Building strong brands for startup success

A brand is a promise

A logo and a color palette are how a brand looks. The brand itself is what people expect when they see them. For a startup, the job is to make that promise clear early and then keep it every time.

Say one thing well

Young companies often try to sound like they do everything. Pick the one thing you want to be known for and say it plainly. You can widen the message once people remember the first one.

Build a small, strict system

A brand system does not need a hundred pages. It needs a few rules everyone can follow:

• One wordmark, with clear spacing and minimum sizes
• Two typefaces and a short palette
• A tone of voice described in a few sentences, with examples

Consistency is what turns a look into something people recognize.

Let the product carry the brand

The strongest brand moments are rarely ads. They are the onboarding email, the invoice, the error message and the way support answers a question. Make sure each one sounds like the same company.