Why young companies have bad branding
I used to think that young companies had bad branding because they couldn’t afford to hire good designers. I now know that it’s because young companies don’t know who they are yet.
Like personal style, like wine, it takes time, maybe years, for a company to understand its identity. It takes confidence and a profound of awareness of who you are, what you do, and how you’re viewed.
Most branding of young companies is like kids clothing. When a child chooses their own clothes, it’s either copycat or clueless.
Either ripping of another logo or being far from the brand itself.
For example, see UberCAB, AirBedandBreakfast, and Twttr below. To start, neither of these are the current names of the startups, let alone same design.
These first logos bare little resemblance to the current logos, let alone what the companies stand for today!
Uber is no longer a slick black car service. It’s a budget way to get around town.
No longer is Airbnb and boutique rental service with breakfast provided.
No longer is Twitter for geeks.
As the companies have matured, pivoted, and focused, the stage has been set for a logo to symbolize who they are, not just look good. It wasn’t that they couldn’t find someone talented to design their logo, it was that their logo had nothing concrete to symbolize, thus it was inspired by the designer’s or founder’s personal taste — valid but not significant!
If you’re just starting out, don’t spend $50k on a logo. Don’t even spend $5k. Spend $500-$1k on a solid logo, then spend your time and resources defining who you are. Once you do that, creating a world-renown logo will be a matter of a fat check!
