Creative branding for startups that separates you from the pack

Unique branding will make your startup stand out in a crowded field. Many founders take the easy route and tell a designer “just make my logo something like that company’s.” But branding for startups should be much more strategic. Your visual identity should be like a fingerprint or a social security number: no one else has it. That makes sense, because no company is the same as yours. You started it for a reason, you’re passionate about your idea, and you want to connect with an audience that also recognizes that you’re doing something special. When you need branding that’s fresh and original, I can help.

Three benefits of great branding for startups:

Stand out

In a crowded field of competitors, distinctive branding makes you stand out. And getting noticed is vital for success.

Scale Up

A thoughtful identity documented in a brand style guide is scalable. As you grow, the brand elements are ready to apply to new products and marketing. Like a paint by number kit, you’ve got everything you need to keep coloring in your picture.

Add value

Beautiful startup branding adds value for potential investors or buyers. It’s like spending some money to remodel a fixer-upper home. Your investment can yield a bigger return than what you spent, as buyers are emotionally drawn to what you’ve created.

great logo and branding for startups

A standard brand identity package contains logo files, fonts, colors, graphic elements, and a brand style guide that sets the direction for all of your future communications. Read about my design packages.

Startup branding concepts for airline

Brand identity concepts for Hansa Airlines, with routes between Canada and India. “Hansa” means “swan” in Sanskrit.

Startups have different design needs at different stages.

Not all startups are at the right phase to invest thousands on their branding. If you’re still testing your ideas and just need something—anything!—to put on your business card, you could use an inexpensive logo-generating website. You’ll probably end up revamping your branding before long, as you discover you need a more thoughtful brand strategy and better craftsmanship. But you could wait to do this until after you secure more funding.

If you’re a little farther along, and you’re homing in on your target market and positioning, it might be time to invest in brand identity design from a professional. The visual identity we would create together will reflect your brand’s persona, create desire in your customers, impress investors, and set you up to scale easily.

For startup branding, is it better to hire an individual designer or an agency?

When it comes to branding for startups, here are a couple reasons an individual designer might be better than an agency.

Faster

With startups it’s important to move quickly, launch your brand, and start creating revenue as soon as possible. A large agency might have fantastic resources available, but they may not be as fast as a freelancer when it comes to creating your visual identity.

Cheaper

You’ve likely got a limited budget and a huge list of places you need to invest it. A solo designer is often less expensive than an agency, and this frees up capital you can invest elsewhere.

If you need a unique brand identity for your startup, let me know if I can help.

I’m presenting at a conference. Someone came up to me to give me a compliment. It wasn’t about my presentation or resources. It was a compliment on my logo. Ha!

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