What does a brand designer actually do all day?

Well obviously - crayons out, quick bit of doodling, logo done, brand done, sit back and admire the work!

Ok, that is absolutely not true. And although you will see me refer to myself as a "Colourer Innerer," that's more to make people laugh - because I know deep down that's what people assume designers do all day. Just colour in.

So what is the actual reality of working on a brand project? That is a very good question - thanks for asking.

It starts with research, not design

Day one of a project and the designing starts... wait, no. Not even close.

It starts with research. Learning about you and your business in depth - who you are, what you do, what makes you light up when you talk about it. Then it's research, research, research. Yes, it can feel like the unglamorous part, but it's the foundation everything else is built on.

From there I'm searching through fonts - not all of them, but a lot - looking for something that matches your personality and that people can actually read. Then it's colours: combinations that work, palettes that feel right, inspiration from photos or colours you've mentioned. Then patterns, textures, design details - anything that sparks an idea.

It's messy. It's screenshots, fonts pasted on a page, coloured squares everywhere. It's a chaotic dumping ground for everything I've seen that might work for you. And it looks absolutely nothing like a finished brand.

Mood boards before designs

Before any actual designing happens, I take all of that mess and turn it into mood boards. These show you the direction - the feeling, the aesthetic, the world your brand is going to live in - before a single logo mark has been drawn.

This is the stage where I find out if we're heading the right way. And sometimes we are, and sometimes we tweak, and that's all completely fine.

Then - finally - the designing begins

By this point I usually have ideas forming. Some of them arrive at 3am while my brain is doing its thing. I get them down on paper - sometimes sketched, sometimes straight into a digital file - and I just start drawing.

It's another messy page. I might start on something I think is absolutely perfect, the greatest thing ever, it's going to be brilliant…… and then I step back and think, hmm, actually I'm not sure. So it's back to researching, more looking, more inspiration, more ideas. Two or three concepts flow easily. Then comes the harder one.

I take a break. I come back. I question myself, my ability, and occasionally my sanity.

I look at the bigger picture - how will this logo actually work in the real world? What does the brand around it look like? What happens when it's small, or on a dark background, or on a tote bag? More pages, a bit more chaos, more designing.

The question I always come back to

Honestly, it's a big process. I would love it if every idea arrived perfectly formed and the whole brand just slotted into place. Sadly, that is not how it works.

But through all of it - the mess, the late nights, the second-guessing - there is one question I keep coming back to: does this feel like them?

That is always the thing that matters most. Is it representing your passion? Is it showing that thing you talked about for twenty minutes with such a smile on your face that it made me excited about what you do - just from your enthusiasm alone? Am I giving it everything I have so that what lands in your inbox is something that represents you so well it just makes you happy to look at it?

That's the real pressure. Not the technical drawing up of a design - it's making sure that what's on the page is truly representing you.

You never see the mess. I hide that document away and you only see the outcome. But the mess is there, and I'm completely fine with that - because if your reaction when you see the final result is "that is exactly what I wanted, it's so me" - then every chaotic, scribbled page of it was completely worth it.

Wondering how long all of this actually takes? That's exactly what I'm covering in my next blog - the honest reality of timelines when it comes to brand design.