The Exciting Conceptual Birth of a Brand
As a brand designer, I’ve had many conversations with entrepreneurs on the cusp of starting a new venture. A meeting with me is often the point where they’re geared up and ready to make their idea come to life by sharing it with the world. It’s exciting and energizing!
In those same conversations, I have also witness that excitement shift to the realization that branding isn’t cheap. A logo, a business card, a website, a brochure, social media graphics and the accompanying strategy can be very costly when working with a professional. While the big businesses of the world have budget and resources to launch, for the small business, the term “shoestring” often applies.
The Option to Do-It-Yourself
We live in a digital world where more and more people are moving towards entrepreneurship. There are also endless ways and means of establishing a brand economically. Do-it-yourself branding is certainly a reasonable option given the amount of online tools, low-cost (free) software and platforms that empower the driven entrepreneur.
For a designer like myself who makes his career creating brands for businesses, it’s deflating to see that my skillset can be replaced by all these newly available self-help avenues. On the other hand, innovation is what humans do, and in business, self-service is a practical, low-cost option that is here to stay. There’s no question, it’s a fantastic way for the a new business venture to kickstart into the marketplace!
To be clear, branding professionals bring an enormous amount of skill, talent and experience. They bring a lot to the table, and there’s a reason why hiring them is a gamechanger. They can help package a business in a way that immediately present ‘credibility’. However,
I’ve worked with small businesses my whole career, and have watched many of my family and friends struggle their way into entrepreneurship, I’ve decided that it would be a pleasure to start sharing things I’ve learned as a designer. If I can give some help someone who is trying to do their best with limited resources, then I think that would be wonderful to offer some insight.
