Branding

Branding is more than a logo and a color palette — it's how people recognize you, remember you, and decide they trust you. Here are a few key things to consider as you begin to shape yours.

Brand vs. Branding

These two words are often used interchangeably, but they mean different things.

Your brand is the perception people have of your business — the feeling, the reputation, the promise. It lives in the minds of your audience. You don't fully control it; you influence it.

Branding is the active work you do to shape that perception — your visuals, your voice, your consistency. It's the strategy and the execution.

Think of it this way: your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room. Branding is how you earned that reputation.

Storytelling

Before you design a single thing, know your story. People don't connect with products — they connect with meaning. And as a maker, you already have something most big brands spend millions trying to manufacture: a real one.

Where did this start? A kitchen table, a garage, a need you couldn't find anywhere else? That's your story. It doesn't have to be dramatic.

Your brand story should answer three things:

Why does your business exist? (Beyond making money)
Who do you serve, and why do they matter to you?
What do you believe that others in your space don't?

Once you know it, let it inform every decision - your visuals, your voice, even the way you write a product description. Consistency is what turns a story into a brand.

Logo

Your logo is not your brand — but it's often the first impression of it.

What makes a good logo:

Simple enough to work at any size (a business card, a billboard, a favicon)
Meaningful without being literal - a bakery doesn't need a cupcake
Versatile in both color and black & white
Timeless over trendy

A few things to avoid: too many colors, complex illustrations, generic clip art, or fonts that are hard to read at small sizes.

Where to get one:

DIY: Canva, Looka, Hatchful by Shopify
Affordable custom: Fiverr, 99designs (contest model), Dribbble (hire a designer directly)

If budget allows, investing in a real designer pays off long-term. A logo you'll rebrand in a year costs more than doing it right the first time.

Colors

Color is one of the fastest ways to communicate without words.

How many colors should your brand have?

A solid brand palette typically includes:

1–2 primary colors (dominant, used most often)
1–2 secondary colors (accent, used to support)
Neutrals (black, white, or grays for backgrounds and text)

More than 5–6 colors and your brand starts to feel inconsistent.

What colors communicate:

Color Common Associations

Blue Trust, professionalism, calm

Red Energy, urgency, passion

Green Growth, health, nature

Yellow Optimism, warmth, creativity

Purple Luxury, wisdom, creativity

Orange Friendly, bold, enthusiasm

Black Sophistication, power, elegance

White Simplicity, cleanliness, space

Consider your industry, your audience, and your competitors. Standing out sometimes means intentionally choosing what others in your space don't use.

Helpful tools: Coolors, Adobe Color, Canva Color Palette Generator

Typography

The fonts you choose say something before anyone reads a single word.

What typography communicates:

Serif fonts (Times New Roman, Garamond) — traditional, trustworthy, established
Sans-serif fonts (Helvetica, Montserrat) — modern, clean, approachable
Script fonts — personal, elegant, creative (use sparingly)
Display/decorative fonts — distinctive, bold, best for headlines only

How many fonts do you need?

Stick to 2, maybe 3 — one for headlines, one for body text, and optionally one for accents. More than that and your brand loses cohesion.

Platform considerations: Not all fonts work everywhere. A font that looks beautiful on your website may not be available in email clients, Google Docs, or social media tools. Always have a web-safe fallback font identified. Google Fonts is a reliable free resource for fonts that work across platforms.

Helpful tools: Google Fonts, Font Pair, Typescale

Voice & Tone

Branding isn't just visual.

The way you write - the words you choose, the rhythm of your sentences, how formal or casual you are - is part of your brand.

Voice is consistent. It's your personality. (Warm, bold, witty, authoritative.)

Tone shifts with context. You might be more playful on social media and more straightforward in a proposal - but you should still sound like the same brand.

Write down 3–5 adjectives that describe how you want your brand to sound.

Use them as a filter when writing emails, captions, website copy, or anything public-facing.

Brand Consistency

The secret to a strong brand isn't perfection — it's repetition.

Every touchpoint matters: your website, your emails, your packaging, your social media, how you answer the phone. When all of these feel like they come from the same place, trust builds.

A simple brand style guide can help keep you consistent - even a one-page reference that lists your colors (with hex codes), your fonts, your logo variations, and a few notes on your tone. As a one-person operation, it's easy to drift over time. Having it written down gives you something to come back to, especially when you're designing a new label, setting up a social profile, or building out your website.

Branding is a long game. Start simple,

stay consistent,

and refine as you grow.

BRANDING