Startups are unique. Many times, these companies come with just a concept or idea that will later be fine-tuned as the brand grows. This is very different from designing for an established brand whether big or small. Established brands come with bones, foundations and structures that smaller brands don’t have, making their needs much different.

We’ve worked with startups who have changed names two or three times after launch. They change names, change colour schemes, change focus to better highlight a need or niche that came up along the way.

When brands come to us very raw, more of an idea that needs proof of concept to continue to grow, your role as a designer really changes. The design map gets flipped on its head and work starts backwards for these brands. This can be an expensive way to think about design, but it really is the most effective way to think about branding for startups. Traditional branding maps won’t work.

Oftentimes, startups need proof of concept first and before they get to the end of their design journey in order to access funding and grants. Once funding and investment for larger budgets are solidified, investors often come in and make changes that will affect the branding and thus change a brand’s design needs.

We’ve worked with brands where we’ve designed their website first before designing their logo and finalising their brand identity – as backwards as that might seem. If this was an actual brand either large or small this is not how our design process would work. But for startups, this is really the only way that will work.

Designing for startups is like sand. The process should mould, there should be changes and it should be fluid. Verse designing for an established company where branding doesn’t change, the work you are doing must fit those parameters, and design work is adapted to fit an identity.

Designing for a startup is like building a house backwards. It takes a specific skill set, and not everyone knows how to provide the proper support.

What are some things startups should look for when picking a branding and design agency?

Here are a few questions you should be asking during your search:

Have you done this before? Designing for startups is different from designing for an established brand. The needs of a startup are different, their desires are different. The designer you pick should have experience with all that comes with designing for a brand that is still working their way through their founding and startup process.

How nimble are you? In order for this relationship to work, the agency a startup chooses needs to be nimble. They have to be able and willing to pivot. Your agency must be scrappy and nibble because at some point it might all change.

As the startup finds out who they are and as they navigate these waters your agency will need to move with you and those changes. Your designer or agency needs to be able to roll with the punches and adapt to the pivots.

How do you bill & how will any changes affect your rate structure? Project rate structure must make sense for startups. It’s hard for an agency that bills using rates or under retainer because your changes will involve changing order after change order in a traditional billing structure ultimately driving up your budget. Your agency should be nimble and adaptable. Find someone who is along for your growth ride. Someone who bills hourly might also be a great option. This allows them to pivot with you without completely throwing them off course in their retainer.

Do they know everything? At times, it feels like there are designers who are talking at you and not with you. Designers who think they know your brand better than you or can solve your branding issues are not going to be good partners. You are the expert in your startup, if someone else thinks they can solve your brand’s identity issues they are probably going to fit you into a cookie cutter design and branding mould. Will that get you design assets? Yes. Will that lead you to a brand that has notable design aspects? No.

Remember, you are the expert in your brand and its identity. The role of a designer or a branding agency is to be a partner to help translate your brand’s identity into something tangible that works the way you need it to.

Go with an agency that will be along for the ride as you grow, as you pivot, as you experience the pains of starting a business.