Your Brand Isn’t Your Logo (But It Does Matter)
Let's clear something up: your brand is not your logo.
It's not your color palette, your font pairing, or the aesthetic of your Instagram grid. Those things matter, yes, but they're the outcome of your brand, not the foundation.
Your brand is how you make people feel. It's the promise you're making. It's the experience someone has from the moment they land on your website to the moment they decide to work with you (or not).
And that? That starts way before you ever open Canva.
What branding actually is (and why most people get it wrong)
There's a lot of confusion about what branding actually means. Scroll through Pinterest or Instagram and you'll see "branding" used to describe everything from logo design to social media templates to the overall vibe of a business.
But branding isn't any one of those things. It's all of them working together to create a cohesive experience.
Think about brands you love in the real world. Maybe it's a local coffee shop, a favorite clothing company, or a product you're loyal to. You're not just loyal to their logo. You're loyal to the entire experience they create.
The way they make you feel when you interact with them. The consistency of their quality. The values they stand for. The way they communicate. The experience of being their customer.
That's branding.
And the same is true for your business. Your brand is the sum total of every interaction someone has with you. Your website. Your emails. Your discovery calls. Your client experience. The way you show up on social media (if you use it). The tone of your invoices. All of it.
When these pieces are aligned and consistent, you have strong branding. When they're disconnected or inconsistent, people feel it, even if they can't articulate why something feels off.
Why branding comes before web design
Here's where most people get the process backwards: they decide they need a website, so they start looking at templates and choosing colors and picking fonts.
Then they wonder why their site doesn't feel quite right. Why it looks fine but doesn't convert. Why it's pretty but doesn't attract their ideal clients.
The problem? They skipped the branding work.
Your website is the visual expression of your brand. But if you haven't defined what your brand actually is, you're just decorating without a foundation.
It's like trying to design a house before you know who's going to live in it or how they want to use the space. Sure, you might create something that looks good in photos. But will it actually serve the people who need to live there?
The right order looks like this:
Clarity on who you are and what you offer. This is the internal work. Your values, your mission, your unique approach, who you serve, how you help them.
Brand strategy. How you want to be perceived, what you want to be known for, the experience you want to create, the promise you're making.
Brand identity. Your voice, your messaging, your visual elements (colors, fonts, imagery style).
Website design. The structure and functionality that brings your brand to life online.
When you follow this order, everything flows. Your website isn't just pretty, it's purposeful. It doesn't just look like you, it works for you.
The elements that make up your brand
Let's break down the actual components of a strong brand. These are the pieces you need to define before you start designing your website.
Brand foundation: Your why
This is the deepest layer. Why does your business exist? What do you believe about your industry? What do you value most in your work? What change are you trying to create?
Your brand foundation isn't customer-facing in an obvious way. You won't necessarily have a page on your website titled "Our Brand Foundation." But it informs everything else.
When you're clear on your why, decision-making becomes easier. You know what opportunities to say yes to and which ones aren't aligned. You know how to talk about your work in a way that feels true. You know what kind of clients you want to attract.
Questions to explore:
Why did I start this business?
What do I believe that others in my industry might not?
What experiences shaped my approach to this work?
What do I want to be known for?
What am I not willing to compromise on?
Brand voice: How you sound
Your brand voice is the personality that comes through in your writing and communication. It's not just what you say, but how you say it.
Are you warm and conversational, like you're talking to a friend over coffee? Are you poetic and reflective, inviting people into a slower, more contemplative space? Are you direct and grounded, getting straight to the point without fluff? Are you professional and polished, balancing warmth with expertise?
There's no right or wrong voice. There's only what's authentic to you.
Your brand voice should be consistent across everything you write: your website copy, your emails, your blog posts, your Instagram captions (if you use Instagram), your client communications. When your voice is consistent, people start to recognize it. They know it's you before they even see your name.
Here's how to find your brand voice:
Look at emails you've sent to clients or friends about your work. How do you naturally explain what you do when you're not trying to sound a certain way? That's usually closer to your authentic voice than any copywriting formula.
Think about writers or brands whose voice you admire. What is it about their style that resonates with you? Can you identify specific qualities? (Not to copy them, but to understand what feels aligned for you.)
Consider what you don't want your voice to sound like. Sometimes knowing what you're not helps clarify what you are.
Brand messaging: What you say
Your messaging is the actual content of your communication. It's how you describe what you do, who you serve, and how you help them.
Strong brand messaging is:
Clear. People understand what you do and who it's for without having to read three paragraphs of vague language.
Specific. You're talking to someone, not everyone. Your ideal client should feel like you're speaking directly to them.
Consistent. You're saying similar things in similar ways across different platforms and pages.
Authentic. It sounds like you, not like you hired a copywriter to write in a style that's not yours.
Weak brand messaging is generic, trying to appeal to too broad an audience, or using jargon and buzzwords that don't actually communicate anything meaningful.
Compare these two examples:
Generic: "I help women step into their power and create the life of their dreams."
Specific: "I help burned-out nonprofit directors transition to sustainable self-employment doing work they actually care about."
The second one immediately tells you who it's for and what the outcome is. The first one could apply to almost anyone.
Visual identity: How you look
Now we get to the part most people think of when they hear "branding": the visual elements.
Your visual identity includes:
Color palette. Typically 3-5 colors that work well together and support the mood you want to create.
Typography. Usually 2-3 fonts (one for headings, one for body text, sometimes one for accents).
Imagery style. The type of photos or graphics you use (light and airy, moody and dramatic, minimal and clean, etc.).
Logo. A mark or wordmark that represents your business.
Design elements. Patterns, textures, icons, or other visual touches that make your brand recognizable.
Here's what most people don't realize: these visual choices aren't arbitrary. They're strategic.
Colors create emotional responses. Warm earth tones feel grounded and organic. Cool blues feel calm and professional. Bright, saturated colors feel energetic and bold. Your color palette should match the feeling you want your brand to evoke.
Typography has personality. Serif fonts (with the little feet on the letters) tend to feel more traditional, elegant, or established. Sans-serif fonts (without the feet) feel more modern, clean, or approachable. Script fonts feel feminine, flowing, or artistic. The fonts you choose should align with your brand voice.
Imagery style sets the entire mood of your website. Bright, white-background photos feel different than moody, darker images. Lifestyle photography feels different than flat lays. Stock photos feel different than custom brand photography.
When all of these visual elements work together cohesively, your brand feels intentional and professional. When they're mismatched or inconsistent, it creates visual friction that makes people trust you less, even if they can't articulate why.
Brand experience: How people feel
This is the thread that ties everything together. Your brand experience is what it actually feels like to interact with your business.
From the moment someone lands on your website to the moment they become a client (and beyond), what's the experience you're creating?
Is your website easy to navigate or confusing? Is your booking process smooth or frustrating? Do your emails feel personal or automated? Is your communication consistent or sporadic?
Every touchpoint is part of your brand experience. And consistency across all of these touchpoints is what builds trust.
Think about a brand you love. Part of why you love them is probably because the experience is reliable. You know what to expect. There aren't jarring disconnects between their website and their customer service, or between their marketing and their actual product.
That's what you're building: a consistent, cohesive experience that makes people feel good about working with you.
How to define your brand identity (even without a brand designer)
Full transparency: I love working with brand designers. A good brand designer brings strategy, insight, and a level of polish that's hard to replicate on your own.
But if you're just starting out, or you're not ready to invest in professional branding yet, you can still create a strong brand foundation yourself.
Here's how to approach it:
Step 1: Start with clarity, not aesthetics
Before you start saving color palettes on Pinterest, get clear on the foundation.
Who are you? What do you value? Who do you serve? What experience do you want to create? What makes your approach unique?
Journal on these questions. Talk them through with someone who knows you well. Sit with them until you have answers that feel true.
Step 2: Define your brand voice
Write out 3-5 words that describe how you want your brand to sound. Then write out 3-5 words that describe what you don't want to sound like.
For example:
Want to sound: warm, grounded, clear, thoughtful, honest
Don't want to sound: corporate, salesy, overly casual, vague, trendy
Then practice writing in that voice. Describe what you do in a few different ways. Read them out loud. Do they sound like you?
Step 3: Gather visual inspiration (but don't copy)
Create a Pinterest board or folder of images that capture the feeling you want your brand to have. Don't just save websites or logos. Save color palettes, textures, photography styles, landscapes, interiors, anything that evokes the mood you're going for.
Look for patterns in what you're drawn to. Are you gravitating toward warm or cool colors? Minimal or layered? Light or dark? Organic or structured?
These patterns will help you identify your aesthetic preferences.
Step 4: Choose your colors and fonts
Based on your inspiration and the mood you want to create, choose:
3-5 colors that work well together (usually one main color, one or two supporting colors, and neutrals)
2-3 fonts (one for headings, one for body text)
There are plenty of free resources for this. Google Fonts has hundreds of free, high-quality fonts. Adobe Color can help you create cohesive color palettes. Coolors is another great tool for exploring color combinations.
The key is making choices that support the feeling you want to create, not just choosing what looks pretty in isolation.
Step 5: Create a simple brand guide
Document your decisions so you can stay consistent. This doesn't have to be a fancy designed document. A simple Google Doc works.
Include:
Your color codes (hex codes for web)
Your font names and where they're used
5-10 example phrases in your brand voice
Notes about imagery style
Any other guidelines that will help you stay consistent
This becomes your reference as you build your website and create content.
Why consistency matters more than perfection
You've probably heard that "consistency builds trust." And it's true, but not in the way most people think.
It's not about posting at the same time every day or using the same Instagram filter on every photo. It's about showing up in a way that feels recognizably you, no matter where someone encounters your work.
When your branding is consistent, people know what to expect. They feel like they're in the right place. And that feeling of "rightness" is what makes them ready to take the next step with you.
Inconsistent branding creates friction. If your website feels polished and professional, but your emails are overly casual, people notice the disconnect. If your Instagram presence is warm and personal, but your website copy is corporate and distant, it creates confusion about who you really are.
You don't need perfect branding. You need coherent branding.
What consistency looks like in practice:
Your website, your emails, and your client communications all sound like the same person wrote them (because they did, you).
Your visual elements (colors, fonts, imagery style) are recognizable across different platforms and materials.
The experience of working with you matches what you promised on your website.
Your values show up in your actions, not just your marketing copy.
When these pieces align, people trust you more. Not because you're perfect, but because you're reliable and authentic.
Common branding mistakes (and how to avoid them)
After working with dozens of clients on their branding, I've seen the same mistakes come up again and again. Here are the most common ones:
Mistake 1: Copying competitors instead of finding your own voice
It's natural to look at successful people in your industry and think "I should do what they're doing." But when you copy someone else's branding, you end up sounding and looking like a less authentic version of them.
Your competitors' branding works for them because it's aligned with who they are. It won't work the same way for you.
Instead of copying, study what you admire about their approach. What principles can you extract and apply in your own way?
Mistake 2: Chasing trends instead of building something timeless
Design trends come and go. Remember when every website had a huge slider on the homepage? Or when everything was flat design with geometric shapes? Or the millennial pink phase?
Trends can be fun to incorporate in small doses, but if your entire brand is built on what's currently popular, it'll feel dated in a year or two.
Build your brand on timeless principles: clarity, consistency, authenticity. Let trends inform your choices lightly, but don't let them dictate your direction.
Mistake 3: Trying to appeal to everyone
The most common branding mistake is being too general. Vague messaging that could apply to anyone. Generic visual identity that doesn't stand out. Safe choices that won't offend anyone but also won't resonate deeply with anyone.
Strong brands have a point of view. They're clear about who they're for and, by extension, who they're not for. This specificity is what makes them magnetic to the right people.
Mistake 4: Forgetting about brand experience
It's easy to focus on the visible parts of branding (your website, your logo, your colors) and forget about the experience parts.
But how you communicate with clients matters just as much as how your website looks. How easy you are to work with matters. Whether you follow through on your promises matters.
Your brand isn't just what you say about yourself. It's what people experience when they work with you.
Mistake 5: Not documenting your decisions
You make thoughtful choices about your colors, your fonts, your voice. Then six months later, you can't remember what shade of green you used, or you start writing in a slightly different voice, and suddenly your branding feels inconsistent.
Document your brand decisions, even if it's just in a simple Google Doc. Future you will thank you.
How branding elevates your website from good to great
You can have a technically well-built website with good SEO and clear navigation, but if the branding isn't strong, it won't be as effective as it could be.
Here's what strong branding does for your website:
It creates immediate clarity. Within seconds of landing on your site, people should understand what you do and whether it's relevant to them. Clear branding makes this possible.
It builds emotional connection. People don't just want to work with someone who's technically competent. They want to work with someone they resonate with. Your branding creates that resonance.
It differentiates you from competitors. When you're clear about your unique approach and it comes through in your branding, you stand out in a crowded market.
It makes design decisions easier. When you have clear brand guidelines, you're not starting from scratch every time you need to create something new. Should you use this font or that one? Your brand guide tells you.
It creates trust. Cohesive, professional branding signals that you're serious about your business and that you pay attention to details.
It attracts your ideal clients. When your branding is specific and aligned, it naturally filters for the right people. Those who resonate will be drawn in. Those who don't will move on. This is a feature, not a bug.
Your brand will evolve (and that's okay)
One thing that holds people back from moving forward with branding is the fear of making the wrong choice. What if you choose colors and then change your mind? What if your approach evolves and your messaging no longer fits?
Here's the truth: your brand will evolve. And that's not just okay, it's expected.
As you grow in your business, as you gain clarity about what you're really here to do, as your ideal client becomes more defined, your branding will naturally shift to reflect that growth.
This doesn't mean you made mistakes with your initial branding. It means you've evolved. That's growth.
The goal isn't to create perfect branding that will never need to change. The goal is to create authentic branding that serves you well right now, with the understanding that you can refine and adjust as you go.
Some of the most successful brands have gone through multiple evolutions. Apple's branding in the 1980s looked nothing like it does now. Starbucks has updated their logo several times. These changes reflect growth and evolution, not failure.
Give yourself permission to start where you are. Build a brand foundation that feels true to who you are right now. Trust that as you grow, your branding can grow with you.
When to DIY and when to hire a brand designer
This is a question I get asked a lot: should I invest in professional branding, or can I do it myself?
The honest answer is: it depends on where you are in your business and what your resources are.
You might be ready to DIY your branding if:
You're just starting out and need to be scrappy with your budget
You have a clear sense of your brand foundation and just need to make visual decisions
You enjoy the creative process and have some design sensibility
You're comfortable with the learning curve of figuring out design tools
You're okay with your branding being good but not necessarily perfect
You might be ready to hire a brand designer if:
You have budget to invest and want professional support
You're not confident in your design skills or don't enjoy that process
You want strategic guidance, not just pretty visuals
You're rebranding an established business and want to make sure you do it thoughtfully
You want a polished, cohesive brand system from the start
There's no shame in either approach. I've seen beautiful DIY brands and I've seen expensive professional branding that missed the mark. The key is knowing yourself, your resources, and your needs.
If you do decide to work with a brand designer, make sure you do the foundational clarity work first. The better inputs you can give them (who you are, what you value, who you serve, how you want to be perceived), the better the output will be.
Branding is the bridge between who you are and how you're perceived
At the end of the day, branding isn't about tricking people into thinking you're someone you're not. It's about clearly communicating who you actually are so the right people can find you.
It's the bridge between your internal clarity and your external expression. Between who you are and how you're perceived. Between what you offer and how people experience it.
When that bridge is strong and well-built, everything flows. Your marketing feels easier because you're not trying to be someone you're not. Your website works better because it's genuinely aligned with your business. Your ideal clients find you because your branding is speaking directly to them.
That's the power of thoughtful, authentic branding. And it all starts with knowing yourself and having the courage to show up as exactly who you are.
Your brand isn't your logo. But your logo, your colors, your fonts, your voice, your messaging, your entire online presence is your brand. And when all of those pieces are aligned with who you truly are, that's when the magic happens.