What branding agencies should collect before project close
What to collect and confirm before a branding project is treated as safely handed over.
Branding projects are especially vulnerable to tidy-looking handover. The PDFs look final. The exports look polished. The client has the visible outputs. But the real operational question is whether the editable source and supporting assets are actually in safe hands.
What can look complete too early
Branding work often looks signed off before the source material, asset rights, and editable working record are actually secure.
The brand guidelines were delivered, so the team assumes the editable source is already safe.
Exports look polished, so nobody checks where the working files still live.
The client approved the identity, so font rights and usage records are assumed to be straightforward.
Project record
Brand refresh rollout
Control gap
Identity source files still external
Exports were delivered, but the editable source still lives in a freelancer-owned workspace.
Needs checking
Font licences and usage notes supplied
The documents exist, but the team has not yet confirmed what is actually covered.
That is the trap in branding handover: the outputs look finished, so everyone assumes the record underneath is equally complete. Often it is not.
Worth checking before sign-off
These are usually the first gaps that stay hidden when branding work looks finished but the editable source is still not properly secured.
Editable logo, identity, and layout source files
Font licensing and usage records
Final approved brand guidelines
Asset libraries, imagery, and packaging artwork
Any supplier-owned workspace or storage location that still holds the live source
Pressure test
If the client asked for a new rollout asset tomorrow, could your team update the real source without going back to the outgoing supplier?
Branding handover is not complete because a beautiful PDF exists. It is complete when the agency controls the source, understands the usage conditions, and can keep the identity moving safely.
In practice, that means treating the editable brand record as the handover target, not just the polished outputs the client already saw.
How Custody helps
Custody helps agencies turn handover into a visible record of what is missing, what is still externally held, and what has actually been verified.