✦ MAIA Creative House
Free Resource

The Pre-Design
Strategy Checklist

Five questions every founder should answer before touching a logo, a color palette, or a designer. Most skip this step. Most regret it.

What is inside
✦ 12 strategic questions across 5 core brand dimensions
✦ A prompt for each question if you feel stuck: just hover to reveal it
✦ A live score that tells you exactly where your brand foundation stands
✦ The exact framework MAIA uses before any design work begins
Access the checklist

No spam. No pitches. Just the checklist and occasional strategic thinking from MAIA.

Your Checklist

Before you brief a
single designer.

Work through each question honestly. Hover any question if you feel stuck: a prompt will appear to help you think it through. Check it off when you have a clear answer.

01 / Audience
Who is this brand for, precisely?
Not your total addressable market. Your specific person.
✓
Can I describe my ideal customer in one specific paragraph?
Feeling stuck? Write one sentence starting with "My brand is built for the founder who..." and see where it takes you.
✓
Do I know who this brand is NOT for?
Feeling stuck? Name one type of client you would turn down. That boundary is part of your positioning.
✓
Do I know what my audience needs to feel when they encounter my brand?
Feeling stuck? Pick one word only: Trusted / Seen / Excited / Relieved / Aspirational: and ask yourself why that one.
02 / Positioning
What does this brand stand for that no competitor can claim?
Differentiation is not features. It is meaning.
✓
Can I name 3 competitors and say something genuinely different from all of them?
Feeling stuck? Try finishing this: "Unlike [A], [B], and [C], we are the only brand that..." If you cannot finish it, that is the gap.
✓
Do I have a point of view that others in my space do not say out loud?
Feeling stuck? Write one thing your industry gets wrong. Your answer to that is your point of view.
03 / Experience
What does it feel like to interact with this brand?
Every touchpoint is a decision. Make it consistent.
✓
If my brand were a person at a dinner party, how would they introduce themselves?
Feeling stuck? Write their opening line word for word. Do not overthink it: write the first thing that comes to mind and edit from there.
✓
What does my brand never do, say, or sound like?
Feeling stuck? Think of a brand you find annoying or generic. What do they do that you would never do? Start there.
✓
Is the experience consistent across every touchpoint I currently have?
Feeling stuck? Open your website, your last email, and your last social post in three tabs. Read them in order. Do they sound like the same brand?
04 / Meaning
What would be lost if this brand disappeared tomorrow?
This question reveals whether you have a brand or just a business.
✓
Can I answer this without mentioning my product?
Feeling stuck? Finish this sentence without naming a feature: "If we disappeared, our customers would lose access to..." The answer is your brand's meaning.
✓
Does the team, not just the founder, understand what the brand stands for?
Feeling stuck? Ask one team member right now: "what does our brand stand for?" without coaching them first. Their answer tells you everything.
05 / Timing
Why does this brand matter right now?
Context is part of positioning. The moment matters.
✓
Can I articulate why this is the right moment for this brand to exist?
Feeling stuck? Write one sentence starting with "This is the right moment because the world just changed in this specific way..." What changed? That is your window.
✓
Is my brand positioned for where my market is going, not just where it is today?
Feeling stuck? Write where your market will be in 3 years. Then look at your current brand and ask honestly: does it point there?
Your Brand Foundation Score 0 / 12
Start checking off what you already know. Each answer you have is a foundation stone. Each gap is where MAIA begins.
Ready to go deeper
Clarity built with someone who
believes in what you are building.

If working through this checklist showed you how much strategic clarity is still missing, that is exactly what MAIA is built to resolve. Book a free 30-minute call and we will work through your single most important brand challenge together.

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