When it comes to your branding, it is so important that you find a designer who truly understands you and your vision. After all, your brand can dictate so much about how you show up in the online space and in the real world.
As a brand designer myself, I completely understand how important strategic branding is for businesses and the first step to getting that is finding the right designer. But, it can sometimes feel overwhelming looking at so many designers and you may be wondering what you should be looking for and the questions to ask a brand designer to find the right fit.
So, to help you along your journey to rebranding (or branding for the first time), here are some key questions to ask a brand designer to not only make sure they are the perfect option for you but also to understand what to expect throughout the process.
Questions to Ask a Brand Designer
What’s your approach to designing a brand?
Every designer is going to work a bit differently. Some are going to have a specific approach. For example, my approach to design is rooted in psychology.
This means that your colors, fonts, logos, etc have a specific meaning and intention. This ensures that not only is the design something that you love and feel connected with but your ideal clients will also be drawn toward it because it’s speaking to them.
Some designers may not work this way or they may have a completely different approach to their designs so knowing what this looks like can give you insight into what is best for your individual business.
What does the timeline look like?
Timelines are so important when it comes to design projects. So, always ask about the timeline for the project and what that looks like. This is not only going to allow you to understand what the project week(s) are going to look like but also what is needed from you before the brand design actually kicks off.
Some important questions to ask when it comes to timelines are:
- What is needed from me before the project actually starts?
- When can I expect drafts of the brand?
- When/where do I need to leave feedback?
- When can I expect the final brand to be delivered?
These questions will give you a better understanding of when your brand itself is going to be completed, but also when you need to be available throughout the process. Some designers may have more strict deadlines when it comes to giving feedback than others.
Understanding when you are going to be needed throughout the process will help you get the most out of the brand design as you’ll be able to leave your thoughts and collaborate with your designer to create something you love.
Is there brand strategy included? If not, can we add it?
As we talked about earlier, some designers will base your design on strategy and included in that may be an actual brand strategy document that you are able to refer back to and share with other people (ie other people in your business, copywriters, etc).
However, all brand designers may not offer this type of strategy or it may be something that is an additional cost to the project. Understanding what is or isn’t included when it comes to brand strategy is important for a few reasons:
- It gives you an additional insight into how the designer functions and what the design is based on. At the end of the day, you want a design that connects with your clients and the first step to doing that is with a brand strategy.
- It gives you and anyone else connected with your business a better understanding of how your brand functions. The brand strategy can be used to help inform other decisions in your business, such as your brand messaging, website design, etc.
If the brand strategy is not inherently included in the package, you can definitely ask if you can add it on for an additional investment to make sure you have this to use in the future across the rest of your business!
What’s included in brand strategy and why is it important?
Just knowing whether or not brand strategy is part of the package is only one part of a two-part question. The follow-up question is asking what is actually included in brand strategy. . The term “brand strategy” can really mean a lot of different things depending on the design you’re considering.
For example, you may find that one brand designer has brand strategy, but it only goes into detail about your ideal clients and not much more. Others may talk about your brand identity and voice but not mention your ideal clients.
My strategy, as an example, dives into your brand messaging, brand voice, ideal clients, archetypes, and more to give you a really solid understanding of your overall brand and how to use it.
You can also ask them why brand strategy and messaging are even important in the first place. Not only can this give you further insights into how you are actually able to use your strategy, but also how they use it and apply it to your brand design.
What deliverables will be included?
This is probably the first thing you think of when you are coming up with questions to ask a brand designer and for good reason. You always want to make sure you know what all is included in the design.
How many logos, brand marks, icons, etc are you going to get? Does it include a color palette and font suite? Are there any additional deliverables like a brand pattern that are included?
You may even find that some designers will include things like social media templates, business cards, or other collateral in their packages. These may also be additional assets that you can add on.
What does future brand support look like?
Your brand is most likely going to change and evolve over time and your brand design may need to as well. For example, you may add new offerings or programs that you want to feature as a sub-brand to your business with their own logos. For a lot of my clients, this has looked like launching a signature course or starting a podcast.
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Or, you may find that you need additional assets created in the future like packaging, PDFs, book covers, or anything else. While this may not be something you do right now, it is good to know if your brand designer can help with this in the future or if you are going to have to find another designer to work with after your brand is completed.
How many options do I get to choose from?
Finally, the last of the questions to ask a brand designer is how many options you get to choose from. When it comes to this, there really is no right or wrong answer, but it is still important to ask to gain a better understanding of what their process looks like.
Some designers work off of what is called the one-concept method. This process basically gives you one concept or direction of the brand that is then tweaked and updated based on your feedback.
Other designers may give you a few different initial directions to choose from before nailing down one option and building the rest of the brand based on that. For example, this may look like creating a few different primary logos, choosing one direction to go, and then building the rest of the logo suite off of that logo.
You may also find that some designers only show you one color palette or font suite options and others give you a few to choose from.
Again, there is no right or wrong answer here that you need to look for. You just want to make sure you understand how the process actually works so that you are not surprised when it comes to the actual brand design weeks.
Final Thoughts on Questions for Brand Designers
So, hopefully, these questions to ask a brand designer help point you in the right direction and pick the designer that works best for you and your business. At the end of the day, this is a decision that is going to be personal and specific to your business and isn’t something you want to jump into blind. If you are still looking for that perfect designer who checks all of your boxes, I would love to chat. You can click here to learn more about my brand and web design services or you can head over here to get in touch and chat about your business and your vision for your brand.
