7 Ways To Know You Found the Right Brand Designer
You’ve made it. After weeks, months, or even years of DIYing your business branding – using your resourcefulness to make your business goals work even on a brand new budget – you’ve made it. You’ve made it to the stage where you can start your search and find a brand designer, and give your business the transformation it deserves.
Let’s take a moment to pause and celebrate that! This is so exciting! After working with business owners in every stage – those still dreaming up their brand, those in the thick of trying to do it all themselves, those growing rapidly trying to get their feet under them – I recognize the yearning to invest fully in your brand design and do it right.
Now that you are ready for that investment, of course you want to make sure you find the perfect designer! And chances are you follow quite a few brand designers on Instagram, right? Each with their own look, personality, pricing, and availability.
Choosing the right person comes down to more than JUST design style and cost. Below you will find 7 other vital things to consider when choosing what brand designer to work with. Let’s chat about it!
You Have Found The Right Brand Designer If...
They Are Very Familiar With Your Target Audience
There are brand designers out there for every niche, and finding one who specializes in your industry will make a massive difference. Personally, I work with health and wellness brands. That focus allows me to research target audiences within that niche in-depth and be well-aware of current trends and movements within that space.
You should also know your target audience in and out, but it helps so much if your designer specializes in your unique needs. With so many designers out there, finding a specialist is the first and easiest way to narrow down the search.
Their Design Style Aligns With Your Target Audience, Not Just Your Personal Taste
Of course you want a brand design you personally feel aligned with. Especially if you are a small business owner taking on most of the roles and responsibility. Having a brand design that excites you and motivates you to show up every day is game changing. Also, for many creative business models, infusing your own personality into the brand can be an important marketing move!
That being said – the ultimate goal is to have your brand align with the audience you are trying to reach. And if you don’t fit into your own ideal customer persona, your brand designer will help identify that customer and design for them first and foremost.
This goes in the other direction too! An experienced designer makes sure their work is adaptable to the needs of your audience, not just their personal taste either. This means you should look for a designer who is consistent in their overall style, but diverse in the designs they are crafting for each client.
Click here to explore diverse brand designs I have created.
Their Values Align With Yours
It is not enough that you find a designer whose style and niche aligns with yours, if their values do not. I don’t just mean your values of honesty, transparency, or work ethic – of course those sorts of values aligning is vital.
I also mean values in their design process. Perhaps you value efficiency, and hope for a speedily built brand that can launch on your fast-paced timeline. Or perhaps you value collaboration, revisions, and overall thoughtful design that may take longer to achieve. If the second is true, a brand design produced during a day-long intensive may leave you feeling hurried and incomplete, worrying that your brand wasn’t crafted with thoughtful strategy (even if it was!) A shorter or a longer timeline is not what guarantees an effective brand design, but if the timeline of your designer doesn’t fit with your ideal workflow then it may leave you unsatisfied no matter how strong the brand design itself actually is.
Be aware of what will make you feel satisfied and heard during the brand design process, and be upfront about that during your designer search so that you can find someone whose process aligns.
Personally, I love a balance. I provide my clients with ample opportunity to give feedback and refine their ideas, while also using my streamlined process to build their dream brand in 6 weeks total. I create an exciting and joyful branding experience, not a difficult or time-consuming one. You can read about each step in my design process here.
They Support Your Big Plans and Help You Narrow Down Your Ideas
Often my role as a brand designer transforms into a cheerleader, a brand coach, and a friend as I work with my clients. You and I will spend time discussing your big picture business goals and the daily nitty gritty.
Your brand designer can listen to your big plans and help identify how they affect your ideal brand design. Our role shouldn’t be to do it all, or make every single idea happen. That can be confusing for your audience and ineffective for your top priority goals. Instead, your designer should help you air out your ideas, pick out the best of the best, make their own suggestions, and narrow everything down to what is most important for your customers.
They Give You Needed Feedback And You Feel Comfortable Recieving it From Them
The right brand designer won’t be a yes man, and it’s important to be ready for that. But, they won’t expect you to be either! Make sure you and your brand designer both feel comfortable sharing constructive feedback.
Clarify at what points during the design process you will have opportunities to give that feedback and ask for needed revisions. Make sure you understand what types of revisions are included in your contract.
And beyond that, during your discovery call try to get a feel for what it would be like giving and receiving feedback from that designer. Make sure your communication styles feel aligned.
Their Pricing Pushes You
Of course pricing will be a big factor in which designer you end up selecting. But that does not mean you should be looking for the least expensive person! Here’s why –
Your designer’s pricing shouldn’t fall far below industry standard. If they are charging you too low, that is actually not a good sign. You know you get what you pay for. Someone who is truly an expert in their field will charge properly for that expertise.
Also, your willingness to pay properly shows how much you will invest in the process too. The right brand designer will be clear about what your part in the process will be, and your willingness to do your end too will have a vital impact on the outcome.
They Give You Clear Deliverables, a Contract, and Set Expectations
In the world of contract work, it is not enough to count on a good connection or a pretty design style to confirm you have found the right brand designer. Make sure they follow all that up with clearly outlining what you can expect from your investment. That includes things like a timeline, when and how they are accessible for communication, what revisions are available, and how they are willing to help with implementing your completed brand design assets. Even ask about what support is available if you need something after your current project is wrapped up.
Asking these questions in advance will save you from headaches and much more. And the right designer will have all the answers you need readily available – and even better, in writing.
Are You Ready to Find a Brand Designer?
As you continue your search for your brand designer, I would love to schedule a free call with you! During that call, you’ll have a chance to see if we are the right fit for your needs. Schedule a call with the link above or click here to ask any initial questions you have. I am looking forward to hearing from you!
