At most branding agencies the senior people win the work and a wider team does most of it. A creative director runs the pitch and presents the final route, while mid-weight and junior designers do the bulk of the hours in between, with an account manager carrying feedback back and forth. That model can produce great work, but it means the people you met on the first call may spend a small share of their week on your project.

Founders ask us about price and timeline on almost every first call. They almost never ask who will be in the files, and it's the question that explains most of what goes wrong.

Why are agencies built this way?

Because the economics work, and a senior designer bills at several times the rate of a junior, so an agency makes its margin by putting one senior over a team of three to five and selling the senior's judgement across several clients at once. The more layers there are, the more of your fee goes on coordination rather than design.

It isn't a scam, and plenty of brilliant junior designers do the best work in the building. The problem is when the proposal implies one thing and the project delivers another, and you only find out at the kickoff.

What are the signs you won't get the people you met?

Watch for these before you sign.

Any one of these is normal at a large agency. All of them together means you're paying for the senior names on the pitch and getting a different team.

What should you ask before you sign?

Six questions, in writing.

  1. Who is on the project, by name, and what share of their week does it get?
  2. Who presents the work at each review?
  3. Who will be in our Slack day to day?
  4. What happens if one of the named people leaves or gets moved to another account?
  5. Can we speak to a past client about who actually did the work?
  6. Can the named team go in the contract?

A good agency will answer all six without hesitating. If the answers get vague around question one, you have your answer.

How does it work at Proof of Work Studio?

David Henshaw and I run every engagement ourselves, from the first call to handover. There's no account manager between you and the work, and we never run more than two engagements at once, which is what keeps that true. For motion, illustration, video and copy we bring in senior specialists we work with regularly, and you'll know who they are before they start.

We use AI for research, first drafts and moodboards, which is a big part of why a Brand Sprint fits in two weeks. Every final decision and every file you receive is made and reviewed by a person who has done this dozens of times.

That model has a limit, and we're honest about it. Two founders can only hold so many projects, so if you need a team of fifteen working across ten markets at once, a larger agency is the right choice. For a funded startup that needs a finished brand fast and wants to talk to the people doing it, it's the reason the format works.

Agency team FAQ

Is it bad if junior designers work on our brand?

No, junior designers do a lot of excellent work. What matters is that you know who is doing what, that a senior person is making the strategic calls, and that you can talk to the people doing the work rather than through a relay.

How many people should work on a startup brand?

For a funded startup's first proper brand, two to four people is plenty, a strategist, one or two designers and someone on copy. More people usually means more coordination rather than better work, unless the scope covers several products or markets.

Should the people who pitch also do the work?

Ideally, yes, or at least you should know exactly how much they will. Ask for named people with a share of their time, and get it in the contract if it matters to you.