What is a fair amount of revisions in a creative contract?
Revisions are a hot topic in branding.
Some creative teams are one or nothing, some are deeply feedback-dependent for any creative choice.
And I get where both approaches come from.
A one-or-nothing approach, done well, means survival of the strongest alternatives, and that brief connection is pursued and achieved by the creative director (expert) instead of the client (non-expert). That’s part of the value and the expertise you’re paying for after all.
Done badly, however, it’s an early red flag that the creative team doesn’t care about your point of view and that you’re in for a templated approach for your unique brand.
Unlimited feedback is born out of a desire to create as-you-wish conditions for the client. But oftentimes, because you can change it doesn’t mean you should. If you ask any human being if their life could be better - few would answer no. The same, very human, mentality is applied to a logo flying the flag for the business.
At the start of Mused, we occasionally loosened boundaries to close sales or to be flexible (tricky word), but this often led to results that felt less confident, cohesive and realised for the client.
Once we set clear boundaries, the quality of our outcomes improved. We capped revisions with a custom number per round and minimised the options we sent.
With a defined structure, we were able to focus on creating excellent deliverables rather than wasting time providing endless options for clients to “pick” from.
Clients feel happier with the process/outcomes AND we get through rounds faster.
So, what is a fair amount of revisions in a creative contract? My POV:
- No Revision Rounds: Run for the hills
- 1-3 Revision Rounds: Good. If it’s closer to 1, worth asking what the process behind the scenes is before we get to the deliverable. If it feels like not enough work to achieve results, it probably is.
- Unlimited: Run for the hills, at double speed.
Agree? Let me, Oliver, or Oli, know in the comments or a strongly worded email (hello@mused.design).
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The Free Branding Movement is a fund sponsored by Mused that selects one brand, based on the merit of its core mission and founding team, for a full visual identity, free of charge. You can find registration details here.
