If you love design but don’t yet trust your eye, your decisions, or your ability to explain why something works…
(and you’re tired of wondering whether you’re “good enough” to charge for branding)
You want to see how design skill, client process, and business structure actually work together to build a reputation as a sought-after brand designer.
It's because, as a web designer, you’re trying to build a professional skillset in an online space that overemphasizes entrepreneurship and leaves you wishing you knew more about design.
Ultimately, you want to stop hunting for new clients, and start making more money with the ones you already have.
- You can make things look good online, but you’re unsure how to structure a branding project, lead a client through strategy, or defend your creative choices without second-guessing yourself.
- You want to offer branding alongside your website design, but aren't sure how to be seen that way.
- You don't just want to learn about the visual side of things, but also about pricing, positioning, and client conversations that still feel intimidating without a clear process to lean on.
- You’ve invested in courses, content, and mentorship, yet it still feels like you’re filling gaps instead of building on a solid foundation.
Deep down, you know there's a gap in your expertise that's costing you opportunities to grow:
I don't hold anything back. I share exactLy how I pitch, what I propose, and the process we take every client through FROM start to finish.
You don't need yet another course about freelancing and social media.
Lead client projects calmly, clearly, and professionally without second-guessing every decision
Build real design foundations so you’re not guessing, copying trends, or relying on instinct alone
Develop a repeatable brand process you can use with every client, from strategy to delivery
Charge for branding with confidence because you understand the value behind what you’re creating
Other design educators will teach you everything you need to know about pieces of the creative process while gatekeeping how they actually work with clients. They'll leave you to work out the important pieces like pricing and positioning alone as opposed to equipping & empowering you to step into your identity as a brand designer.
You need a clear, reliable framework that teaches you how THE branding PROCESS actually works.
Founder of Maranta Studio
AGA
Since starting the program, I've been able to confidently raise my prices, resulting in an additional $5,500 in revenue.
One client invested $1,500 in services beyond their website project, which, combined with my increased website pricing, generated approximately $2,500 in additional revenue. Another client invested an additional $2,000, and with my updated pricing structure, that project ultimately generated about $3,000 more in revenue.
Founder of Done by Angela
ANGELA
One of the hardest parts about being a freelance designer is not knowing if your designs/work are any good.
With this course, Kadie's support, guidance (and the others in the group) helped me feel more confident offering this service and charging appropriately for it.The support is the best part. Having Circle and being able to get feedback or ask questions is so helpful. The calls are absolutely fantastic and so incredibly supportive. I also love the templates and having those available to use with clients.
Founder of Studio Aretta
AMY
I sent over the proposal and within half and hour she agreed, signed and paid the deposit! I've been on cloud nine all day!
After yesterday's call and Kadie's advice, I decided to call my prospective client this morning and offer branding services for her current business. She booked! She initially said she was on a £500- £1000 budget, but by the end of the call, she was keen on my full branding package at £2500 ($3355 USD)!
And that’s exactly the gap The Studio Edit was built (and designed) to close.
You’re a designer who wants both real design education and real-world business application without having to piece it all together on your own.
You might think this is easy for me to do, I went to design school for this. And maybe you didn't.
If you’re ready to stop collecting information and start building real success, you’re in the right place.
without pretending you already know everything.
Without forcing yourself into faux confidence.
And without trying to reverse-engineer a design degree from the internet.
The Studio Edit is a complete blueprint and 12-month mastermind for professional brand designers. It teaches the fundamentals, the process, and the business frameworks designers need to work with confidence, attract aligned clients, and deliver brand projects without chaos or self-doubt. Instead of second-guessing your next move, you’ll know exactly how to lead the project and produce amazing results, while also receiving direct feedback and mentorship over a full year of working with clients.
WHAT IS THE...
The Studio Edit
®
Pricing, pitching, client conversations, and execution all become easier when you have a clear and simple foundation to build upon.
Inside The Studio Edit, you’ll learn how to design brands with confidence, lead clients through a clear creative process, and turn your skills into a professional service you can repeat and refine. You’ll build real design foundations, a defensible methodology, and the systems needed to support paid client work now and as you grow.
Before we even get into the curriculum you'll have access to, I want to tell you about the most impactful part of this program.
You likely have some information overload, but what you don't have is the personalization, quick insight, and immediate support of other designers and a mentor to help you put these things into practice, navigate unique situations, and help you see what makes you special as you implement this framework for yourself.
THE STUDIO EDIT IS FIRST AND FOREMOST
Guest Experts
Learn from a curated list of guest experts that will help you refine your operations and grow your business.
Drop Cap Diaries
Weekly behind-the-scenes vlogs from our agency team sharing what we're experiencing and working on in real time.
In-House Art Direction
Receive ongoing feedback on real client projects so you can ensure you're delivering quality results even as you're starting out.
Community of Designers
Join a community of like-minded, design-obsessed freelancers who will support, encourage, and inspire you on your journey of building a brand business for yourself.
Portfolio & Project Reviews
Share your work, your client presentations, your website, and your portfolio for real-time feedback and recommendations to put your best foot forward.
A Full Year of Business & Design Mentorship
This is your invitation to sit at the table with other design founders in the same season and grow into your potential, together.
Curriculum Overview
A library of trainings, lessons, and templates that you can dip in & out of to get what you need as you build your business and work with clients in real time.
As a member of The Studio Edit®, you get full lifetime access the curriculum in our two signature programs:
A step-by-step guide through our brand methodology so that you can fully understand the process and build an iconic brand for yourself along the way.
VIEW THE CURRICULUM
VIEW THE CURRICULUM
The Brand Edit
®
- Three key mindsets that every story-driven brand and successful entrepreneur adopts to see massive impact and influence online.
- Seven steps to evaluating your brand so that you can unlock what makes you unique and become a brand leader.
- Our trademarked system for creating a brand that not only breaks the visual trends, but creates a story-driven framework for you to continuously build your brand over time.
Becoming the Editor
Cultivate the Editor’s Mindset and strategically unearth your unique style, all while familiarizing yourself with the world of branding.
- The Eight Elements of Brand Story that compels the right audience to listen up.
- A 3-Step Framework for writing your heart statement (our version of a mission statement!)
- 3 reasons your brand story isn't getting clients, and how to fix them to attract the perfect clientele.
The Art of Story
Carefully analyze your brand research and develop the key components of your story, which will become the strategy for your brand moving forward
- Finding your brand specialty that allows you to effortlessly find a niche market and become their go-to expert.
- Our step-by-step process for mapping out the customer journey and using archetypes to build your brand with your customer in mind.
- How to identify and build strong marketing pillars that tell your story for you so you never feel at a loss for what to post.
The Impact of Story
Having a brand story is just part of the equation, now you need to know how to market and share it in a way that will stick in your customer's mind.
- How to create a logo without becoming a full-blow graphic designer. No, I'm serious. It's step-by-step. With templates.
- How to find your brand's unique color season and use color psychology to build a palette that perfectly suits your brand and compels your customer to buy.
- A step-by-step system for picking fonts so that your story is shared in style, every time.
The Elements of Design
Learn how to turn your curated inspiration into a unique look for your brand, no design experience required.
- Step-by-step how to plan, prepare, and art direct the perfect brand photoshoot to showcase your business in style.
- Understand when and how to add brand fonts, illustrations, icons, and more as you build out your brand's visual library.
- Our go-to framework for selecting website templates and planning out the build of your brand's digital home base.
- Email signatures, business cards, and all the little moments that give a brand a full-blown experience your clients will love.
The Elements of Identity
From brand photoshoots to website design, patterns and emails signatures, you'll build out the full visual experience of your brand with ease.
The Brand Launch
Create a launch strategy that builds the right kind of hype to ensure a wildly successful brand reveal.
- A seven step framework to launch your brand effortlessly, templates and planning guides included.
- Six strategic ideas for getting the word out about your new brand, beyond friends and family.
- Four steps to engage your audience post-launch, including a welcome funnel that converts traffic to clients right from the start.
Including These Bonuses
In this bonus, I’ll walk you through the psychology of color so that you can choose a palette that best supports your brand story. This way, your colors will work with your strategy, instead of against it.
a $557 value
Psychology of Color
BONUS NO. 2
In this bonus, you’ll learn about the key archetypal frameworks of storytelling and how to identify the one your brand most resembles. This will be key in creating content and campaigns that speak directly to your customer’s pain pints and transformation journey.
a $227 value
The Art of Archetypes
BONUS NO. 1
Don't launch your brand to an empty room. The Email List bonus walks you through creating a lead magnet and email marketing platforms so that you can start building a list for your brand from the moment you hit *publish.*
a $357 value
The Email List
BONUS NO. 3
- What Branding Really Is (and isn’t)
- The Role of Identity Work in a Client’s Business (how branding adds value)
- Understanding Creative Services Beyond Design (writers, strategists, etc.)
- Understanding how The Brand Methodology used by Drop Cap Design can be used for clients
Foundations of Identity
Shift from focusing on your own brand’s aesthetics to understanding the true impact of identity in building your own reputation and having impact with your clients—where your client’s understand the true value in identity work and branding, and you become their trusted brand strategist and styling while being compensated accordingly.
- Learn How to Run Discovery Sessions that Go Beyond Surface-Level Questions
- Facilitating Conversations Around Art, Style, and Creative Direction
- Getting Client Buy-in Along the Way & Handling Negative Feedback
- Making the Process Tangible: scripts, examples, and client-friendly ROI language to keep you confidently in the driver’s seat the entire time
- Discover the Client Archetypes & How to Manage Them
The Client Relationship
Learn how to confidently lead clients through a clear, trust-building process—so every step of your branding projects feels collaborative and professional, while ensuring you have everything you need to succeed, leaving clients eager to share your name and bring the next dream project your way.
- Becoming a Creative Strategist and the Art of Brand Strategy and Creative Direction
- Setting Up Design Files, Coming Up with Logo Concepts, and Presenting Logo Designs
- Building a High-Level Brand Standards Manual and Setting Your Client Up for Ongoing Success
- Photoshoots, Messaging Guides, and Collaborating with Creative Partners on High Level Branding Projects
The Creative Process
Together, we'll walk through every step of the branding process from the perspective of the client experience and I'll show you how to walk someone else through a professional branding experience from beginning to end.
- The Foundations of Design and Rules of Style
- A Behind-the-Scenes Glimpse into Creative Reviews, Feedback, and Design Refinements from Drop Cap Design®
- Creative Projects, Presentations, and Live Critiques
- Evaluating Your Design Work and Improving Your Technical Design Skills
- Resources and Trainings on Design as a Self-Taught Designer
Elements of Design
In this module, I will give you the years of design principles and understanding you would receive at a formal university. You'll understand the difference between good and bad design so that you can confidently improve your design skills and grow in your career as a professional brand designer.
- Developing an Eye for Good Design and Creative Expression
- Tools and Routines for Top Performing Professional Creatives
- The Framework of Passion Projects and Convert into Client Opportunities
- Branding Yourself as a Creative and Brand Designer
- Building Confidence in Your Design Perspective and Forming Opinions on Branding
Develop Your Signature Style
Going beyond the technical skills and understanding of graphic design principles, in this module you'll discover your own unique style as a designer and how to position yourself within the industry to stand out and attract your ideal clients.
Building Design Credibility
Once you've harnished your design skills and built your process, it's time to gain credibility and recognition within the design community and branding industry as a whole. This module will walk you through the process of building a solid reputation and visibility online.
- Understand How to Price Your Services for Profitability and Positioning
- Building an Offer Ecosystem and Retaining Clients for Long-term Growth
- Increasing the Lifetime Value of New Clients
- Build Confidence in Sales Conversations and Creating Proposals that Convert
- The Drop Cap Design ROI Calculator for Maximizing the Impact of Your Client's Budget
Pitching, Pricing, and Positioning
Learn how to price your services, position your offers, and pitch your services to your ideal clientele. Not only will you learn how to market your offers, you'll gain confidence in navigating sales conversations, being able to handle objections, and understand the true ROI for your client.
- Curate your tech stack the Drop Cap way
- Software & Tools for Brand Projects (Figma, Illustrator, Canva, Notion, Google Workspace, etc.)
- Presentation Templates for Strategy, Moodboards, Logos, Guidelines
- Admin Templates (emails, proposals, invoices)
Tech Stack & Resources
Cut through the overwhelm of endless tools and set up a streamlined tech stack—so you can run branding projects smoothly, deliver with polish, and keep your creative energy focused where it matters most.
- Joining Design Directories and Communities to Collaborate with Designers
- White Labeling and Building Experiences through Agencies
- Specialization vs Generalization and Choosing Your Designer Path
- Finding and Applying for Design Awards & Certifications
The Studio Edit
®
So much more than a course, the mentorship you’ll get will support you to implement branding as part of your service suite with confidence (whatever your starting point) & help you overcome the inevitable bumps along the way.
When a client comes to you without a clear visual identity, you know how much more challenging that makes your job. Maybe you cobble something together (often for free), maybe you don’t & the project suffers.
Either way, offering branding is an incredible solution…
Web Designers!
“Since starting the program, I have been able to increase my prices - I charged $2,000 on top of the website for branding as an add-on—but again, because I am also charging more for the website, it amounted to about $3,000 more!”
Calling all
Founder of Maranta Studio
AGA
Instead of handing off a site and starting the search for the next project, you're guiding clients through the full process—brand first, web second—and charging accordingly. Client lifetime value increases & suddenly, rather than hustling for the next client, you’re opening up a new world of pricing possibilities & attracting a more premium clientele.
Sounds easy right?
You're not alone. Our community is full of moms, primary breadwinners, side hustlers, and a lot of designers who don't want to spend their days learning and practicing, but actually doing the work (and getting paid for it!) The programs are curated to not require you to spend hours and hours going from beginning to end before you can start.
The Studio Edit is actually designed to give you back your time so you're not spinning your wheels wondering how to pitch a service or price an offer, overworking in order to please a difficult client, second-guessing your design decisions, or getting stuck in a cycle of content creation.
We're big believers in less is more, and the most powerful way to make movement is to actually just do the thing and get feedback on it. This is a safe and judgement-free space of other designers who will cheer you on, challenge you to see things differently, and most importantly help you find actual momentum in your work and financially benefit from it.
This sounds great... it's just that I'm pressed for time.
rinat Depicciotto
If you're looking for a place to connect to a designer's community, be able to access mentorship and support as you figure out your design business, this is the place to be.
My favourite thing is Kadie's way of showing up for the people in her courses and the community that is being built. I also really appreciate the way the course is structured in bite-sized chunks and that I'm not feeling pressure to get through it all or the need to catch up to where we're "supposed to be" in the course progression.
One of the biggest transformations for me has been having that confidence again of, 'This is my value. This is what I'm worth.'
I absolutely love the content—I’ve watched some of them 3 times!! There's so much there. I commend you for all of it. It's magical. The onboarding & setting expectations module is my favorite - it's the cost of the course alone for that. And this is from somebody who's been doing it a really long time.
Jill Groeber
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our processes
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proposals
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client projects
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design tutorials
EXCLUSIVE WEEKLY SERIES
Each week, our team shares personal, behind-the-scenes vlogs of what we're working through, challenged by, and implementing inside of the Drop Cap Design Agency. You'll get real-time insights, lessons from our own missteps, and be able to be a fly on the wall for what's working (and not working!) for us. This is our most personal, exclusive insight into our business and the inner workings of a global design studio that started just like yours.
DROP CAP DIARIES
