Creating a Brand Identity

What does it involve and how much should it cost?

The differences between a great brand identity and a terrible logo cannot be emphasised enough. There are lots of excellent reasons why you might be tempted to pick a Canva logo to represent your business but let’s talk about the reasons why you shouldn’t. They could mean the difference between success and failure.

 

Humans, as a whole, experience the world through their eyes and make decisions at lightning speed based primarily on what they see. When we browse online we dismiss content that doesn’t engage with us on an emotional level. Every day we’re bombarded with huge amounts of advertising and content we can’t possibly sift through, which makes visual impact all the more important.

Going for the cheap option

If you’re a new business owner, investing money in your branding may be further down your list of priorities than you’d care to admit. After all, you can procure a graphic designer on Fiverr or Upwork to create a logo for pocket change. But there are problems with this approach:

1. You won’t get much for your money

Your £10 graphic designer will not spend time getting to know you, your business and your target audience inside out. They’ll not ask the right questions, like:

 

•   ‘What makes your business better than the competition?’
•   ‘Why did you set up your business?’
•   ‘Who is your ideal customer?’
•   ‘What are your business plans for the next 1-5 years?’

 

Build a relationship with a trustworthy brand designer and you’ll have a friendly expert by your side for the long term.

2. You’ll get a logo, not a brand identity

They’ll probably not provide you with anything beyond a basic jpeg file which won’t suit all of your marketing formats and brand touchpoints (everywhere your brand appears to customers, e.g. email sign-off, social media graphics, office decor, shop signage etc). A brand identity is light years away from a logo anyone could knock up online. It is the visual representation of the values, ethos and voice of your business. In other words, it builds trust and communicates your brand personality, using a colour palette that reflects all of the above. It has been designed to resonate with your target audience and will provide you with a collection of image files to be used on your website, in print, on signage, on social media graphics etc.

What goes into creating your brand identity?

Now that we’re up to speed on the difference between a cheap logo and a brand identity, let’s look at the work that goes into the creation of quality branding.

Finding the right Brand Designer

Do your research before committing to a brand designer. Some brand designers are great with large corporations, others prefer to work with ethical businesses. Start by asking for recommendations from your network, you want to find a business whose ethos and values align with your own. If you look at our website and social media you’ll immediately learn we work primarily with purpose driven businesses and charities.


#designtip – check out your prospective designer’s website, social and portfolio: is their content up to date and do their designs resonate with you?

The Brand Identity Process

1. Getting to know each other

Once you’ve found your perfect designer it’s time to get to know each other. We like to have a long chat with new clients so we can fully understand their business. Why? Gathering information is crucial to delivering the best product we can for our clients.

 

#designtip – before chatting with a potential brand designer, really think about your business and make a list of your ideas, wants, and/or goals.

2. The branding brief

Following a chat about your goals and requirements, we draw up a brief outlining what we can do to help you create a brand that confidently communicates with your target market.


#designtip – always ensure your chosen brand designer provides you with a comprehensive brief that outlines their process and what they will provide for you with a clear breakdown of costs.

3. Research

Digging in deep to the background of your business and competitors is essential to a successful Brand Identity. This is the core difference between buying from Fiverr and commissioning a bespoke design. Depending on project and budget, the research stage can be anything from a Brand Reflection (see Getting to know your Brand ) to an in-depth Audit and Competitor Analysis. We like to involve our clients in the research stage, which can be anything from a collaborative Pinterest Board to an extensive Brand Workshop.

 

#designtip – Clients who collaborate on a mood board really help shape the final brand outcome. Communicating your tastes to your designer will help them design something that completely suits you.

4. The brand package and delivery

This is where we work our creative muscles to build your perfect brand identity. Using the information gathered during our in depth chats and research we get to work brainstorming, creating mood boards and sketching initial designs. Then we’ll send you a few concepts for your feedback. We work in three proofing stages to refine the Brand Identity to your specifications.

 

At the end of the process you can expect to receive a full brand kit comprising bespoke logo files in Jpeg, EPS, SVG and PNG formats, and a colour palette. This will come with branding guidelines to help you use each file correctly.

 

#designtip – never be afraid to ask your designer questions about how to use your brand kit; they will be thrilled to help you make the most of your exciting new branding.

How much your brand identity will cost?

Investing in great branding will be one of the best decisions you can make as a business owner. It will help you stake your claim as a professional and trustworthy company in a competitive marketplace.

Logo design – depending on your requirements and the designer/agency’s fees a logo could cost anywhere between £500 and £3,000+.

 

Full branding package – you can expect to pay £3,000+ for a brand identity package that offers:

 

•   A brand strategy
•   X number of logo ideas and revisions
•   Primary and secondary logo files
•   A sub mark logo
•   A colour palette
•   A brand pattern/background
•   Brand guidelines and font recommendations
•   Printed materials, if required
•   Website design, if required.

 

As you can see, a cohesive brand identity is designed to set your business up for success.

Committing to overhauling your business branding is a huge undertaking and not a decision to be taken lightly. This is why we highly recommend doing your research beforehand and finding a designer you really connect with and who has experience working with businesses like yours.

 

If you’re ready to embark on a new brand identity for your business, please get in touch for a friendly chat.

Photo credit: Jason Leung on Unsplash

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