6 Basic Things You Need to Do Before Working with A Brand Designer
So you’ve either done the DIY logo thing or paid bottom dollar for a brand identity but it just doesn’t capture who you are or what you do and it’s giving out the wrong impression. Either way, you’ve decided enough is enough and it’s time to up your game and you’re ready to take the leap and invest in getting your brand identity done properly by a fab designer. But what do you need to know to get the most out of working with a brand designer and what should you expect? Read on before you make that call to a designer.
1. Be Clear on Your Brand Values
Before you start requesting quotes and proposals you first need to think about your business, and I mean really think about it. Your branding will represent your business, it’s the head, heart and soul of what makes your business likeable/loveable and turns one time customers into loyal super fans.
Every modern successful business stands by what they believe in. Communicating these values are important to keep you consistent and authentic whilst also attracting an audience of like minded-folk.
I suggest getting a pen and paper and taking some time to really dive into the personality of what your business stands for (note I said business, not you, although there is often an overlap of you that flows into your business it’s important to always keep the goals of the business in mind!)
2. Think About Your Business Goals
Before you even Google ‘Brand designer near me’ you need to be clear on what your goals are. What do you want your business to do for you? For example:
Support a comfortable lifestyle for you and your family?
Give you freedom?
Build a legacy?
Your designer needs to know this before they can offer the best possible solution for you. If you’re not 100% sure, your brand designer should help you refine any struggles you’re having in your business and work with you to build goals out of them. They may even reach the conclusion that you don’t need a complete brand overall and just a couple of website tweaks will get you to where you need to be in business.
3. Understand Your Niche
Many people try to work out the psychographics of their audience such as age, income and car they drive this is not your niche. Your niche is the problem your product or service is solving. Without having a clear outline of what your target markets pain-points are it will be hard for both you and your designer to build a strong sustainable brand that speaks and resonates with the right people.
4. Know What Are You Truly Selling
You may be selling online yoga classes or a luxury hand-poured candles but your business is more than that. I work with many small business owners who are so much more than what they sell. The truth is brands sell values, aspirations, interests, attitudes, or opinions attributing to a certain lifestyle, seeking to inspire, guide, and motivate people, with the goal of their product/service facilitating to a positive way of life. Whether you’re helping people save time, money or stress your brand designer should offer you a strategy session to help you narrow this down and build you a brand that sparks action among profitable clients who want to work with you and only you!
5. What Brand Experience do you Want to Offer?
As human begins, we are all looking to feel some sort of pleasurable emotion: Happiness, humour, reassured, thrill etc. Your brand should make people feel something. Branding has a big impact on our senses from the look and feel of your website to the smell of entering your shop or even the touch of the packaging you use. Your brand is what people will experience, remember and expect (then going beyond that expectation). Being clear in communicating this to your designer will help them design the depth, emotion and style of your business.
6. Captivate and Enchant with Style
Love, at first sight, isn’t just for the movies. We all have a good idea of what appeals to us, but the truth is we also need to attract and captivate to our dream clientele too. A good brand designer will work closely with you to offer invaluable advice and design solutions led by your values, niche and goals (design Strategy) to create something that your audience will fall in love with and is truly unique to you.
Your style needs to be consistent and easy to apply across all touch-points, from your website to social media right through to print. Being clear from the get-go with what design assets you need will help give your designer a 360 scope of when and where the brand elements will be used, helping them to offer effective solutions to woo the right people.
Top Tip: A great place to document your style inspiration is to have a Pinterest board and share it with your designer.
So there you have it! Branding is not just about pretty colour palettes and fancy logos. A lot of strategy and psychology goes into designing a brand that supports your dream of running a successful sustainable business that supports a lifestyle that’s comfortable and stress-free, leaving you to do what you do best.