5 STEPS TO FINDING THE PERFECT BRAND DESIGNER
Are you about to embark on a brand design journey but not quite sure how to find the right designer for your project? This post will point you in the right direction.
So you've come up with an idea for a business, put in all the work to take it off the ground, and now are finally ready to step up your game. Or maybe you're at the very beginning of your business journey and want to start with a solid foundation that great branding provides. Either way, you have already researched and understand that professional branding is one of the best investments you will ever make toward your business – so all you need now is the right designer.
You don't personally know any brand designers, so you fire up Google and start looking at your options – but soon enough, you realise just how overwhelming it is.
There are way too many designers, a whole spectrum of prices, and a million different design styles.
How do you know which ones are the best choices? Well, you can follow a few steps to help you get here.
SET YOUR BUDGET AND FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU NEED
The very first thing to determine is your budget. What is the maximum you can spend on your branding? Try not to cut back on this crucial investment. Your branding will help position you in the market, differentiate you from the competition and generally represent your business in the world.
When done well, it is undoubtedly one of the best investments you can make and will return to you many times over.
Next, think about what deliverables you will need. Brand designers have different packages and ways of working, so determine what exactly you need for your business. To help you with this, grab my free guide Branding Made Simple, if you haven't don't have it yet. It covers all the elements you need to include for your branding to be effective.
RESEARCH YOUR INDUSTRY
You need to keep in mind your industry's brand design's overall look to help potential customers instantly recognise what field your business belongs to. For example, you don't want a feminine decorative logo and visual identity if your business is in the tech field or serious, formal ones if you sell products for children. See the logos below (a florist, a fashion brand and an interior designer) for examples of different design styles – these were all designed by myself, so they still share the same minimal aesthetic – but you can see the difference in typography, colour, layout, and overall feel.
However, at the same time, you also need to make sure you differentiate within that field. The best way to figure this out is to do a search on businesses in your industry to see the aesthetic that they are using. See if anything grabs your attention, and take notes of anything interesting that comes up. These are brands that have done this successfully. Your goal is to achieve what they did – to still fall within the industry’s design aesthetic but not get lost in the sea of sameness.
ZOOM IN
Now that you know what other businesses in your industry are doing, you can get more specific. Hop on to Pinterest or Google Images and have a look around to see what styles of logos and visual identities resonate with you – keeping in mind the visual research you just did. On Pinterest, create a board for your selection. If you're using Google Images, follow through to the source to screenshot what you like (don't forget to bookmark your pages so that you can refer back to them later) and start seeing similarities of those that attracted you. Some other places to explore would be Behance, Dribble, or Instagram. Look at elements such as fonts, graphics (symbols or illustrative components), colour, and general layout to see whether the visuals are:
classic or modern
minimal or decorative/ornate
feminine, masculine or unisex
luxurious or economical
formal or casual
young or mature
rough or refined
playful or serious
Here are a few examples of different visual identity styles:
You now have an understanding of what design style is generally used within your type of business and also what your specific preferences are. Time to start looking for the right designer!
FIND DESIGNERS WHO COULD BE A GOOD FIT
After your research so far, you'll find that most brand designers have a specific style they like to stick to. Examples include minimal, floral, 3D, feminine, hand-made (hand-lettered, painted, mixed media), geometrical, vintage, illustrative, typographic, gradient, and embellished. For example, I generally design modern, minimalist, and typography-focused logos with a slight tip toward the feminine side (you can view them here).
You will also find that designers often have specific industries they love working with – for me, it's creative, lifestyle, and fashion businesses, often with a conscious feel to them (which is likely because these are the things I resonate with in real life). They could be ethical or vegan cafes, apparel & jewellery shops, therapists, yoga studios, healthy food brands, creatives, or life coaches. Any creatives or businesses trying to do good in the world will generally get my attention, and I find that their owners are usually like-minded and easy to have a positive working relationship with.
One of the quickest ways to find your designer is to get back to your Pinterest board and see where your favourite logos originate. Alternatively, re-visit your bookmarked pages from your Google Images search or other platforms I mentioned in step one. Trace these logos back to the designer's profile or website and see their other work. Soon, you will have a selection of designers that could potentially be a great match.
RESEARCH THE SELECTED DESIGNERS
Naturally, one of the first things you may want to consider is their prices and whether they fall into your budget. Designer packages vary greatly, and usually– although not always – you will get what you pay for. In my experience, most people who are just starting out don’t realise how expensive quality branding can be.
This is because branding a business is a large project and takes many hours of creative thinking and hard work, usually backed up by years of study and perfecting the craft.
Once you have an idea about the price range of your chosen designers, find out all you can about their working process. Things are often not clarified before work begins, leading to unnecessary misunderstandings. An important point to note is whether they include a brand strategy with their package. Most designers do, as it is an essential foundation for quality branding, but it's worth double-checking before proceeding with the project. For those that do, also find out what elements it covers, as a brand strategy can mean very different things to different people.
An experienced designer will provide you with information about their admin and creative process to educate you about what to expect (you can see an example on my FAQ page). Typically, you can expect information on topics such as:
What’s their onboarding process
What project management tools do they use
What payment system do they have in place
Whether they provide a contract
Who will own the rights, and what permissions will be given
What is their design process like
The timeline of the projects
What are the deliverables (what formats will you receive)
Whether they offer refunds.
They will have a seamless onboarding system that covers all the admin steps that need to be done before the work begins. Ideally, they will have a contract in place for any larger projects and a project management system to keep your project well-organised (emails can get very messy). They may have different ways to pay – some get 50% before the project begins and the rest at the end, but some allow for smaller payments throughout the project (myself included).
Last but not least, don't forget to read their testimonials. They will tell you about their past clients and whether they're easy to work with. Here is an example of this type of social proof:
“I have worked and been impressed with Katarina's design work in all the multiple jobs she has done for me. She has really helped me to develop my brand identity, and I now consider her an important part of its continued development. She's positive, very open to feedback, responsible, and an excellent communicator.”
Mission Atelier (San Francisco, USA)
Once you're happy with all the information you've found out about them, contact them one by one to see which one is most suitable for your project. Observe how they respond to your enquiry – personality can be a deciding factor here, as it is vital that you feel genuinely connected with your designer to enjoy working together.
SUMMARY
Getting your branding done is an exciting, transformative time for you and your business, so it's important that you choose the right person for the job. Branding requires a fair amount of time and money, so do your research and find a person who makes you feel enthusiastic about starting your project! If you use the steps outlined above, you'll be well-equipped for your search and will make the right choices as you go. It will help you avoid hiring a designer that is not the right fit for your project and save you a lot of stress, time and money by doing so.
Not sure about getting the whole branding done and wondering whether you can get away with just a logo? Read my post ‘LOGO VS BRANDING – WHICH ONE DO YOU REALLY NEED?’ to find out.
If you resonate with my design aesthetic and my values, and you feel that I could be the right fit for your branding project, feel free to reach out to me here – I’d love to hear from you!
Kat x