5 ways to build your branding for less

by | Business

5 ways to build your branding for less

My first logo consisted of my initials in a square with a stock image of a plant in the background. I’m pretty sure the font was Times New Roman too! Considering I create branding for a living, it was not my best piece of work, but I was quite proud of it at the time.

 

Firstly, what is branding?
 

It’s more than just a logo, it’s your unique style that covers everything from your website to your social media, packaging to business cards. It normally consists of a set of colour, font and style rules, with set graphics and images. Normally you would have these set out in something called a branding identity, a document with all of this compiled in one place to refer to and share with those you work with.

If your business is at the beginning of your branding journey, or perhaps you’ve fallen out of love with the branding you’ve got, here are five ways to make something new without breaking the bank.

Over the last few years logo generators have popped up quicker than Starbucks locations.

And for roughly the same price as a cappuccino, you can get a logo made. Whilst I’m not the biggest fan of them, I think they do have a place on this list. If your business does not rely largely on online marketing or social media, perhaps most of your clients come through word of mouth, a quick generator logo may be all you need. However, there are some notable downsides. Most of these logos you will not be able to trademark, they will be very simple, and a lot of people will be using the same graphics as you. If you do decide to go with a generator, keep it simple and focus on a standout font, that is memorable but easy to read.
Tabitha

Pretty much everyone knows about Fiverr by this point.

As someone who started off selling Fiverr gigs, I know there are some great designers on there!

If you have a very small budget, you may be able to find yourself a great designer for less but spend your time carefully finding the right designer to go with. Only trust the highest star reviews and check customer feedback before picking.

It’s also worth checking that you get the source file included with your logo. And for the price you pay, there will be little collaboration with the designer, so make sure you describe what you want in detail because you will probably have to pay extra if you want lots of revisions!

DIY has become a big thing over the course of the pandemic, and branding hasn’t escaped this! If you have a creative flair and the software know-how, there’s nothing to stop you from giving it a go yourself.

Focus on simplicity, don’t overcomplicate things with a complex design. Branding works best when it’s cleverly designed. If design isn’t your thing, then I would advise against doing it yourself, you need to ask yourself how much your time is worth? You may end up losing more money through wasting time, than hiring someone to do it.

Fun fact, Google’s original logo cost nothing! It was created by one of the founders on a do-it-yourself graphics site called GIMP.

Now more than ever we need to support small businesses, and like myself, a lot of small branding agencies have very competitive prices. Starting from around £350, you can get a great logo designed and ready to launch across your platforms. Not only that, but you have the chance to work collaboratively with someone to craft exactly what you want and what will work best for your business!
 
The saying, ‘you get what you pay for’ is true about many things in life, and branding doesn’t escape this! The Pepsi logo, which was redesigned in 2008, cost one million dollars. Whilst you don’t have to spend that much, nothing will beat a well-crafted branding identity (remember the difference between a logo and a branding identity?). Not only will it cover your logo, but pretty much every other design element your brand will need! And if it makes your business as notable as Pepsi, then it’s worth every penny!
 
There are many factors to take into consideration when creating your branding, and I would always suggest investing what you can safely put towards it. But don’t be put off if you must create something yourself. As Google showed, it doesn’t have to cost a lot to be effective!
 
Find Tabetha here:
Website: Www.thenightdesignstudio.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/thenightdesignstudio

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