As a brand designer, if I’m honest, branding design mistakes stick out to me like a sore thumb. After years of hands-on experience, I know what makes a good branding design.
So, if you’re gearing up to invest in branding design, this is my list of things that you need to know to avoid first. You’re welcome.
Things to NOT Do in Your Branding Design
Use Zero Brand Strategy
Going in blind to your branding design with no strategy to guide you is one of the worst things you can do for your business. You’re jumping in headfirst, and while I commend your ambition, you need a little gameplan before you can get started.
Your branding design should always be rooted in strategy, before anything else. If you don’t start there, you’ll end up going around and around in circles, just trying to land on a design that feels right.
Not only is this a mistake that results in, frankly, bad design, but it’s also costly. Because if you go into this without a strategy, without thinking about how this design is actually going to help you book your dream clients, you’ll end up investing in numerous brand designers, eventually landing on some branding that still doesn’t feel right.
Design for Yourself – Not Your Client
This is the most common mistake I see solo entrepreneurs make. They are so close to their brand (which, don’t get me wrong, I love) that they’re designing for their preferences, not their client’s. And unfortunately, that’s not always what’s going to convert clients!
Don’t get me wrong – we don’t have to axe everything you love. We’ll still make a brand that feels like you, we’ll just have to compromise a little bit to make sure that you’ll get the return on investment that you deserve.
Copy Your Competition
Why would you copy the people you’re trying to differentiate from?
Your success lies in what makes you different from your competition. What customers will get from you that they won’t get anywhere else. And your branding design should highlight that. It should be a part of the experience.
Follow Trends
In the same vein, following trends can make your branding design look like everyone else’s, or worse: Outdated.
Sure, trends can be an important part of your research, but in today’s world where we’re surrounded by rapidly growing and fading microtrends, your branding can quickly feel outdated and/or lost in the sea of every other business.
Use AI Branding
Frankly, AI sucks.
It’s terrible at design, it creates lifeless imagery, it doesn’t use strategy at all, and it wastes like 15 water bottles making something shitty. I’ll spare you my opinions, but if you want to hear them all, I have a whole other blog post all about it.
Focus Only on Your Logo
I hear all the time about how “your logo is the first impression of your business” and “you only really need a logo” and blah blah blah. It’s not true. None of it.
Your logo is actually such a small makeup of your brand. Your brand is a full experience, and your logo design is just a piece of the puzzle. You need to consider how your brand communicates your positioning and value across visuals, messaging, colors, typography, design elements… Not just one small graphic.
Side note: For the love of God, please hear me: Your logo does not need to be bigger. In fact, it probably should be smaller.
You can learn more about why logo design isn’t as important as you think it is here.
Nous Sommes Creative | Brand and Web Designer
As your branding designer, I’ll never let you fall into the trap of any of these mistakes. I know how to make a brand that actually boosts your business.
So, if you’re ready to invest once and for all into a branding design that clients can’t stop saying yes to, you can inquire here.
