Missed part 1? 👉 Branding on a budget Part 1
When creating your brand there are some parts you can do yourself and some that are better left to professionals. Find out what can you use AI for, do yourself (DIY) or collaborate with professionals on when it comes to your brand - to save you money in the end.👇
🌟1. Collaboration is key
The logo
Using an AI logo generator may seem like a cost-effective solution, but the risks involved often outweigh the benefits. Consider that AI can't craft a unique and purpose-built logo. These tools rely on pre-existing designs, making your logo based on other originals. The logo is the face of your brand, and opting for a generic, less original design signals to potential customers that your brand lacks originality.
Creating your logo is something you should consider using a professional for. This is what your partners and customers will associate you with for a long time. So make sure it represents what you want to be associated with and what you stand for.
Visual Guidelines
For companies growing and adding people to the team, maintaining a unified brand image is essential. A visual how-to guide ensures that your brand materials (e.g. presentations, communication, documents and social media) is more consistent, professional and better represents your brand. It's not just about the looks, it's about having your material follow a structured system and creating a collective feeling for the team. Getting someone from the outside to put this together and make it connected to your brand is a great idea, and therefore something you can team up with a professional to do.
🌟2. Taking the DIY Approach
Color Palette
While some aspects are best left to professionals, there are elements you can handle on your own. With your color palette, tools like coolors.co can help create a cohesive palette. Although professional input is advantageous, having a unified palette, even if self-generated, is better than a random mishmash of colors.
Typography: Fonts
Consistency in typography supports your brand identity. And similar to color choices, selecting fonts is an area where you can take charge. While professional help is beneficial - helping you nail colors and fonts that give the right associations to your brand and target audience. Using tools to create a uniform font style is possible. The importance is you have a consistent use of typography since this is a huge part of how your customers recognise you.Â
Photography
Thanks to today's advanced smartphone cameras, personal photos no longer require professional studios. With a bit of online inspiration, anyone can create genuine, naturally lit images that resonate with modern audiences. In an era that values authenticity, such images often outshine overly edited, posed photographs of the past.
🌟3. Using AI for Digital Presence
Social Media Canva Templates
For startups that have established their color palette and typography, platforms like Canva, supported by AI, offer templates for social media content creation. It's an efficient way to produce visually appealing material. Canva's AI capabilities simplify the creation of quality visuals for social media, enabling startups to get up and running quickly.
Later for Streamlining Digital Efforts
AI powered tools like Later are your digital allies. Use it to write compelling captions, find the right #hashtags to power up you Social SEO and to schedule your content. These tools exemplify how AI can be used for resource-efficient digital branding.
As you go on creating your brand, start by building a solid ground together with professionals. Then you can add on components yourself in a way that makes you look professional. Finding a balance between professional expertise and do it yourself tools, will make the most out of your resources.