Everything you Need to Know Before you Hire a Brand Designer

If you’re considering hiring a brand designer, you’re probably taking exciting steps forward in your business. Before you make the investment, you probably have a few questions (or a dozen!). If so, good news! You’re in the right place.

From “what even is branding?,” to choosing the right designer, we’re going to cover everything you need to know before hiring a brand designer.

What is branding?

Contrary to popular belief, a brand is not a logo.

A brand is what an audience feels and believes about a business. It’s how a business is perceived by others— its image. 

Branding is the process of shaping and influencing that image.

The process of branding involves several things, including brand strategy, logo design, visual identity creation, copywriting, creating marketing materials, and a lot more.

Branding is not a one-step process. It’s an ongoing effort to influence the way your business is perceived by your target audience. Brand design is simply a piece of the puzzle.

Do I need brand design?

If you’re a business owner, ask yourself these questions:

• Has my target market recently changed, or will it change soon?
• Am I getting ready to shift my business in some way? (Changing up services, relocating, new mission, etc.) 
• Am I mostly attracting non-ideal clients?
• Does my brand identity feel inconsistent or messy?
• Does it feel like my current branding doesn’t match the level I’m at now? Or where I want to be?

If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, you might want to consider hiring a brand designer. This is not an exhaustive list — there are several reasons why brand design may be the right next step. Take a look at your business goals for the next couple of years, and ask yourself if a new brand identity could help accomplish those.

There are so many types of designers out there—brand designer, graphic designer, logo designer…. What’s the difference?

It’s a bit confusing, isn’t it? While there are a lot of similarities between each type of visual designer, there are some pretty significant differences too.

It’s important to note that every type of designer on this list IS a graphic designer, just with a different specialty. “Graphic designer” is often a blanket term. Kind of like writers. You have novelists, sports writers, screenwriters, journalists — they’re all writers, but with very different skill sets.

In general, here’s what you can typically expect from each type of designer.

• Logo designers are graphic designers who specialize in logo creation. Logos are symbols made of text and/or images that companies use to represent their brand (think the Nike swoosh, McDonalds arches, Coca-Cola word mark, etc.). Their main job is to create a thoughtful and balanced visual symbol that brings instant recognition to a company.

• Brand designers specialize in brand identity creation. They should have a thorough understanding of brand positioning and strategy, so they can create cohesive visual identities that align with a brand’s mission and goals. They always have the target audience and overall brand experience in mind. Beyond a new logo, the final product will typically include several logo variations, a color palette, font pairings, and other graphic elements that define a brand’s visual language.

• Graphic designers create a variety of visual communications. Their main goal is to create something aesthetically pleasing that adheres to an established vision (a creative brief), which often means following pre-determined brand identity guidelines. They design things like advertisements, magazine layouts, signage, book covers, you name it. Many graphic designers will choose to specialize in a specific type of design, such as advertising and print, presentations, packaging, etc. 

Every type of designer has their place, and some will have overlapping skills. For example, a brand designer may also create business cards or design packaging or websites. The designer for you will depend on your goals and what stage of business you’re in.

What are some of the benefits of working with a brand designer?

Working with a great brand designer is a bit like hiring a creative director for your business. They will be able to take an unbiased look at your brand and offer a fresh perspective, developing a strategic vision and executing it in a cohesive (and beautiful) way.

If you’re someone who likes bullet points (like me), here are some other benefits of working with a good brand designer:

• They offer an outside point of view to make strategic decisions for your brand
• They’ll have the technical skills to bring your vision to life
• You’ll save SO much time not doing it yourself 
• You’ll walk away with brand standards, so you and your team members will know exactly how to use your brand’s identity. Aka: no more guessing which Canva font to use in that social media graphic, thus saving you even more time.
• You’ll have consistent visual content that makes a strong impression with your ideal audience.
• You’ll be confident in your brand, and excited to share it!

What can I expect when working with a brand designer?

Every designer works differently, so the process will vary depending on who you work with. In general, you should expect your designer to utilize strategic thinking and design principles to decide what your brand style should look like. Sometimes, this will involve some kind of brand strategy. Remember, great design isn’t just pretty, it’s intentional. 

Then, they’ll use a variety of tools, such as Adobe Illustrator, to craft each design element. Some form of brand guidelines will be included, so you’ll know the best way to use your brand elements after your branding project is complete.

What should I look for in a brand designer?

It’s extremely important to find a designer you feel confident in. You’ll be spending a lot of time with them and sharing internal details about your business, so you need to make sure you feel good about them before booking a project.

Not every designer will be a good fit. Each one has a different niche, style, specialty, and personality. So how do you choose? Here are a few tips:

1. Follow them on social media for a while. Don’t rush this! Binge their content and really get to know them. See if they’re the type of person you could get along with, and make sure you can trust them to take good care of you.
2. Read everything on their website. Learn about them, their values, their processes, their work ethic. Make sure they can deliver what you need. They may have a specific style or type of business they typically work with, so look through their portfolio to make sure their current style aligns with what you envision for your new brand identity.
3. Don’t decide based on price alone. If you just go for the cheapest option, you likely won’t get the best results. It’s an investment, but it’s well worth it to have a successful brand for your marketing teams to use!
4. If you still have questions, don’t be afraid to reach out and ask!

What do I need to have before hiring a brand designer?

First and foremost, you should have a good understanding of your business and target audience. Entrepreneurs with new businesses sometimes jump into a design project before knowing much beyond the kind of work they want to do. Understanding your brand values and mission, potential clients, and goals is crucial to project success. Your designer will be asking all these questions, so you should be prepared!

You also want to set aside funds for the project. Remember, a rebrand is an investment, so you’ll want to budget accordingly.

Bonus: I love it when clients work with a website copywriter either before or during the design process. It’s not always necessary, but when you have clear brand messaging written for you, it can make the design process smoother. Plus, your designer can create fun brand marks utilizing your taglines or slogans — and your copy will be ready if you decide to design a website!

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As a designer who has created several brand identities for entrepreneurs like you, I’ve seen how working with a brand designer can truly transform your business. By knowing a little of what to expect before hiring a brand designer, I hope you feel ready to take that next step.

If this post sparked more questions, or if you want to learn more about my process, I’m just a message away!

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Frequently Asked Questions