By: Dayna Winter
Introduction
The idea that spins in your head – that one big idea – takes its sharp turn from dream to reality when it becomes something tangible. When you can see it, touch it, or hold it in your hands. As a new or aspiring founder, whether you’re turning a hobby into a business or working to fill a gap in the market, that moment is the birth of your brand.
Brand
Your brand is a testament to what you stand for, how you want people to feel, and the value you bring to the world. Within it lives your brand identity – the visual representation of your brand from the logo to the typography and color palette. It’s a system of rules and visual assets that guide your brand’s creative direction at every step. It tells a story and evokes a feeling.
Brand Design
Articulating your brand in words may come naturally to you as a business owner – it’s an idea you live and breathe every day. But when it comes to brand design, this is where many stumble. Design requires a specific skill set, knowledge of specialized software, and an awareness of the craft. Your brand is a testament to what you stand for, how you want people to feel, and the value you bring to the world. Within it lives your brand identity – the visual representation of your brand from the logo to the typography and color palette.
Brand Design on a Budget
New business owners may not have the budget to hire a designer to create a full marketing package. As a result, many choose to launch their brand with a DIY version of their logo and a pre-made website template using a website builder. There’s nothing wrong with this approach, and with some free tools, tutorials, and tips from experienced professionals, you can create something that truly represents your vision.
How to Design a Brand Identity Without Skills and Without a Budget
Designing a brand identity on a budget of $0 requires a DIY approach, but if you’re not the creative type or have never used graphic design software, the task may feel overwhelming. Fortunately, more and more simplified tools are emerging to help non-designers get creative. If you’ve used tools on Instagram to add text and GIFs to your stories, you have enough skill to create a logo.
If you’ve used tools on Instagram to add text and GIFs to your stories, you have enough skill to create a logo! And remember, your first logo doesn’t have to be your last. Once your budget allows, you may think about hiring a professional to redesign your brand.
Tips for Designing a Brand Identity from an Expert
Skyler Hystens spends her days at Shopify as a product designer. She has also worked with numerous clients to design logos and marketing packages for their small businesses. While she is an advocate for hiring a professional to handle this important aspect of brand building, she also praises some free tools as a great alternative for those without a budget.
Here are some tips and guidance from Skyler for designing a visual brand identity:
1. Keep it Simple
“Sometimes, a simple logo – rather than a big, fancy logo – is what really does the job,” says Skyler. “Especially if you’re in the e-commerce space.” She recommends using an app like Canva. It’s a free tool (with optional paid professional accounts) that has both desktop and mobile versions. “Canva recommends great fonts,” she says. Pairing a great font with your brand name and sticking to a simple color palette is an easy option for those who don’t have much natural creativity.
2. Think Versatile
“Having a logo that can work on a white background or a black background, or any other background, is something that will take you far,” says Skyler, “especially when you’re starting out.” After simplicity, versatility is your friend. Your logo should work at varying sizes – whether it’s blown up to a billboard or shrunk down to a clothing tag – and across a number of surfaces or applications, from digital to tangible.
3.
Don’t Dilute the Power of Your Brand
“The biggest problem I see is that brands will have a logo but they will represent the business name differently,” says Skylar. For example, if you have a wordmark logo but the business name appears in a different font in some of your communications. “Now you’re diluting the brand’s power. You’re muddying the signaling point that people have.” Even though you might have some different versions of your logo or a color palette that you can swap out, make sure you are creating a style that is recognized by customers across different platforms.
4. Research Competitors and Brands You Love
When you look at a blank canvas, it can be tough to know where to start. Even experienced designers do research and inspiration-gathering before embarking on any branding design project. “I recommend looking at what competitors are doing,” says Skylar. What are the common font styles in your industry? Are the logos more directional or illustrative?
“It frustrates people when they pass by a place selling sushi, and the font looks like it belongs to a spa.” Understanding the space you’re operating in means you’ll avoid ending up with a tonally inconsistent brand design. “But you can still push boundaries and experiment with new things within that scope.”
5. Focus on Your Color Palette
Defining a color palette will help you stay consistent in various business decisions, such as building a website, developing products, and posting on social media. “Just say you have five colors,” says Skylar. “You have some light background colors that serve as neutrals. You have a standout color and some complementary colors. The standout color is your brand color.”
This doesn’t mean you can’t use any colors outside of those five you’ve chosen. Consider Big Bud Press, an ethical clothing brand from Los Angeles that creates a variety of extremely bright colors in their suits, bags, and basic knitted fashion. The brand’s products come in a wide range of colors that might make you think there isn’t any real color scheme to the brand.
Tools and Resources for DIY Brand Identity Design
There are many free and low-cost tools that can help you achieve a DIY brand identity that looks professional. Skylar recommends using a tool like Canva or a free logo maker from Shopify, or a simple logo generator that has templates, fonts, and design elements built in.
Here are some tools and resources you can use to design your DIY brand identity:
- Shopify Logo Maker (free and easy)
- Looka (free or paid, easy to moderate)
- Canva (free, easy to moderate)
- Canva Pro ($12 per month, more advanced features)
- Adobe Creative Cloud (paid subscriptions, advanced)
- Pixelmator (affordable Photoshop-like alternative, advanced)
Canva Tips from a DIY Designer
Ibrahim Hassan is a senior manager at Shopify who has no formal design training, but uses Canva to create quick and professional-looking graphics to accompany his writing. Here’s what this self-taught design nerd learned from his experience with the tool:
- Use Canva’s Brand Kit. “Canva Pro users can create a brand kit within the tool, including colors, fonts, and other design elements, like logos,” says Ibrahim. “This is useful if you’re working with a team or if you need to create multiple materials with consistent design.”
- Use brand codes in Canva. “You’ll find a wide variety of illustration styles within Canva,” he says. “If you’re looking to unify your brand, you can search for similar elements or those created by the same designer using brand codes.” These codes can be found by clicking the three-dot icon on the selected item. More information about the item, including designer name and code, can be found here.
- Dedicate
be a good fit for your project if you are looking for sustainable design solutions.
Time to Browse Templates and Elements
“Choosing can be overwhelming, so take your time exploring everything the tool has to offer before you get serious about using it,” says Ibrahim. “Make sure to note what you like and keep it for the next time you need to design something quickly.”
Designing a Brand Identity on a Budget and Redesigning
When you are ready to level up, you might choose to redesign your brand yourself using advanced tools like Adobe Creative Suite, Pixelmator, or Canva Pro. But as your business grows, it may be time to consider budgeting for hiring a professional.
Brand design is best handled by experts if you truly want a professional look for your brand, along with a logo that fits multiple uses. It’s great to start with a DIY logo, but when you’re ready to work with a professional, Skyler offers some tips. How to work with a designer to create a brand identity:
How to Work with a Designer to Create a Brand Identity
If you have a limited budget, Skyler recommends focusing on a few key elements that are versatile and can be used in various situations. “For e-commerce, I would start with a logo,” she says. “Second, request a good color palette that can expand.” Here, she means that the color palette is versatile and can be expanded into shades and gradients, allowing you to combine them in endless ways.
With these two elements, you can go a long way, mixing and matching colors and playing with the size and position of the logo to achieve consistency across your branding, packaging, website, and social media.
Skyler also recommends requesting some signature templates that you can reuse repeatedly in your content and marketing. “Ask them to design a repeatable template for any place you have the most touchpoints with your customers,” she says. “If it’s email, then it will be an email template.” If you primarily engage with your brand audience through Instagram or Tiktok stories, a vertical template would be useful repeatedly. You might also need a simple template for postcards so you can create new inserts for campaigns or new products.
Work with a designer who can create something that works for your stories, as well as something that works on the grid. Skyler Heistens says, “It feels more cohesive and saves the designer a little time. I think that’s something I would insist on.”
In the end, trust the designer to do their job. If you are very clear about your vision and brand preferences from the start, you won’t need to micromanage the design process by managing it down to the details. You are hiring a professional for their expertise. Where to find a designer to create a brand identity?
Where to Find a Brand Design Professional
There are many sites where you can browse profiles of freelance designers and design studios. When selecting a designer, Skyler says, “Look for someone whose work you admire and who specializes in the areas you want to focus on.”
- Shopify Experts are certified professionals who can handle projects of any size. If you have or plan to use a Shopify store, these designers and agencies have expertise in this platform.
- An example of an open studio for visual identity projects is cc Studios + Metaphor Media (their brand design services start at $600).
- Sites like Dribbble or Behance are treasure troves to discover designers. You can filter your search to find designers who align with your vision and style and reach out to them.
- Upwork or Fiverr are not design-specific, but you can filter your search to find freelance designers for your project. The sustainable packaging company noissue also has a community of creative people ready to take on design projects. These designers have experience in designing printed materials like custom packaging, labels, and stamps.
- You may be able to find someone whose style fits your project’s needs if you’re looking for sustainable design solutions.
Local design colleges have students or recent graduates looking for entry-level jobs or work experiences to earn credits. Reach out to the faculty in the design department or the career center at your local educational institution for inquiries.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Designer
In 1971, $35 was paid to the designer who created the famous Nike logo. On the other hand, major brands in 2022 can spend millions of dollars on a complete marketing package that fails to achieve the desired success. While you typically get what you pay for, the important thing is to find the right designer for your project and to be clear about your vision and expectations.
Business owners in retail stores and restaurants may spend tens of thousands of dollars on a marketing package for menu design, signage, and other actual design needs.
Generally, you can focus on the basics like a logo, color palette, and some templates if you are working online. “Remember, the logo will be the most expensive,” says Skylar. “But if you are very clear about what you want, the price might be in the lower range of $300 to $500.” She says this is the price for a less experienced designer. A more experienced designer will charge a few thousand dollars for the same work.
Conclusions for DIY Brand Identity Design
Ultimately, your visual brand identity will be very personal. Whether you go the DIY route or hire a professional, make sure to work on your vision, mission, and brand story before you even think about colors and fonts. Finished is better than perfect, as they say, and with the tips you’ve learned in this article, you’re on your way to launching sooner.
Your brand will evolve over time, and with it, your visual identity will become more refined. As you grow, you will hire people for roles outside your expertise, but for now, enjoy the process. Roll up your sleeves and be creative!
Source: http://shopify.com/blog/branding-design
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