Working with Branding
Branding is a critical part of your business identity and of your website design. Without branding there would be no cohesion within your web design – a mix of random colours, fonts and patterns would look a mess! Not to mention the ever-important logo which lets customers know who you are and sets you apart from your competitors.
So what is Branding anyway?
Branding is the carefully created visual styling for your brand.
Of course, this includes your logo which can come in many different forms depending on your business and the designer you work with. Typically, you would see a primary logo which you’d use on the main menu of your site and on most other collateral such as business cards. You may also get a secondary and alternate logos designed for you which are lovely ways to re-enforce your visual brand identity.
A logo may be a simple typographic mark with simply the name of your business in a carefully chosen font and layout. It may also include an icon or letter mark (usually the initials of your business name) for added interest.
Now, you’ll need more than just a logo…
Branding also includes a Style Guide with visual “rules” to help guide the design of anything within your brand. Style Guides will include font choices (usually 2-3 for most businesses) and your brand colours.
You may also have some patterns made up for you by your designer which can add visual interest and texture to your brand.
Do I need Branding?
In short, yes! Every business needs branding of some sort. It doesn’t always need to be complex; in fact, many large corporations have very simple branding.
Just as you have a system for keeping your finances in order, your business needs a system to keep your visual identity in order. Otherwise you risk your clients now recognising you when they see your business somewhere online.
At a minimum you would do well to have a logo, a small colour pallet of 2-3 colours and one dedicated font for your business. Many, or more honestly most, business have more that this in their branding kits, but as a start it’s enough to keep things clean and collected.
Who does Branding?
Branding can be done by anyone, but that doesn’t mean you SHOULD have just anyone create your business’s branding ;)
When just starting out, creating your own logo and style guide can be the best option since budgets are usually tight and you are still learning about your business. Be careful to avoid anything too flashy or intricate unless you are a designer yourself! Overly ambitious amateur designs can lower the perceived value of the services your business offers, so sticking to a simple logo, font and colour pallet is safest at this stage.
That’s why we have an entire module dedicated to branding inside my signature website design course for entrepreneurs Work Your Website!
Sometimes your web designer will offer branding as part of their packages or as an add-on. This is a great fit if you are growing your business and need a more polished look and a new website all at once, and you can sometimes save a bit by bundling these two pieces together.
For a more strategic branding experience, a Brand Designer will offer you a thorough brand kit which pairs with your business goals and your competitive market. This is a perfect fit for more established businesses, or for those who have a hard time standing out amongst their peers.
All of these are great options, depending on where you are in your business! The main thing is to make sure there is consistency within your branding to ensure that you have a cohesive visual identity for your business.
How does Branding work with my Website?
When working on a website most designers will always start with branding. It’s like setting up an artist’s pallet before they start to paint.
You’ll likely start with a brand questionnaire that helps your designer understand your business better. You may have a strategy call to hash out the specifics of your business and to help your designer learn more about your ideal clients. From there, they’ll create a moodboard which they'’ll use to make sure you’re on the same page with shared visual references.
Once you have a clear plan of action, they’ll sketch out a typographic logo and then create a vector version of the design, along with a secondary logo and letter mark if needed. Often they’ll start creating your logo in black and white first before creating the colour pallet for the brand so they can adjust the logo if needed to incorporate your colours.
Finally, you’ll likely receive a Brand Style Guide or Brand Board which lays out your new brand, brand colors, brand fonts and likely some photographic style references.
Check out this post from my four-part series walking through the entire web design process to see what it looks like in practice.
What do I give a Web Designer if I have Branding already?
Great question! For most designers to get started working on your website with established branding they’ll need your Brand StyleGuide, the font files, logo files and pattern files. These are usually delivered to you as a big bundle by your Brand Designer so sharing whatever they gave you is often exactly what I need!
