The short version
- White label branding is when one business produces work that another business presents and sells under its own name.
- For design agencies, white label work means delivering files with no agency watermark, credit or styling the end client could trace.
- The biggest hidden risk in white label design is that every client starts to look like the studio that serves them.
- A clean white label handover includes final files in every format the client uses and the transfer of any brand assets held in the agency's name.
- A Gradiently Mark claimed for a client can be given to the client's own account for free, and its certificate moves into their name.
On this page
White label branding is when you produce the work and someone else puts their name on it. An agency designs a month of posts that a marketing consultant delivers as their own, or a freelancer builds brand assets that a reseller sells to local businesses. The rules are short: nothing in the files points back to you, each end client gets a look of their own, and everything the client is paying for can be handed over completely when the relationship ends.
White label, private label and co-branding
The terms get mixed up in proposals, which causes arguments later about credit and ownership. Agree which one you are doing before the first invoice.
Whose name shows
Typical design example
Whose name shows
Typical design example
Whose name shows
Typical design example
Whose name shows
Typical design example
What white label design deliverables must include
Clients of a reseller often never meet you, so the files have to speak for themselves. Watermarks, file names with your studio's name and fonts the client can't open are the usual giveaways. On Gradiently's free plan, exports carry a small watermark; Pro exports up to 4K with no watermark in every format, which is the baseline for any white label service.
Format
Notes
Format
Notes
Notes
Notes
Format
Notes
Keep every client looking like themselves
The quiet failure of white label work is sameness. One studio serving twenty businesses tends to reuse its favourite fonts, gradients and layouts, and eventually a reseller's clients all look related. That is bad for the clients and dangerous for the reseller, whose customers may notice. The broader pattern is described in why every feed looks the same.
Client one, on its own Mark.
Client two, same layout, a different Mark.
Giving each client a different background is the fastest way to stop this. Every Gradiently Mark is checked against every other and anything too close is refused, so two clients on two Marks can't end up looking alike even if you reuse the same template underneath. Organise each client as its own brand, with its own Mark and brand kit, so nobody on your team picks up the wrong fonts. Running several brands shows the setup.
Studio leaking through
- The same favourite font on every client
- One house gradient in every feed
- Files named after the agency
- Watermarked previews sent as finals
- Brand assets left in the agency's name
True white label
- Fonts chosen per client brand
- A distinct background for each client
- Files named after the client
- Clean exports in every format
- Assets transferred at handover
How to hand a client's look over, including the Mark
Exported designs stay with whoever made them, so final files are easy to deliver. The background itself is different: a Mark has exactly one owner at a time, and only its owner can export with it. If you claimed a Mark for a client, it sits in your name until you move it. Plan that transfer on day one, not when the contract ends.
- 1
Claim the Mark for the client
Choose and claim a Mark that suits the client's brand. Your name goes on its public record and you receive a numbered certificate of authenticity.
- 2
Design the launch set on it
Build templates and the first month of posts while you hold it, so the work is consistent from the start.
- 3
Ask the client to open a Gradiently account
Transfers go to someone on Gradiently, so the client, or the reseller acting for them, needs an account.
- 4
Give the Mark
Giving a Mark is free. Gradiently emails a code to confirm, the recipient has a few days to accept, and the certificate moves into their name.
- 5
Send the record
Include the Mark's code and the new certificate number in the handover note, so the client can check it any time.
Handover: Brightside Cleaning
Background Mark GR·K7Q2·MX
Certificate GRC-7K2M-9QXA-4TPW (now in your name)
Check it at gradiently.design/verify
Files: /social (PNG, JPG), /logo (SVG, transparent PNG),
/print (PDF with bleed), /motion (MP4)
Fonts: heading and body, licence notes in /fontsAnyone can check a certificate number or Mark code to see who holds it and its history, so the client never has to take your word for it. Transferring a Mark covers the steps, and Mark codes and certificates explains what the record shows. Ownership is a Gradiently registry record, not a trademark, so clients who want legal protection should still speak to a trademark professional.
Running a white label service day to day
- One workspace per reseller, one brand per end client. Team workspaces and roles are part of Pro; give the reseller viewer access so they can see work without editing it.
- Batch the repetitive work. Monthly posts for many similar businesses are a job for templates plus bulk create from a spreadsheet.
- Resize from one approved master. Get sign off on one format, then produce the others.
- Keep the voice in the kit. If you use the Designer to draft copy, it writes in the brand kit's voice, so each client still sounds like themselves.
- Write the exit into the contract. Files, formats and the Mark transfer, listed in scope.
For the agency side of the same workflow, including review rounds and roles, read design agency workflow.
Questions people ask
What does white label branding mean?
It means one business makes the work and another sells or presents it under its own name, with no credit to the maker. In design, the files carry only the client's brand.
Can I show white label work in my portfolio?
Only if your contract allows it. Many white label agreements forbid public credit, so agree in writing whether you can show the work privately or not at all.
How do I transfer a Gradiently Mark to a client?
Give it to the client's own Gradiently account. Giving is free; they confirm with an emailed code within a few days and the certificate moves into their name.
Do exported designs stay with the client after a Mark is transferred?
Exported designs stay yours, so they are yours to hand over as files. After the transfer, only the new owner can export new designs with that Mark.
Is white label the same as private label?
Not quite. White label usually describes a service or product resold under another name, while private label usually means a retailer's own branded product made by someone else.
Written by Gradiently
The team behind Gradiently, a design tool built around Marks: living gradients that make everything you design look like yours.
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