Free Branding Design Questionnaire Template – Editable & Ready To Use

Today I’ve got a little something for you— a free branding design questionnaire template. It’s an interactive PDF that your clients can easily fill in, and check off multiple-choice answers, and you will get the details you need to create the perfect branding design for them. Since it’s a PDF, you can also open it up in Illustrator, replace some questions if you want, or add any follow-up questions that might pop up during your process. I’ll also walk you through why it’s good to ask each question and what kind of info to be looking for.

Free Branding Design Questionnaire Template

Here’s the free template. It has 28 questions separated into 6 categories, some of them with multiple-choice answers. The template is interactive so clients don’t need to print it to answer the questions. 

What Questions Should You Ask?

Here I’ll refer to the questions from the template and why you should ask them, however, you can also use this to add your own follow-up questions in their respective categories.

1. Company Overview Questions

As usual, you’ll start with questions about the company, its services, and the target audience so you’ll know what vibe you need to match.

– What is your company’s mission and core values?

📌 Why ask: This may sound like the typical corporate buzzwords, but here you can learn a lot about the brand you’re trying to design. For example, if your client mentions sustainability as most important to them, you can immediately think of eco-friendly colors and materials in the design. If the company mentions “innovation: or “cutting-edge”, this will call for futuristic aesthetics, while a family-oriented brand could benefit from warm, inviting visuals.

– What products or services do you offer?

📌 Why ask:  Next, let’s think of how the design will align with your client’s industry because obviously, a tech startup will need a different brand look than a handmade jewelry brand.

– Who is your target audience or ideal customer?

📌 Why ask:  Your client aside, it is the target audience you need to win with the brand designs, and this info will guide your design choices the most. A brand aimed at young creatives will look completely different from one targeting corporate executives. If your client is focusing on parents, you might choose soft, playful colors, while a brand aimed at teenagers will call for more vivid colors, more attitude, and rebellious aesthetics.

– What challenges does your brand currently face?

📌 Why ask:  If your client’s brand struggles with recognition or customer trust, the design can help address these issues. For example, a brand that needs to stand out in a crowded market might benefit from more risky attention-grabbing visuals, while a brand with trust issues might need a more professional, authoritative design.

 

2. Target Audience & Messaging

This part will give you the details that expand on the Brand Identity questions. You know the ideal customer and what feelings your client wants their brand to evoke but for you to know how to do that, there are a couple of follow-up questions you need to ask.

– Who are your primary customers?

📌 Why ask: This will give you a super specific persona: Gen Z who is into fashion and mostly shops online.

– What problems does your brand solve for them?

📌 Why ask: When you understand the problem the brand solves, you can create a design that instantly connects with its audience. For example, if the brand sells ergonomic office chairs to reduce back pain, the design should also feel comfortable and supportive—soft colors, clean fonts, and relaxed imagery. But if it’s a high-tech gaming chair, you’d go for bold colors, sharp lines, and a more dynamic look.

– What key message do you want your audience to take away from your brand?

📌 Why ask: It’s very helpful to ask your client this particular question because a key message like “affordable luxury” or “cutting-edge technology” should be easily reflected in the design.

– What tone of voice should your brand have?

📌 Why ask: The voice sets the foundation for visuals. A witty brand may have quirky typography and illustrations, while an authoritative one will need a clean and structured design.

– What kind of experience do you want customers to have when interacting with your brand?

📌 Why ask: These are just some possible directions but feel free to add your own.

 

3. Brand Identity Questions

The first four questions only cover the basics, but next you can start expanding and get more specific guides for your design process. I will recommend giving your client multiple-choice questions, because open questions may often lead to more vague answers and important info getting left out.

– What three words best describe your brand’s personality?

📌 Why ask:  The words your client chooses will give you specific guides for the entire design approach. A playful brand usually means bright colors and fun typography; a sophisticated brand favors minimalism and neutral tones and a financial institution going for “trustworthy and professional,” will require a clean, structured design with blues and grays.

– How should your brand make people feel?

📌 Why ask: Back to the target audience, any brand inevitably makes people feel something specific. If you’re designing an energetic brand, you will use bold shapes and vibrant tones to summon that energy. And the opposite: a soft color palette and organic shapes for a wellness company to feel relaxed and at ease.

 

4. Visual Identity

– Do you have an existing brand style guide?

📌 Why ask: Sometimes, you may not even need to design from scratch If a brand guide already exists. If this isn’t a matter of completely rebranding, this guide will give you the specific colors and typography.

– Are there any colors, fonts, or visual elements you want to use or avoid?

📌 Why ask: Some clients have strong preferences. They may insist on earth tones and luxury fonts and want you to avoid neon colors or playful fonts like the plague. So, ask them.

– Do you have an existing logo, or do you need a new one?

📌 Why ask: If the brand already has a logo the client likes, your design should complement it and stay consistent. If no logo exists, refer to the following questions.

– What type of logo do you prefer? (Options: Text only, Text & Graphic, Graphic only)

📌 Why ask: Certain industries may prefer one logo style over another. A text-based logo (wordmark) may be good for a brand like Coca-Cola, where the name is iconic, but a graphic-only logo would be better for a startup looking for an abstract or geometric representation. The combination of text and graphics is even more versatile and goes well for almost every industry.

– Should the logo include any specific symbols or imagery?

📌 Why ask: This one is obvious. A fitness brand may want action-based, and a coffee brand may request symbols like a cup or beans, etc.

– Which styles resonate with your brand?

• Minimalist
• Bold
• Retro
• Abstract
• Hand-drawn
• Other (please specify)

📌 Why ask: This question is for the creative direction for the logo design. Understand which styles resonate with your client and go wild.

Alright, this was for the logo. Next, the visual identity needs colors and typography. Here are some questions you can ask:

– Which colors do you want to be associated with your brand? (Please list specific colors or provide hex codes if available)

– Are there any colors to avoid?

– What font styles do you prefer?

• Modern
• Traditional
• Playful
• Elegant
• Other (please specify)

– Which visual style do you prefer?

• Photography
• Illustrations
• Abstract visuals
• Other (please specify)

– Are there any specific themes or aesthetics you’d like to incorporate?

The last question will help you further understand the visual direction. If the client wants a vintage-inspired brand you will know to try out retro patterns or distressed textures.

 

5. Questions About the Competition

Since branding design is a huge part of the entire marketing, here you need to learn who the competitors are, what their weaknesses and strengths are, and use that to your design’s advantage.

– Who are your main competitors?

📌 Why to ask: … And more importantly in your case, what is their branding design. Let’s say they all use different tints of blue because it’s common for the industry. Here you may decide to be brave and go for a unique color that has nothing to do with blue, but still conform to the industry requirements at least a little bit. Same for logos- if most competing brands have similar minimalist logos, you can go for a bold, distinctive mark.

– What makes your brand stand out from competitors?

📌 Why to ask: Learn what makes your client’s business different. This will help you shape a brand identity that reinforces these strengths. Here’s a uniform example: a sustainable clothing brand will always put an emphasis on the fact it uses eco-friendly materials in both its messaging and visuals.

– Are there brands outside your industry that inspire you?

📌 Why to ask: Inspiration can come from anywhere and it will help you create something new. Let’s say your client has a business in the healthcare industry but at the same time really admires the simplicity and clarity of an Apple product campaign. You can always try to apply some of Apple’s approach to your branding design if it’s appropriate.

 

6. Marketing & Communication

And last, learn how your client will use the branding in terms of marketing channels and if there are any accessibility requirements you need to consider.

– Where will your brand be used? (Select all that apply)

📌 Why to ask:  You need to know where the brand will show up so the design works everywhere it needs to. A brand that lives on social media should have bolder visuals that stand out in a feed, while one with physical packaging needs a design that looks just as good in someone’s hands as it does online.

– Are there any messaging styles you’d like to try?

📌 Why to ask:  The way a brand communicates can affect your design decisions a lot. If storytelling is a big part of the brand, you will probably include the appropriate guiding elements; or If the brand prefers puns, memes, and a playful communication style, you will go wild with the imagery.

– Are there any design constraints or accessibility considerations?

📌 Why to ask:  If the brand needs to be accessible—like using high-contrast colors for better readability or making sure the website works for people with disabilities—it’s always better to plan for that from the start.

 

And there you have it – everything you need in a branding design questionnaire or the means to make your own. Feel free to tweak it as you go to make it work for you and your process. The more info you gather, the stronger your design will be.