What Does a Brand Designer Actually Do?

If you've never worked with a brand designer before, it can be difficult to know exactly what you're paying for.

Is it a logo? A new colour palette? A better-looking website? Some combination of all three?

The answer depends on the project, but good brand design goes beyond creating individual pieces of artwork. It's about understanding what a business needs to communicate, then creating a visual identity that helps it do that consistently.

It starts with understanding the business

A brand designer shouldn't begin by opening design software and drawing a logo.

Before designing anything, there needs to be some understanding of the business behind the brand. What does the business do? Who is it trying to reach? What makes it different? Where is it now, and where does it want to go?

The answers don't need to become a complicated strategy document. But they should influence the design decisions that follow.

This is one of the biggest differences between designing a brand and simply designing an asset. You're not starting with what something should look like. You're starting with why it needs to look that way.

A logo is only one part of the job

A logo is often the most visible part of a brand, but it isn't the brand itself.

A good logo should be distinctive, appropriate and well crafted, but it also needs to sit within a wider visual identity. That might include typography, colour, imagery, graphic elements, layouts and other assets that help the business present itself consistently.

This is why I often recommend looking beyond a logo-only project where the budget allows. A logo can give you a starting point, but a visual identity gives you a system to work with.

The difference becomes particularly noticeable as a business grows and starts appearing in more places.

It's about creating something that works in the real world

A brand doesn't live inside a presentation PDF.

It needs to work on a website, social media, a proposal, a presentation, packaging, signage, printed materials and all the other places a business comes into contact with its customers.

A brand designer needs to think about those applications from the beginning. An identity might look great as a collection of presentation slides but become awkward when someone has to actually use it.

Good brand design should make that next application easier, not harder.

A brand designer creates the rules as well as the assets

Once the identity has been developed, there needs to be some way of keeping it consistent.

That doesn't necessarily mean producing a hundred-page brand guidelines document. For many businesses, a straightforward set of rules is enough: which logo to use, how typography works, what colours are available, how imagery should feel and how the different elements fit together.

The purpose isn't to restrict the business. It's to give everyone a clear starting point.

That becomes particularly useful when other people need to work with the brand, whether that's a printer, web developer, marketing team or another designer.

Brand design and graphic design aren't the same thing

The two overlap, but they're not necessarily the same job.

Graphic design often involves creating a particular piece of communication: a brochure, presentation, advert, social post or leaflet, for example.

Brand design looks at the bigger picture. It establishes the visual foundations that those pieces of communication can then use.

One isn't more important than the other. In fact, a strong brand still needs good graphic design to apply it properly.

The difference is where you start. One begins with a specific communication problem; the other starts by establishing the identity that many future communications can build from.

So, what are you actually getting from a brand designer?

At its simplest, you're getting someone to make sense of how your business should present itself.

That involves thinking, questioning, designing, refining and applying. It means making decisions about what the brand should look and feel like, but also understanding why those decisions make sense.

The final result might be a logo. It might be a complete visual identity. It might include brand strategy as well.

The deliverables will vary from project to project. The important thing is that the work isn't simply about producing more design. It's about creating something that is specific to the business and useful beyond the day it is launched.

That's what I think good brand design should do.

It should give a business greater clarity about how it presents itself, and give everyone working with the brand a consistent foundation to build from.

Need help making sense of your brand?

If you're not sure whether you need a logo, visual identity or something more strategic, take a look at my brand identity service or get in touch to talk through what your business actually needs.