You’ve made the decision to brand your business. The time is right and you are ready to make the investment. But how do you choose who to work with?

Whether you are starting from scratch as a new business or rebranding an existing one, finding the right brand designer is key to successful branding.

Branding your business should be an experience, a fun, exciting and rewarding experience. Choosing the right branding designer will be key to this experience. I go into below my tips for finding the right designer for your branding project.

1 | Outline your requirements

Before you begin searching Instagram or Pinterest for branding designers, you need to firstly outline your requirements.

Do you need a new logo or are you happy with the one you have? Are you looking for a brand refresh but with the same logo or are you looking for a completely new look for your business?

What about your website? Are you happy with the platform you are currently on? Or are you open to a new platform?

Think about your timeline for the project. Are you looking to get it done quite quickly or are you willing to wait for the right designer?

2 | Determine a budget

There are many of us out there and we all have different pricing structures and levels. For example, there are brand designers who will do a complete brand and website design for £500 or there are ones that charge £5,000. In my opinion you get what you pay for.

If you are just starting out in your business then the lower end of the scale might be more suitable to you. However, if you have been in business for a few years and are serious about taking your business to the next level then I would budget towards the higher end of the scale.

3 | Make a list of designers you love

If you’ve had a rebrand on the cards for a while then it’s likely you will have started to put together a list of branding designers that you’d like to work with. Revisit this list along with your budget and you should hopefully have a shortlist of designers.

When looking for designers for your new branding, you want to look at their portfolio to see if it fits with the style of your brand. For example, if you are quite a bold, colourful brand, then you might not suit a designer who designs a more minimal look. Likewise, if you are looking for a handwritten logo and their portfolio is full of typographical logos, then you might not be the best fit.

4 | Think about the client experience

You’re investing money into this experience so you want to be sure you’ll enjoy it. When going through the enquiry process, think about how each designer makes you feel. How quickly do they respond to your initial enquiry? Do they want to schedule a call with you to discuss the project or is it all done via email? How easy to read is their proposal? All these initial touch points should give you a strong feeling as to which designer is right for you.

5 | What are their processes?

Ask about their processes? Do they have these readily to hand? Do you receive an investment guide detailing their services and processes? How many revisions do you receive? How many Skype calls do you have throughout the project? Do you receive detailed homework to complete before the project begins? Does the project kick off with a brand strategy session or do they dive straight into the design? Designers work in a variety of ways so you want to ensure you get everything you feel you need.

6 | What’s included?

Again similar to the processes, every designer includes different items in their packages. Some might include a choice of collateral items, some might not include any. Some designers might be using the one logo concept whereas others might offer 3 or 4 initial logo concepts. Do you receive colour palettes and font choices? How about patterns and textures? Perhaps you want illustrations or icons included.

How many pages does their website package include? Is there an option to add extra? Does it include a blog? How about newsletter integration? These are all questions to think about.

7 | Is there chemistry?

Is your designer as excited about this project as you are? Or are you simply another pay check? Chemistry is so important when choosing a designer to work with. You want a designer who is excited about the project. Who is full of ideas and so passionate about what they do as well as what you do.

8 | Go with your gut

Your gut instinct is powerful. Listen to it. If something doesn’t feel right then it probably isn’t.