Visual branding is going to look different depending on which stage of business you are in. As you grow, you’re going to have different needs, different priorities and different budgets. Starting up a business is scary, time consuming, and stressful. There are many demands on your time with only so many hours in the day and not a lot of budget. There are a lot of decisions to be made, some of which have lasting repercussions. Some times, an opportunity comes out of the blue and you have to all of a sudden put all of your energy into that. Phew. There’s also a lot of pressure to start making money ASAP and there are a lot of things you don’t know you don’t know. It’s hard to see what things could be like in the future.
One of my clients, Bubbles & Balms, has been making soaps and skin care products for 10 years now. They’ve grown from farmers markets to wholesale and they now have their own boutique! When they started out, they need something to go on product packages and business cards quickly. They had some time and less money so did a lot of things themselves. They were very focused on the product development part of their business and “good enough” = done. They had a good name, an honorable mission (to help bathers care for their dry & sensitive skin each day) and they just needed a logo to brand their business.
Here are some tips to help you get your branding done at the startup stage
What you need to get started: If you’re just starting out, you need to know the name of your business, who your target audience is, and how you want them to feel about your business before you sit down to design.
What you’re going to do next: You’re going to pick out 3-5 brand colors (hint: color psychology) and 1-2 fonts (hint: font psychology + usability across channels) for a logo. You may also add a simple illustration or icon to go with it. Keep it simple.
What does “done” look like?: Done looks like putting together a simple logo in Canva enough for you to make a business card. You’ll also want to write down your color and font choices.
A good thing to know now to help you later: in order to convert more strangers into customers, you need brand recognition which means using the same colors/fonts/shapes/style over and over so make your initial choices wisely.
Skip the struggle
If you are keen to skip one of the many struggles startups have, join the Make It Club. The Make it Club is a done-with-you sprint where you walk away with a professional brand kit you can apply on your own from day one. Get branding off your plate and move on to what you are good at (or the next fire to be put out).