"How much does branding cost?" is the first question we get and the one agencies answer most evasively. Here is the straight answer: the price ranges, what they consist of and where the overpayments hide.
Three price tiers on the Kazakhstan market
| Who does it | Logo | Logo + identity + brand book | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelancer / marketplace | 30,000 – 150,000 ₸ | 150,000 – 400,000 ₸ | One person, one point of view, no strategy. Often a reworked template. |
| Small studio | 200,000 – 500,000 ₸ | 500,000 – 1,200,000 ₸ | 2–3 concepts, a basic guide. Market research is rare. |
| Branding agency | from 500,000 ₸ | 780,000 – 3,000,000 ₸ (average project about 1.9M ₸) | Competitor analysis, strategy, 3 concepts, full brand book, author supervision. Timeline — about a month. |
At BrainTeam a logo and brand book cost from 780,000 to 3,000,000 ₸ depending on the number of carriers; an average project comes to about 1.9M ₸ and takes about a month. Turnkey branding (naming, identity, packaging, website, presentation) starts from 2,200,000 ₸. Below we explain what makes up this amount and why, spread over the years a brand works, it turns out to be modest.
What makes up the price
1. Research (10–15% of budget)
Analysis of competitors on the shelf and in search results, interviews with the owner, audience breakdown. Without it the logo turns out "pretty" but does not set you apart from the neighbours. Freelancers skip this stage — hence the price.
2. Concepts (30–40%)
An agency presents three fundamentally different directions with reasoning: why this shape, this colour, this typography. Each concept is working hours of an art director and designer, not "a few variants thrown together".
3. Refinement and system (25–30%)
The chosen concept becomes a system: logo versions, clear space, colour profiles for print and screen, typography, patterns. This is what later saves you money on every single carrier.
4. Brand book and carriers (15–20%)
A document that lets any contractor — printer, SMM manager, sign maker — get it right without you.
5. Author supervision
Checking the first print runs and layouts. Usually included at agencies; with freelancers it is a separate arrangement, if at all.
Where people overpay
- Naming "as a gift". A name invented in a day without a Kazpatent check is not a gift but a risk. A trademark availability check is mandatory, otherwise you rebrand a year later.
- An 80-page brand book. Volume is not value. A good guide is 25–40 pages that people actually read.
- Paying for "revisions beyond three". Clarify upfront: in a BrainTeam contract revisions on the chosen concept are limited by stage, not by number.
- Separate contractors for logo, packaging and website. Three briefs, three styles, three mismatches. A turnkey package costs less than the sum and gives a coherent image.
How to tell the price is fair
Ask the agency for three things: a case in your niche, a list of stages with the deliverable of each, and a contract with liability for deadlines. If even one is missing, you are paying for hope.
Timelines
Logo — 2–3 weeks, logo with brand book — about a month (we deliver a brand book in 30 days), turnkey branding — from 2 months. If someone promises a logo in 3 days, it is a pick from ready-made blanks.
In short
- A fair agency price for a logo with brand book in Almaty is 780,000 – 3,000,000 ₸; most projects land at 1.5–2M ₸. That already covers research, 3 concepts, all carriers and author supervision — no extra payments later.
- You pay not for a picture but for research, a system and supervision — that is what protects the investment.
- Comprehensive branding is cheaper than assembling a brand from parts made by different contractors.
