The mark left. They still want rules marketing can paste.
In 2026 the thread is still “can you write the brand book,” “we need do’s and don’ts for the intern,” or “drop clear space, lockups, and color on dark into Notion before you disappear.” Nobody asked you to teach ops how to run a shipped product. Nobody asked for the native .fig. Nobody asked for comps before a hire. The logo, the site, or the deck already left. They want a living do/don’t book so the next designer does not stretch the wordmark. Price those pages off the hourly floor you already built on the hub (income target, billable weeks, tax slice you picked live there). This card will not copy that slice and will not look up sales tax by state. $540 is just 6 times 90 with a dollar sign. Switch currency on the hub if you invoice elsewhere. Floor still a guess? Open how to set a freelance rate first.
Brand-guidelines extra = hours you type × hourly floor. Clock the work from the first lockup page to the Notion they can paste. Type 6 for a typical book. Type 12 when there are more lockups. Type 3 for a tight three-slide do/don’t. You pick the hours. This card will not waive the book because “identity includes guidelines,” will not mint 20% of the logo fee, and will not invent a per-page mill so a 24-page PDF looks official.
Worked USD: 6h × $90 = $540
Preset: 6 writing hours. Floor $90. Brand-book extra: 6 × $90 = $540.
That $540 is the living do/don’t book. It sits on top of a mark, a site, or a deck they already bought. It is not a product README. It is not the layered .fig. It is not a pre-hire visual pack. Put the dollars in writing before you open the brand file. Do not wait for “guidelines were in the identity fee.” This page never tucked a do/don’t book inside that fee.
Second preset: 12 hours, same $90. Extra: 12 × $90 = $1,080. The 12 is yours. A thicker book — extra lockups, more misuse, a dark-mode sheet, social crops — is still hours × floor, still billed because the mark already left, still not 20% of identity, still not a per-page mill.
Third preset: 3 hours at $90. Extra: 3 × $90 = $270. A tight do/don’t — three slides, one lockup sheet — is still a book they asked for after the logo. Short does not mean complimentary, and it is not a per-page ticket.
Four other cards that are not this book
A written SOP so the next person can run a product that already shipped — README, wiki, annotated stills — lives on the documentation card. Worked example there: 6h × $90 = $540. Stills become extra hours you type, not a per-page ticket, not 20% of the project. That clock teaches ops. This clock tells marketing how not to wreck the mark. A runbook is not a brand book. A brand book is not an SOP. Want both? Writing hours for the product there, writing hours for the identity here.
Handing them the native Figma, PSD, or After Effects project after they already paid for a PDF, MP4, or live site is a different SKU. Package time × floor on the source-files card (worked 2h × $90 = $180). A zip of layers is not a do/don’t book. A do/don’t book is not the working files. Want both? Handoff hours there, brand-book hours here. Do not treat “send the .fig, they can reverse-engineer the rules” as a brand book.
A named, tagged pack they can pull from later is not a do/don’t book. Hours to name, tag, and package × floor on the asset-library card (worked 5h × $90 = $450). Not 25% of the project, not a per-asset mill. Writing clear-space rules does not keyword the icon set. Tagging an icon set does not write the rules. Want both? Library hours there, brand-book hours here.
A visual pack they keep even if they never hire you — comps, refs, color lanes before a quote exists — lives on the moodboard card. Worked 3h × $90 = $270. Not a $0 pitch, not free if they later sign, not 10% of a future project. That clock starts before anyone is hired. This clock starts after the mark already left. Exploration comps are not a living brand book. A brand book is not a pitch board. Want both? Assembly hours there, brand-book hours here.
A press PDF with bleeds, crop marks, and a CMYK pack after a quote that was screen lives on the print-ready card. Worked 3h × $90 = $270. Not 20% of the project, not a per-page mill. The shop bill they forwarded still lives on expense-markup. Drawing bleeds does not write do/don’t rules. Writing do/don’t rules does not plate ink. Want both? Press hours there, brand-book hours here.
A dated pack of posts after the same mark already left — captions with dates they can paste into a scheduler — lives on the content-calendar card. Worked 8h × $90 = $720. Not $50 a post. Not 20% of the brand. Rules for how not to wreck the mark are not twelve captions that use the mark. Want both? Brand-book hours here, dated-pack hours there.
You type the hours. This page will not invent 20% of identity
Identity blogs love a tidy slice: 20% of the logo fee for guidelines, $40 a page, “everyone bundles the book.” None of that is a rule this card runs. Logo vs site vs deck only names which mark already left. Dollars here are hours you type × floor. This page will not mint a 20% identity buyout, and it will not mint a per-page mill.
If they ask for “the usual guidelines percent,” say there isn’t one on this card. Show the $540 six-hour example, type 12, or type 3. You pick the hours. No lecture. If they will not confirm the extra, the brand book stays unwritten. The mark they already bought still stands.
Paste the line before you open the brand file
Say the hours. Say the floor. Say $540, or the product on screen. Say it sits on top of a mark, a site, or a deck they already bought. Paste the sentence from this card so the email dollars are the same dollars the calculator just printed.
- 6h × $90. Brand-book extra: 6 hours × $90.00/hr = $540.00. Living do/don’t book after the logo / site / deck already left — hours × floor, not 20% of identity, not a per-page mill, and not tucked inside the identity fee they already paid. Please confirm $540.00 before I open the brand file.
- 12h full book. Brand-book extra: 12 hours × $90.00/hr = $1,080.00. Living do/don’t book after the logo / site / deck already left — hours × floor, not 20% of identity, not a per-page mill, and not tucked inside the identity fee they already paid. Please confirm $1,080.00 before I open the brand file.
- 3h tight do/don’t. Brand-book extra: 3 hours × $90.00/hr = $270.00. Living do/don’t book after the logo / site / deck already left — hours × floor, not 20% of identity, not a per-page mill, and not tucked inside the identity fee they already paid. Please confirm $270.00 before I open the brand file.
Leave out guilt and “everyone knows guidelines are 20% of identity.” That speech turns a brand book into a fight. This page has no official identity percent and no per-page mill. No confirmed fee, no brand file opened. A product SOP belongs on documentation. Native files belong on source-files. A named, tagged pack they can pull from later belongs on asset-library. A pre-hire visual pack belongs on moodboard. A press PDF belongs on print-ready. If $90 is stale, rebuild the floor on the hub first, then come back to this book.
Planning math, not a brand-guidelines policy
Educational arithmetic — not legal, tax, or collections advice. Nothing here prices a brand book as 20% of identity, nothing prices a do/don’t page as a mill, and nothing files 50-state tax. Use the agreement you already have. If you need a clause that survives a dispute, a lawyer where you work writes it before the first lockup page is opened. Typing into this card is not that clause.
You enter writing hours and the hourly floor. You get the extra and one sentence to paste. Dollar signs here are USD; currency labels and any tax buffer stay on the hub.
Rate calculator SOP for the product, not the mark Native zip, not the brand book Named pack they pull from later, not the brand book Pre-hire pack, not the brand book Dated pack of posts, not the brand book Set the hourly floor
Weeks you can actually bill shifted? Fix the floor on the hub, then price the book. This card is the living do/don’t they asked for after the mark already left — hours × floor, not 20% of identity, not a per-page mill. Product SOP an inheritor reads: documentation. Layered files after a bought delivery: source-files. Named, tagged pack they can pull from later: asset-library. Visual pack they keep if production never happens: moodboard. Floor still a placeholder? Start on how to set a freelance rate.
FAQ
How do I charge for a freelance brand book after the logo already shipped?
Brand-guidelines extra is hours you type × your hourly floor. The quote already paid for the mark, the site, or the deck. A living do/don’t book — clear space, lockups, color on dark, type pairing, misuse slides — is a second product. Planning numbers, not a brand-identity contract.
Are freelance brand guidelines 20% of the identity fee, or billed per page?
Not on this card. No official identity percent, no required 20% of a shipped mark, and no per-page mill. Six hours at $90 is $540 because those are the numbers you typed. This page will not mint a brand-book percent of the logo fee.
Is a living brand book the same as a written runbook, native source files, a reusable asset library, a pre-hire moodboard, or a press PDF?
No. Documentation is a written SOP so the next person can run a product that already shipped. Source-files is the native Figma / PSD zip after they already bought the PDF, MP4, or site. Asset-library is a named, tagged pack they can pull from later — hours to name, tag, and package × floor, 5h × $90 = $450, not 25% of the project, not a per-asset mill. Moodboard is a visual pack they keep even if they never hire you. Print-ready is a press PDF with bleeds, crop marks, and CMYK after a screen quote. This card is a living do/don’t book after the mark already left.
What if they only wanted the logo, the site, or the deck they already paid for?
Do not open the brand book. Type 0 hours. Extra is $0. The mark they already bought still stands. The do/don’t pages stay unwritten until they confirm hours × floor.
Is this brand-guidelines math a contract, an identity statute, or a 50-state tax engine?
No. $540 is 6 × $90 labeled as money. Pick a currency and a tax buffer on the hub. Nothing here files 50-state tax, and filling the fields does not write a brand-guidelines clause.