How can you find the right designer for your brand identity?

It’s critical to communicate what exactly do you want the brand to achieve. More often than not, the briefs given to agency are ineffective or key message are lost in translation. As first step, choose how would you like to communicate, the objective.

Market orientation is critical, usually overlooked at this stage. Often, a new ‘design’ is not needed if this area has been properly scoped from the start.

Brand identity is the visible elements of a brand, such as colour, design, and logo that identify and distinguish the brand in consumers' minds. As a Brand Manager, you need to first put together a Brand Brief which should bring out – Brand Vision and Mission; Brand Promise, Target Audience, Brand Positioning and USP (Unique Selling Propositions), Key Competitors and Competitive Advantage. Once this document is put together we can share this with various Brand Creative Agencies who will help come up with a Brand Identity which delivers on the above promise. Launching a Brand is like planting a sapling and needs to watered and nourished to grow !!

Make your designer your strategic partner and stick with him to achieve long term goals. Once 100% clarity is established in your designer's mind, he will start suggesting you better ideas to differentiate your brand.

The most critical aspect is to have a clear and concise view of what you actually want. It is only then that you can articulate your needs and well present your brief with total conviction. If you understand your needs, purpose, target group, tonality and are able to synergize it with the overall brand ethos, most part of the work is already done. A glimpse of the designers portfolio; and the assessment of alignment with the brief received and the execution they've carried out would then make it easier to choose the expert.

In my opinion the most important factor in a Client Agency partnership is mutual respect. If you find an agency partner too large when you have limited budgets they won't put the right resources. If the agency is too small you won't respect their opinion. So what you need is a relationship of equals. Where they put the best resources on the job and you value the quality for the money that you are paying. Eventually it's mutual respect that wins the day.

When I'm searching for an artist, I curate my feeds ruthlessly to follow those that closely match my vision. I let the decision simmer, I scroll through their profiles, read their testimonials and shortlist perhaps two each day. An artist whose work I love might not be in my budget or they might not be taking on more clients, so I always keep searching until I land on someone who can not only illustrate my vision, but also capture what it means to be Brinda. I've been able to find and execute designs for my personal website and small shop by following hashtags on Instagram and taking a leisurely stroll through artists' portfolios.

In my experience asking for referrals from trusted peers is the most effective path to finding the right designer. Of course you still have to go through their portfolios to be sure they are a right fit for your brand.

In my experience, travelling with the hired designer makes us understand more on his ability and creativity. In my quest for a designer for my brand identity project, I delved into online platforms, perused portfolios, sought referrals, and even considered hiring an agency. It was crucial to evaluate aspects like work quality, experience, style, availability, pricing, reviews, and past projects to ensure a well-informed decision.

Different designers may specialize in various areas of design, such as logo design, web design, or overall brand identity. Understand the specific skills and expertise required for your project. Look for designers with a portfolio that aligns with your aesthetic preferences and the style you envision for your brand. Pay attention to the diversity of their work and their ability to adapt to different brand identities. Consider designers who have experience working in your industry or with similar types of businesses. Familiarity with your market can contribute to a more informed and relevant design. Ensure the designer is responsive, understands your brand vision, and is willing to incorporate your feedback into the design process.

A brand designer should have enough maturity to understand the difference between design as art and design as communication. If you can manage this, you will never go wrong with the right set of brand guidelines.

The ultimate Grail in branding is recognition. One example to illustrate my thought - if Apple was to create a hotel, I think we would have a pretty good idea of what it would look like, but if Hilton was to design a phone or a computer, we would have no clue. Apple is a Brand while Hilton is a logo. So when assessing whether your choice is a good fit, ask yourself whether the designer is helping you building a Brand or merely a logo.

Evaluating potential designers for your brand identity project is crucial in ensuring a successful outcome. By asking them relevant questions, requesting proposals, or giving them a test assignment, you gain insights into their approach, capabilities, and compatibility with your brand. This evaluation process helps you gauge their experience, collaboration skills, feedback process, success measurement, and flexibility in handling revisions. Additionally, requesting a proposal provides clarity on their scope of work, deliverables, process, timeline, and budget. By conducting a comprehensive evaluation, you can make an informed decision that aligns with your brand vision and project goals.

Rather than just reviewing past work it’s also an important to evaluate the understanding of domain specific communication is also important.

I have asked graphic designers to submit an example of what logo/banner they would create for my brand, giving them as much information as I can about my target demographics. From that point, it becomes clear whether the designer is a good fit based on how they have been able to handle communication with me and the design they submit. It is important not to ask designers to submit work that would take them more than a couple hours max, without paying them for their service. If you are not sure about how their designs would be a right fit for you, start with a sample assignment before committing to work with one another.

Like any decision in life, get a preview of options out there before committing to investing your time and energy to a person. Unless your intuition is shouting internally to dive full swing, of course. However, in a working environment, you want to ensure that you protect yourself and your designer is protected by contracts you set in place. When you both feel as though it is a mutually beneficial relationship, the outputs will reflect that.

Choose a designer who does not just capture your vision, but dances creatively with it. Choose singularity over conformity, and let your brand identity be crafted uniquely and unexpectedly.

Make sure you have a contract that specifies deliverables and timelines, as well as dispute resolution. It’s good for both of you to know under what circumstances you can let each other go if it’s not working, and how payments will be settled if deliverables and timelines are jot met.

Giving the potential designers a pilot project or a small test project can indeed be an effective way to evaluate their skills and suitability for your brand identity project. By assigning a specific task or project, you can assess their creativity, attention to detail, ability to meet deadlines, and overall quality of work. This pilot project will provide you with tangible evidence of their capabilities and help you make a more informed decision. It's a practical approach to ensure that the designer you choose is the best fit for your brand identity project.

A good graphic designer should also be able to guide you on your brand identity journey. It can be overwhelming to define one's brand identity, a good designer is a partner who will ask the right questions through genuine conversation and brainstorming.

The Brand Guidelines, the dos & don’ts are a crucial component to any brand. If you are able to create a clear, concise and comprehensive guideline, then choosing any good vendor to be on-brand will not be a challenge. As a brand owner you have the responsibility to depict your brand as accurately as possible so it is reflected in the in the brand image you’re trying to portray. Branding is all about going back to basics and staying consistent .. consistency is what creates brand associations and shapes up the brand value prepositions. Simplification is your friend - trust in your identity and build it overtime. Control the narrative & communicate it clearly otherwise others will do it for you. Ownership is a crucial component.

A clear vision of what your brand stands for and how it brings value to the consumer is key. What makes your brand stand out from competitors, why would a consumer value your brand over an alternative, what makes you unique will help inspire a good designer. Also don't be afraid to push the boundaries and to listen as a fresh, new perspective can bring your brand to new heights.

A very important step towards finding the beat outcome is to have a clear vision on what you want to express, knowing what you want and work in collaboration with the designer.

This question is similar to one asking how you hire the right marketer for your company. You’ll want to know how well the individual understands your culture, mission, future vision, messaging, and brand elements. You’ll need to gauge fit for your company and how quickly that individual can add value. Lastly, you’ll want to know their approach to solving branding challenges, such as enforcing brand guidelines, extending the brand to new markets, incorporating acquired brands, localization of brands, and, most importantly, seeing the individual’s past portfolio with results.

Give it time for designer to grow into it. May times a designer needs to iterate the brand values tangibly before you’ll get the result you want. Remember a brand is the feeling that the company portrays that must speak to its target audience. It’s a large ask, give it time to grow.