How a branding designer can help create a visual brand that aligns with your overall brand strategy
So you’re ready to create an incredible visual brand that aligns with your overall brand philosophies and strategy! Woohoo!
You’re either a start-up who wants to get every nitty gritty detail ticked off perfectly from the beginning, or your business has evolved and you’re ready to step it up a notch. I am here to shed some light as to why working with a graphic designer who specialises in branding design is going to satisfy your needs way beyond any other.
Let’s start by looking at your options for creating an authentic visual brand that aligns with your brand strategy.
1.Do It Yourself (DIY)
Obviously this is a low cost (or free!) option that is very appealing to start-ups. There are so many apps and programs available these days that can whip you up a clip art logo to represent your brand. Sometimes it feels like there’s no other option in the very early days of building your brand, particularly if you’re starting with zero budget (it’s possible!). I get it.
But you also need to be aware of long term ramifications. Quite often your visual brand is the first thing that potential clients/customers come into contact with to form an opinion of your brand. If you’re using a free template or clip art to represent your brand, what message are you sending your audience? Not only is it confusing (like, what if they see the exact same thing elsewhere and they think it’s you?), but using free graphics is also risky if you do not have a license to use them for logos and branding.
2.Template/pre-made branding
This is a low cost option, or at least cheaper than engaging a designer to create your visual brand from scratch. If you have a smaller budget or are just starting out, you could consider this path over a do-it-yourself alternative. At the very least you will have a somewhat professional logo and a colour scheme to help you through the early days of building brand awareness.
The difficult thing about aligning your brand with a ‘temporary’ look and feel is going through the process of re-educating your audience to associate your brand with a redesign in the future. Of course it’s not impossible, but in a sense you are digging a hole for your brand by investing in something that you know in your heart is not fully serving the purpose as it should.
3.Graphic designer
When you think of creating branding identities and logo design, you think of hiring a graphic designer, right? Traditionally, this is just how it has been, whether through a design agency or a freelancer. Nowadays, there are graphic designers of all breeds, educated in different areas and niching up a storm! Before engaging a graphic designer to create a visual brand, do your homework. There are so many considerations, but these are just a few suggestions:
Stalk them on social media
Check out their portfolio to see what type of work they specialise in
If they are primarily a website designer and offer logos as an add-on, are they going to have the skills to give your visual brand the love it needs?
What industries have they served successfully and does their experience align with your industry?
4.Specialist branding designer/brand stylist
The holy grail of visual brand designers! This graphic design specialist is like gold dust for your brand. Ideally you would invest in a branding designer from the foundation phase of your business, as part of your marketing strategy. A branding designer specialises in creating a cohesive look and feel for your brand that is targeted towards your ideal client. They focus on creating an authentic, emotion-packed visual feast to represent your brand, that will make your audience SWOON!
Quite clearly, working with a specialist branding designer will produce the best possible outcome for a visual brand that aligns with your brand strategy. But how? By harnessing cues that evoke emotions and lead your ideal client on a visual journey that shows how you solve their deepest problems. Let me tell you how this journey should look:
Foundation work
Research
Colour psychology
Font recommendations
Imagery
Branding elements that set the mood and tell your brand story
An easily identifiable logo
A style guide and brand toolkit
Marketing collateral that works harmoniously to send your brand message consistently
How do you maintain consistency?
After you’ve established your stunning new visual branding identity, it’s imperative to keep the visual elements of your brand consistent. And guess what?! Your branding designer can help with this too. How? By supporting your brand beyond the initial branding phase. You can set up templates that can be used consistently throughout your marketing and social media, but these will only take you so far. As part of your branding journey, you’ll receive a style guide which basically becomes a brand bible. Here’s some tips on how to maintain consistency:
Use the colour codes stipulated in your style guide and don’t be tempted to stray
Don’t use all of the things all at once – keep it simple
Ensure your imagery has a similar tone/feel to your brand personality
Use the same three or four fonts, forever and ever
Reach out for professional help. Your brand designer knows your visual brand intimately and wants you to succeed just as much as you do!
At the end of the day, whether you’re a start-up wanting to launch with a bang, or an established business that has evolved and is ready for ‘grown-up’ visual branding, your best bet is a visual branding designer, sometimes known as a brand stylist. Sure, you can wade through the murky waters of DIY, templates, pre-made branding and even freelance designers… but I can guarantee the best outcome will always come from a graphic designer that specialises in visual branding. With years of experience weaving brand messages through beautiful visual stories to create an emotive look and feel for your brand, this is definitely the best way to create a visual brand that aligns with your overall brand strategy.
Rachel is the branding designer behind Hopscotch Graphic Design helping design-challenged female entrepreneurs bring their business vision to life with impactful, intuitive, one-of-a-kind illustrations and graphic design. She’s obsessed with getting to the heart of your business, you, because that’s where true brands are born. With 15 years’ experience in branding and marketing collateral, magazine design, advertising, website design and packaging, Rachel develops bespoke, personality-packed, effective branding identities. Authentically, you.