As with just about every profession, there are different disciplines within graphic design. It seems like every time I see a job posting for a ‘Graphic Designer,’ the expectations for that role are astronomical. They want their new hire to be an artist, know brand design, be a web designer & developer, a social media manager, a photographer and photo editor, a videographer and video editor, marketing expert, copywriter, event planner, IT support, and more.

Guess how many of those things actually fall within the role of ‘graphic designer.’

There are different types of ‘graphic design.’ For example, I am a brand & web designer. That means that I create visually cohesive and compelling brand identities and websites. However, it also means that I help to design the brand strategy that goes into the visual identity. Things like brand mission, vision, values, voice.

There are graphic designers who specialize in book covers, or layouts, or iconography or illustrations only. Or there are those who do specialize in things like social media and copywriting while also being a ‘graphic designer.’

I don’t see brand design as graphic design

I see graphic design as being a part of brand design. As mentioned above, brand design goes beyond the visual. It dives deep into your why for starting your business, as well as your mission, vision, values, and voice. It also utilizes psychology to best appeal to your target audience.

When working with me, the visual element of brand design doesn’t even come into play until the strategy is figured out. I want to ensure that the visuals I create are cohesive and that they are all developed with your brand’s personality in mind.

There are many reasons to invest in brand design

If you’re just getting started with your business, investing in a full brand design may not be the best move. It’s potentially a lot of money to spend just to test the waters. But, say you’re all in on your business and you’re ready to start seeing some serious growth. Then a strategic brand identity could be extremely beneficial.

Brand Strategy

We’ll start with the backbone of the identity here. Hiring a brand designer to create your brand’s visuals should always include brand strategy. If it doesn’t, then you’ll likely find yourself needing to rebrand very soon. Without the defined strategic approach to your brand, your visual identity won’t do much. It will not be able to effectively convey who you are as a business. It won’t communicate your why clearly to the people you want to work with. And it won’t tell them why they should choose you.

Laying the strategic foundation before doing any design work is extremely important. It will ensure that your brand and visuals will align seamlessly for a long time.

Cohesion & Recognition

Having a fully fleshed-out brand identity from a professional brand designer will ensure that your visuals not only look amazing, but that they will also always be cohesive (as long as you follow the brand guidelines that your designer provides). The more cohesive something is, the easier it is to recognize in different situations. The easier it is to recognize your brand, the more people will think about and see your branding everywhere. The more they recognize you, the more likely they are to patronize your business at some point or another.

It can often take many touchpoints ([8 seems to be the most popular number](https://www.11outof11.com/blog/2024-revenue-guide-how-many-marketing-touches-are-needed-to-gain-more-sales#:~:text=Some experts say you need,what’s best for your company.) of touches) for someone to take the plunge as a consumer. And that means that the easier your brand is to recognize, the more business you’re very likely to get.

Increased Professionalism, Legitimacy, and Trust

Having an established brand presence helps your business appear to be more established and legitimate. When your brand designer creates a visual identity to convey the story of your brand, your audience sees that story and your values in just about everything used for marketing. Clear messaging, through copywriting and visuals, helps to establish trustwith your customers. And then providing an experience that lives up to the values that were described through your visuals further establishes that trust. This can look different depending on your industry, but a few examples that stand out are:

• high-quality products or services
• customer service experience
• public perception
• brand mission, values, reputation

Your brand designer will ensure that your visuals express your mission and values, and they may even help you design your client/customer experience. In my own experience, I love talking through a client’s processes and ideas to make their customer’s experience memorable (in the best way).

You get to focus on what you do best

Trust me, I completely get it when anyone says, “I’ll just do it myself,” for whatever reason. Maybe it’s because, “it’s my brand and I know myself the best” or, “a designer is going to cost too much,” or, “it’s just a logo, I can do that myself.” I’ve fallen into all of these traps. I’m still in the “costs too much” trap for some things. And honestly, there’s nothing wrong with that – if it’s really not financially feasible right now, then that’s okay. It’s not financially feasible right now.

But if the idea of doing your own brand design or content creation or marketing – whatever it may be – on top of doing what you actually love doing in your business is crippling and overwhelming… hire a brand designer (or marketing specialist or social media manager – whatever you need) to take that off your plate. Especially if you are not a designer or you don’t like creating visuals – don’t put that stress on yourself.

Your own mental health will improve because you’ll get to focus on what you do best, as well as what you enjoy doing the most. You won’t be stressing yourself out over “why doesn’t this color match that color?” or “my logo doesn’t fit here,” because you’ll have a brand designer who will worry about all of that for you. And they’ll create a beautiful solution to your branding problems. When you invest in a brand designer to create your brand’s identity, they will likely approach it from a perspective you had never considered before.

Brand identities can (and should) last for years

Everyone goes through a rebrand at some point. Look at Coldwell Banker, the real estate giant. They just rebranded in 2019 and before that, they hadn’t rebranded in over 40 years. Creating a brand identity based off of current trends might help your brand stand out for the time being, or at least as long as that trend is, well… trending. But what happens with trends?

They get so completely overused and overdone and everyone gets tired of seeing them. This cycle of “rise in popularity” to “complete irrelevance” can happen extremely quickly. A lot goes into your branding – why would you want to risk it becoming obsolete in a matter of months?

A good brand designer can create an identity for you that will stand out, regardless of current trends. Because it’s going to be based entirely on you and your business. No two businesses are exactly the same, just like no two people are exactly the same. You’re in business for a reason. You found a hole that needed filling and you filled it. Your brand identity should be just as unique as your business.

A brand designer will focus on your audience

Where you as a person and business owner may have a specific vision of what you want your business’ visuals to look like, your brand designer will ensure that your brand identity appeals to your target audience. It’s highly unlikely that you are your own target audience, and your target audience is likely drawn in by different things than would draw you in.

Now, this is not to say that your brand designer won’t care whether or not you like the designs they come up with. Because that’s not the case at all, at least not with me. (I suppose I can’t speak for all other brand designers). I absolutely want you to love your new brand identity. This is why I ask for an inspiration board from you early on in the process of working with me. I want to see what kinds of things you like. And then after defining your brand strategy and focusing on your target audience, I work hard to create something that your target audience will never forget andensure that it fits in with your vision for your business.

But you want to make sales as a business owner, so one of the highest priorities of your brand designer is ensuring that it appeals to the people that you want to attract. While DIY-ing your own branding, it’s easy to lose focus of the target audience in favor of what you like.

Good brand design is an investment

Working with a brand designer to create the best identity for your business very likely won’t be cheap. It’s an investment. I like to share the meme where there’s an image of a triangle and at each point, there’s a different word: fast, good, cheap. And the caption is “pick two.”

In these cases, something is always going to be invested or sacrificed. If you choose “fast” and “good,” it definitely won’t be cheap, so the investment here is money. If you choose “good” and “cheap,” that project will likely take months, if not much, much longer. This means the investment here is time. If you choose “fast” and “cheap,” you’re going to sacrifice quality and this could hurt your business more than it could help it, so I’d advise caution when pursuing this route, as it’s likely you either won’t be happy with the end result or you’ll need to rebrand again in the near future.

If you’re at a point where you are ready to take that leap and make that investment into yourself and your business, reach out! I’m currently booking for June 2024. I’d love to hear all about your business and work with you to create a memorable, long-lasting identity for your brand that will help you boost sales and grow into your next goals!