Short answer: a professional brand identity in Australia costs between $2,500 and $50,000 depending on the studio and the scope. Independent studios typically sit between $2,500 and $15,000. Mid-sized agencies start around $15,000 and run to $50,000 or more. Freelancers on marketplace platforms will quote $200 to $1,000, and the reason is worth understanding before you decide.
What you get at each price point
Under $1,000 buys you a logo, usually drawn from templates or generated, with no research behind it and no system around it. It works if you need a mark on a truck this week and nothing else. It doesn't work if you're building something you'll still be running in five years, because there's nothing underneath it to extend from.
Between $2,500 and $4,000 gets you a logo suite, a defined colour palette and typography, and a short guidelines document. This is the entry point for a real studio. At Griffin Studio our Brand Starter sits at $2,500 and covers exactly this. It suits small businesses and pre-launch startups that need a coherent brand but don't yet need a strategy behind it.
Between $5,000 and $8,000 buys a full visual identity. A complete system rather than a logo, applied across the places you'll actually use it, with proper guidelines. Our Visual Identity package is $5,500 and runs six weeks. This is the right level if you already know what you stand for and need it to look like something.
Between $9,000 and $15,000 buys strategy and identity together, which is what most studios mean by a full brand. Positioning, audience, tone of voice and messaging, then the visual system built on top. Ours is $9,800 across eight weeks. This is where you go if the words matter as much as the visuals, which is true of most hospitality, wellness and product brands.
Above $15,000 you're into agency territory, with larger teams, naming, campaign work and multi-market rollout. Worth it for businesses with the scale to use it. Overkill for a founder launching one venue.
Why prices vary so much
Three things drive the number, and none of them is talent.
Scope is the main one. A cafe needs a logo, signage, menus and a social kit. A supplement brand needs all that plus label artwork for every product across two markets, which can be forty individual files. Same design skill, very different amount of work.
Strategy is the second. Studios that research and position before designing spend two to three weeks on work you never see as a visual. It's the most valuable part of the process and it's the first thing cut from a cheap quote.
Overhead is the third. An agency with account managers, a studio lease and a new business team carries costs that get passed on. A small studio doesn't. That's the actual difference between a $9,000 identity and a $35,000 one more often than the quality of the thinking.
What to ask before you commit
Ask whether the quote is fixed or an estimate. Ask how many revision rounds are included and what happens after them. Ask what files you receive and whether you own them outright. Ask whether guidelines are included, because they're what stops the brand drifting the moment someone else touches it. And ask who does the work, since plenty of agencies sell you a founder and hand you a junior.
Is it worth it
For a business under a year old with no revenue, a $2,500 starter is the sensible call. Spend the difference on trading and come back for the full identity when you know what the business actually is. For an established business turning over well, an underbuilt brand costs you more in lost margin and mismatched customers than the design fee ever will.
Griffin Studio is a brand identity and strategy studio between Wollongong and Sydney, working with hospitality, food and drink, fashion and wellness brands across Australia. Pricing above is current as of August 2026.
