so the brand sounds like itself in an email as much as on a business card
    • Application mockups showing the brand in real use, so the document is something people actually open
  • Collateral

    • Social media templates, five layouts, so your team can post on-brand without redesigning from scratch every time
    • Business card and letterhead, sized correctly for North American and international print, so nothing gets rejected at the print shop
    • A presentation template built for Keynote, PowerPoint and Google Slides, on System-tier builds, so your next pitch deck already looks the part
    • A motion, animated logo, on System-tier builds or as a standalone piece, so the brand moves the same way it sits still
    • Collateral scoped to your budget, not a fixed kit, so you only pay for the pieces that actually matter to your launch
  • Handoff

    • Every deliverable checked against a published acceptance standard before you see it, so “done” means the same thing every time
    • Final files and source files handed over, not held back, so nothing lives only on our account
    • Usage rights documented and transferred, so you’re never asking permission to use your own brand
    • A written handoff, so if you ever work with someone else, they can pick up exactly where we left off

What’s included depends on the plan you pick.

If you catch yourself nodding at one of these, book the call

  • 01

    Outgrown identity

    Your business has outgrown the logo your cousin made in 2016

  • 02

    Inconsistent marketing

    Your marketing looks different every place it shows up

  • 03

    Ready to invest

    You’re about to spend on ads or a website, and the brand underneath isn’t worth amplifying yet

  • 04

    Clear scope and price

    You’ve been quoted a rebrand with no fixed price and no end date

  • 05

    Stakeholder approval

    You want a brand a committee, a council or a board can approve, documented all the way down

  • 06

    Full ownership

    You want to own every file when it’s done

One honest note before you book: this is built for businesses ready to invest in getting the brand right, not for exploring on a whim. If all you need is a quick logo swap with no real budget behind it, this isn’t the right first step, and we’d rather say that now than two weeks in.

Book a Growth Strategy call

30 minutes, free.

We’ll tell you whether you need a refresh or a full rebrand, and which tier actually fits, including when a refresh beats a rebrand.

10 years · $100M+ revenue generated · 500+ clients

Before the call, we review your current brand and how it shows up across your marketing, so we arrive already knowing your starting point. On the call, we’ll walk you through:

  • What we found and what it means for your business
  • Where your brand is costing you elsewhere in your marketing
  • Your top priorities, and which tier actually fits

Bring your goals and challenges. We’ll bring the data.

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Hiring a branding agency? What to check first.

A Setsail team member kneeling at a desk to work on a laptop in a glass-walled office, a whiteboard of sticky notes behind him

Choosing a branding agency in Vancouver

Ask what they learn before they draw. A brand built on how your customers search, compare and decide holds up longer than one built on taste. Then check the process: a strategy you sign before design starts, a set number of refinement rounds, and every final and source file handed over with the rights. Setsail works this way on every project, with the price and timeline agreed before day one.

Book a Growth Strategy call
A bearded Setsail team member talking through an idea at his laptop, at a round table with a whiteboard behind him

Branding agency vs freelance logo designer

A freelance designer can draw a strong logo. A brand also needs positioning, a visual system, guidelines your team can follow and collateral built on it. Compare which of those each quote includes, and who tests the mark at real sizes, from a 16px favicon to print. Setsail covers strategy, identity, guidelines and handoff in-house, with a Creative Director leading every project, and will tell you when a refresh beats a rebrand.

Book a Growth Strategy call

FAQ

Questions we get asked about brand identity

Question not on the list? Bring it to the call. No question is too small.

Book a Growth Strategy call

Setsail Marketing

Vancouver, BC + Beaverton, OR

Clients across Canada and the US
500+
Revenue generated for clients
$100M+
A Setsail designer studying his monitor, chin on his hands
Do I need a full rebrand, or just a refresh?
If your mark still carries equity but looks dated, a refresh keeps the recognition and modernizes the system around it. If the brand no longer matches what the business has become, you need new concepts built from strategy. We’ll tell you which on the call, and the cheaper answer is on the table.
How long does a brand identity project take?
Two to eight weeks, depending on the package and what your brand needs. We’ll give you the timeline for your project before it starts.
What do we actually own at the end?
Everything we make for you. The logo in SVG, PNG, PDF and EPS, the full lockup set, the colour and type specs, the brand guidelines PDF and every source file. The rights are handed over with the files at the end of the project.
How do revisions work?
On Refresh, Identity and System, you sign off the strategy before any design starts, so every revision refines a direction you already agreed. After the concepts are presented, the chosen direction gets up to three rounds of refinement before the lockups are finalised.
What does a branding agency do for my business?
A branding agency helps you stand out in your market by developing your brand identity, logo, messaging, and overall visual presence. At Setsail, that starts with research into how your customers search, compare and decide, so your brand speaks to the people you sell to.
How are branding services priced in Vancouver, BC?
At Setsail, our fixed-price brand identity packages start at $6,500, one-time, and can be paired with SEO strategy or digital marketing campaigns. Refresh starts at $9,500, Identity at $12,000 and System at $18,000. Every package price is on our pricing page.
How do I choose a branding agency in Vancouver?
Ask how they learn about your customers before they design anything. A good branding agency in Vancouver should show you research into how your customers search, compare and decide, and agree the deliverables, timeline and price before day one. We do both, with a 100% in-house team.
Can Setsail Marketing help with corporate branding and rebranding?
Yes. We do corporate branding and rebranding for growing companies in Vancouver and across Canada. Our process covers brand audits, competitive analysis, and complete brand rollouts to position your business for new growth.

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