Your brand leaves an impression on your audience long after you’ve connected with them. Your brand style and identity are a huge part of how you shape that impression. It’s how you present your brand to them so that they understand what you do and how you can serve them. Simply stated, your brand’s outward appearance gives others an idea of what they can expect from us.
But in the beginning stages of building your brand and business, you don’t actually need a full brand identity. Mind blown right? Let me explain →
Why you don’t need a brand identity
The first few months and years of business can be full of trial and error, learning, and changes. And if you invest in a full brand identity right of the gate, you could be wasting your money. You are better off to keep things simple in the beginning and focus on your strategy, messaging, and execution so you can grow your business.
THEN, when you have grown your business to the point that you are ready to get more serious and reach an elevated level, you can invest in custom brand and website solutions that are tailored to your specific needs.
This timeframe is different for every entrepreneur, but the process is still the same (although there are always exceptions).
If you invest too early:
You’ll want to change your design again and again with every tiny shift you make in your business because it just doesn’t feel “right”.
You’ll spend a lot of time and money working on it with a designer and feel chained to it for years because you don’t have any money left to change it.
It might look good but there won’t be anything holding up the face of your brand because you haven’t had time to truly develop and refine your brand strategy.
What you need instead
When developing a brand, it can be tempting to focus on creating a full brand identity with all the bells and whistles, including logos, slogans, and other assets. But during the initial stages of building your brand, it’s better to prioritize a simple and consistent brand style. This approach ensures that your brand is presented professionally and consistently across all platforms.
The way that you define that is with these 3 main components: the aesthetic, the colors, and the fonts.
The aesthetic refers to the overall look and feel of your brand, including the imagery, photography, and graphics used. It’s important to create a cohesive aesthetic that aligns with your brand values and messaging.
Choosing the right colors and fonts can also play a significant role in shaping your brand’s identity. Colors can evoke specific emotions and feelings, and selecting the right color palette can help communicate your brand’s personality and values.
Fonts can also contribute to your brand’s overall style and personality, so it’s important to choose fonts that are legible, consistent, and aligned with your brand identity.
Finding the right combination of these things can make a huge difference in the way your brand is presented and perceived.
When to invest in a full brand identity
Once you have a clearly defined brand strategy in place and you understand your target audience well, you can apply those things to a brand identity design and end up with a more effective result.
If you’ve built the foundation of your brand strategically, you will be set up for a more successful investment that will truly benefit your business better.
3 signs you’re ready to invest in custom branding
You’ve outgrown that templated logo or site design that helped you get started. Although templates are great for starting out, at some point you will need to rework your designs to match up with the elevated level of your business and that’s when custom can really pay off.
Your current logo isn’t conveying the high-end quality of the services you now offer. If your business has grown but your brand hasn’t, then it’s time for a new look that clearly communicates the right message to the right person.
You feel like your brand is all over the place and want to look more cohesive. Over time your brand and website get a little cluttered as you tweak, change, and add to it. If yours feels a little crazy, it’s time to streamline, organize, refine, and align with custom brand and website design.
If you’re at a point in your business where you need to invest, it’s time to chat with a designer to find the best fit. From there, they will be able to guide you to strategically build on your brand foundation and take it to the next level with semi-custom or custom solutions.
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