Have you ever nervously handed someone your business card? Or made an excuse for your website and said, "It's a work in progress," when it's been that way for months?
Wait a minute. First, what's visual branding?
Visual branding isn't just "making things look pretty." It's everything visual about your business. It's your logo and business cards, it's the images you share on Instagram, it's the look of your website, it's the way you set up a booth at a trade show, and it's your product packaging.
You picked something you like but it doesn't match your business.
Your favorite color is blue and you love the hand-lettered fonts that you've seen around lately, so you put those two things together and got yourself a logo! But... you never actually accounted for the business you actually have. If you created your brand based on what you think looks good on letterhead, you're not going to get a worthwhile result.
You don't know how to expand on it.
So far your visual branding just means putting your logo on stuff. Every couple of weeks you come up with a new color scheme and you love playing with all of the free fonts you discover online.
It already looks dated/hasn't grown with your business.
Sometimes a business change is obvious - like changing the name. Then you know you need a new logo. But what about when your name stays the same but the work you do changes? For example when "Aaron's Art" changes from printed fine art photos ready to hang on your wall to including reclaimed wood tables and wine racks. Obviously, a logo featuring a camera won't work anymore. Or maybe you picked a font that seemed so cool at the time, but then it became trendy, and now you see it everywhere.
Make sure your logo/branding fits your business, not you.
When you are a small business owner - and especially if you're a maker - it is hard to differentiate yourself from your business. You're the one elbow deep in samples or maybe you've had to take out a business loan to make your business happen. And maybe you even named your business after you.
Of course, we hope you like your branding, but it's more important that the branding suits your business and attracts customers. And that very well may be something different from what you think is pretty.
Pick fonts and colors, then stick with them.
If you've worked with a professional designer in the past, they most likely provided you with the font name(s) and colors. If you have deviated from using these, stop. To build brand loyalty and recognition, CONSISTENCY is the name of the game. How can you expect customers to recognize your logo or brand if you're constantly changing it?
Even if you aren't 100% happy with your branding, you can still build awareness by making the intentional choice to be consistent so that customers can at least have the chance to learn to recognize your logo.
When in doubt - make it simple.
If you're going the DIY route, choose a simple logo - you know, one that doesn't look wildly cool or elaborate. The more of a statement something makes, the more likely it is to age poorly. Of course, you want to make a statement about your business, but unless you're hiring a pro to do your branding, keep it simple. Don't try to do any tricks.
Getting visual branding just right takes time and hard work. I mean, it's literally everything visual about your business. Everything! But when people you've never met can "get" your business at a simple glance, a world of possibilities opens up for you.
