We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, louder for the people in the back:
Your logo is not your brand.
And every week we see brands jump head-first into the deep end of design without even dipping a toe in strategy. Fonts first, thinking later. That’s the wrong move 🙅
Let’s talk about where people go wrong with brand design. Spoiler: it’s not because they picked the wrong shade of green (though, we have opinions on that too).
The biggest branding mistake?
Designing before you know who you are.
We get it. Design is the ‘fun’ part. But if you haven’t figured out what your brand actually stands for, who it’s for, and how it should make people feel – no design in the world will save you. You can have the nicest packaging in the aisle, and still be totally forgettable.
Good brand design is a form of communication. And what are you communicating, exactly, if you don’t have a strategy?
You’ve got to do the legwork first:
That’s where to start. These are your brand design principles and they should serve as the foundation for all your decisions going forward. Your design should translate your strategy into something people can see, feel, and remember.
Don’t skip this step – you can’t build a solid brand without it. Take our advice on that one!
Here’s another classic: “Let’s do that cool retro Y2K thing I saw on Instagram!”
Okay... but are you a 2000s lip gloss brand? No? Then maybe don’t.
Design trends come and go fast. We’re not saying don’t be modern, we’re just saying don’t be trend-dependent. Why exactly? Well, it’s because it’s not sustainable. A strong brand doesn’t need to constantly reinvent itself to stay relevant. It just needs to know who it is and how to evolve with purpose going forward.
If your brand looks completely different every time someone sees it, they won’t remember you.
Think about it this way: do you think Nike switches up their brand design every few months? No, of course they don’t. They stick to what people know and what works for them. You don’t see them struggling.
It’s all about recognition and if people don’t remember you, they don’t buy from you either. Which is why brand design is the smartest business investment you can make.
Still not convinced? Let’s look at the numbers:
Consistency always wins and beats whatever is deemed to be ‘cool’ and trending right now, every time.
Another big one: designing like you exist in a little bubble. You don’t. Your brand sits on a shelf, a screen, a menu, a marketplace – right next to your competitors may we add.
And if you don’t know what they look like, you might accidentally blend in so hard, no one ever notices you or chooses you. If you ever notice ths happening, it’s a sign your brand design is holding you back.
Before we design anything at Noramble, we dive into category research and semiotic cues. What are the clichés? The colour trends? The shapes, the tones, the typefaces people expect?
Then we ask:
But we also look outside your category because believe it or not, your brand doesn’t just live in a vacuum. It lives in a world where people cross over between categories all day long. What you say and look like in food might echo into fitness. What you do in skincare might feel weirdly relevant in tech. It’s all connected.
Take a brand like Huel, for example.
Yes, technically it's a meal replacement. But it borrows a lot of its brand language from fitness, tech, and even lifestyle fashion – minimalist, monochrome, future-forward. That’s no accident. They’ve designed it to belong in a gym bag just as much as a desk drawer. And that cross-category fluency? It’s part of what’s made it stick.
Image source: uk.huel.com
Here’s another example: Take The Ordinary.
Yes, it’s a skincare brand but its identity borrows heavily from the pharmaceutical world (lab-style typography, minimal white labels), tech aesthetics (data-driven, direct), and even lifestyle wellness (simple rituals, results over fluff).
That deliberate crossover made it instantly stand out in a category full of fluff and floral serifs. It said, “We’re about function, not frills” and people bought into it hard. And that’s because it felt different, honest, and believable – even outside the skincare aisle.
We design with your core category in mind but also with one eye on where else your brand might live, show up, or grow into. Because design doesn’t just sit still. It moves with people.
Image source: theordinary.com
When in doubt, people throw more at the problem:
Design is not a competition to see how many “key messages” you can squeeze in all at once. Good design is simple, not complex. It should communicate your message with ease.
Good design has restraint. It says the right thing, clearly, with confidence.
Because quiet confidence is a skill and it positions you as a brand that doesn’t have to scream to get noticed.
Your brand design can look great, tick all the aesthetic boxes, and still... no one remembers it. Why?
Because looking good isn’t enough.
You need to be recognisable. Instantly. Reliably. Repeatedly. That’s the job of distinctive brand assets, where the visual and verbal breadcrumbs trigger memory, build trust, and make someone go “Ah, that’s them.” even if your logo isn’t front and centre.
Here’s what we’re actually talking about:
Because recognisability = trust. And trust drives buying behaviour.
If someone can spot your product, post, or ad without needing to read the fine print? You’ve already won. They’re not choosing based on logic anymore but instead are choosing based on memory and emotion.
You can’t build distinctive assets without strategy. And you also can’t build distinctive brand assets on your own. In order to have your best shot at making it in the world, it’s imperative that you partner with the right brand agency for you.
Because if you don’t know what makes you you, how can you build visual or verbal signals that reflect it? Design should codify what your brand stands for and you should rely on the experts to help bring your brand design to life.
Look – we love the design phase. We’re obsessed. That’s our thing. But the reason our work works is because it’s never based on vibes and looks alone. We get to the heart of who you are first then we build a brand that actually reflects it.
The brands that win don’t just look good. They know who they are, they say it with confidence, and they show up with consistency across every single touchpoint.
So if you’re struggling to do the same – well … you know where we are.
