Should you DIY your branding?
Branding isn’t just about looking nice. Despite some commonly held beliefs (“it’s just about picking some nice complementary colours, right?!”), branding needs to be designed strategically to ensure your business stands out from the crowd, and connects with your ideal customer in the right way. Thanks to the lockdown-induced boom in small businesses, standing out is more important than ever, and branding can help you achieve this - if it’s done right.
That’s the key point: anyone can pick out a few shades of blue to serve as your business’ colour palette, and select a couple of quirky fonts, but actually creating a strong, strategic brand identity is another matter entirely.
If you’re considering DIY-ing your new business’ branding, it’s worth considering some of the pros and cons of undertaking it yourself.
The pros of DIY-ing it
If you’ve got an eye for design, you might feel up to taking on the challenge of branding your business yourself. Perhaps you’ve done some graphic design in the past, or have taken a course or two in branding. The primary reason for going down this path tends to be saving money by not paying an external service provider. There are also plenty of tools out there to help you with DIY branding, from Adobe Suite, which requires a little prior knowledge, to Canva, which takes user friendly to a new level. If you’re just starting out and really don’t have any budget to invest in your business, DIY branding is a good start. However, there are a few things to bear in mind, which brings us to the cons of DIY branding.
The not-so-great things about DIY-ing it
The only thing worse than no branding is bad branding. Your branding is closely tied to your reputation, so be careful about what you put out into the world with your business’ name on it. If you’re really a novice at design, and it shows (hey, we can’t all be good at everything!), you risk harming your brand and building a shoddy reputation for yourself. It’s usually easy to tell if your branding has been done by a professional, or whether you’ve gone down the DIY route, and your potential clients might form opinions about you and your business based on your decision. You might think you’re saving money now, but in the long run you might end up costing yourself more.
DIY branding also takes a lot of time, especially if you need to factor in learning how to use new design programs. That time could be spent on areas of your business that will actually help you make money in the short term, like reaching out to potential clients or meeting with potential stockists. You can stick to what you do best, whilst saving yourself hours of sweat and frustration.
The cons of hiring a pro
Beyond the cost aspect, there is some time involved with hiring a professional. Any good branding expert will need to gather info about your business before they can get started with designing a brand identity. You’ll be expected to provide information about your ideal customer, your services or products, and perhaps also share your business goals. Some designers also expect clients to provide visual inspiration in the form of a mood board, so if you are considering working with a professional, check to see what they expect of you before you get started, as well as setting your own expectations.
Additionally, if you opt for a big-name design agency instead of an individual or independent studio, you risk your project running into the tens of thousands of pounds. Large agencies often won’t accept bite-sized jobs like branding for a small business, but if they do, you’ll likely be competing for their attention with major brands that they’ll want to focus on.
The benefits of hiring a pro
Professional designers have spent years honing their craft, whether that’s through studying or experience - or a combination of the two. Thanks to this experience, they’re able to create branding that’s strategically tailored to your ideal customers and will help you build a strong brand reputation over time.
Some professionals will also be specialists in branding for certain types of businesses, whether that’s fashion brands, food & drink brands, or in the case of Mumfolk, female-centric brands. These specialists know what it takes to create a strong brand in your niche: they’ve done it before, and they likely have a sizable portfolio of case studies for you to look at to help quell your fears about investing. Hiring a small agency or individual, as opposed to a major industry, also ensures your brand receives the love, care and attention it deserves. You know your business will be in safe hands, and will end up with a personalised, unique brand identity that you love.
