Dragging Real Answers Out of Clients Before You Design a Bloody Thing

Most clients don’t actually know what they mean when they say “rebrand.” They’ll throw around vague words like “modern” or “fresh” and expect you to translate that into a fully-formed identity. If you just nod along, you’ll waste weeks producing fifty shades of nothing until everyone’s frustrated.

The truth is: your first job as a designer isn’t to design. It’s to interrogate. To dig beneath the fluff until you’ve got something real to work with. Here’s how you do it.

1. Don’t Accept Vague Nonsense

If they say “modern,” ask “modern compared to what?” Their current brand? Their competitors? A specific era? Keep drilling until you’ve got a clear reference point. Otherwise you’re designing in a vacuum.

2. Focus on the Audience

A rebrand isn’t for the CEO’s ego; it’s for the people they want to reach. Ask: “Who needs to notice this change? What do you want them to think or feel?” If they don’t know, you’ve found the real challenge.

3. Talk About Enemies

Clients often know what they hate more than what they love. Ask them to show you brands they can’t stand. Their dislikes give you hard boundaries that are just as valuable as inspiration.

4. Make Them Choose

Every client wants to be “approachable but premium, bold but safe, fun but serious.” That’s nonsense. Push them to prioritise: trustworthy or daring? Polished or scrappy? If they won’t choose, you’ll end up designing beige.

5. Speak in Plain Language

Skip the design jargon. Instead of “geometric vs organic,” try: “Do you want to feel more like Apple or IKEA? More champagne or pint of lager?” Metaphors land better than technical terms.

6. Lock It in Writing

Play back what you’ve heard in their own words: “So, you want to look more established without losing your community feel — is that right?” Then get it written down. When they change their mind later, you’ll have the receipts.

When They Chicken Out Midway

Sometimes clients lose their nerve halfway through a rebrand. Suddenly the cost, logistics, or effort feel overwhelming, but they still want a shiny new website. Fine. Don’t fight it, reframe it.

Call it an evolution, not a rebrand. Use the website as the testbed: refresh colors, clean up typography, refine hierarchy. Keep it modular so future changes can slot in. And document the decision: “We are refreshing the current brand for web, not executing a full rebrand.” When they later ask why their packaging doesn’t match, you’ll have your answer.

The Bottom Line

Designing without clarity is decorating. Your real job is to drag the truth out of clients, cut through the vague nonsense, and anchor the project in specifics. Do that and you won’t just produce better work — you’ll earn their trust as the professional who actually knows how to steer a rebrand.