# DIY branding: building a brand identity yourself [Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/diy-branding) You don't need an agency to build a brand that looks considered. You need a sensible order of work, a few honest tests, and the nerve to stop tweaking. Here is the order. ## The short version - DIY branding works best in a fixed order: strategy first, then colour, type and a signature look, then the assets you actually need. - Starting with a logo is the most common DIY mistake, because a logo is easier to design once the rest of the look is settled. - A one page brand sheet with your sentence, palette, fonts, logo versions and rules is enough to keep a small brand consistent. - Testing each decision on a real post at phone size catches most problems before they spread. - Every DIY brand benefits from one element nobody else has, usually the background or surface behind every design. **DIY branding** means building your own brand identity, the words, colours, type, logo and look people recognise you by, without hiring an agency. It is entirely doable if you work in the right order: decide who you are for before you choose a single colour, settle the look before you draw a logo, and make only the assets you will use this month. The nine steps below follow that order. Set aside a few focused sessions, not a few months. ## Before you design: three questions Skip this and you will redesign everything in six weeks. Answer each question in one sentence, then copy them into the top of your brand sheet. ```text BRAND SHEET Who it's for: ______________________________ How they should feel: ______________________________ What makes us different: ______________________________ Palette: ground ______ main ______ support ______ accent ______ Fonts: heading ______ body ______ Logo: full ______ small ______ light ______ dark ______ Signature look: ______________________________ Always: ______________________________ Never: ______________________________ ``` Copy this into a note and fill it in as you go. When it is complete, your DIY brand exists. If you get stuck on the feeling, [brand personality](https://gradiently.design/guide/brand-personality) and [brand archetypes](https://gradiently.design/guide/brand-archetypes) offer useful prompts. ## DIY branding in nine steps 1. **Write the three sentences** Who it's for, how they should feel, what makes you different. Short and specific beats clever. 2. **Gather references** Save twenty images you like, then remove anything from direct competitors. A [brand moodboard](https://gradiently.design/guide/brand-moodboard) shows how to read the patterns. 3. **Choose a ground colour** Dark or light sets the mood for everything. Pick it before any accent. 4. **Build the palette around it** Add a main colour, a supporting tone and one accent. Four or five colours in total. 5. **Pick your type** One heading face and one body face, or one family in two weights. Test them at phone size. 6. **Choose a signature look** The one element you will be known for. For most small brands, this is the background behind every design. 7. **Design the logo last** Now it has a palette and a font to belong to. A clean wordmark is a strong first version. 8. **Make the assets you need now** Profile picture, a banner, three post layouts and a story layout. Nothing else yet. 9. **Write two rules, then stop** One thing you always do and one thing you never do. Then leave it alone for three months. ## Choosing colour and type yourself The most reliable way to choose colours without training is to start from one colour you love and build outward with lighter and darker versions of it, then add a single accent from somewhere else on the wheel. This keeps the palette coherent and leaves one colour to draw the eye. - Navy family: `linear-gradient(180deg, #0b1d33 0%, #1d4e89 50%, #7fb3e6 100%)` - Terracotta family: `linear-gradient(180deg, #3d1f12 0%, #b4532a 50%, #f3c3a1 100%)` - Moss family: `linear-gradient(180deg, #1f2a1d 0%, #557a46 50%, #c8dbb4 100%)` Three single colour families, dark to light. Pick one, add one accent from elsewhere, and you have a palette. > **Check contrast early** Before you fall for a palette, put your body text colour on your ground colour and check it passes. [Colour contrast](https://gradiently.design/guide/color-contrast-accessibility) explains the ratios to aim for. It is far easier to adjust a shade now than after a hundred posts. For type, test candidates on a real headline at the size it will appear on a phone, not in a font menu. A face that looks charming at large sizes can be hard to read in a 1080×1350 post viewed on a small screen. [Font pairing](https://gradiently.design/guide/font-pairing) has combinations that are hard to get wrong. ## Test everything on a real post Every decision should be judged on an actual design, at actual size, with actual words. Make one post with your palette, type and background, put it on your phone, and look at it next to the posts that usually sit near yours in the feed. A portrait test post for a small candle brand reading Hand poured small batch, with the brand background and fonts A first test post for a candle maker: palette, type and background on real words. The same candle brand design as a vertical story, keeping the same background, type and words The same look as a story. If it still reads as one brand in a new shape, the system works. - Can you read every word in two seconds at arm's length? - Does it look different from the three nearest competitors? - Would it still look like you with the logo covered? - Does it survive as a story, a banner and a profile picture? ## Common DIY branding mistakes ### Avoid - Starting with the logo - Copying a brand you admire too closely - Using every font you like - Choosing trendy colours over fitting ones - Redesigning every few weeks ### Instead - Settle palette, type and look first - Take one idea from references, not the whole look - Two fonts at most - Colours that suit your three sentences - Keep the system for a full season The other quiet mistake is a signature look that is not actually yours: the same popular gradient or template that countless other accounts use. [Template fatigue](https://gradiently.design/guide/template-fatigue) explains why audiences tune those out. ## Tools for building a brand yourself Any decent design tool will do for most of this. Gradiently helps with the parts DIY brands usually find hardest. Its Marks give you an original background that no other brand can export once you claim it, rendered properly at every size, with words kept readable automatically. The brand kit holds your logos, palettes, fonts and voice, and can read your website to fill in the basics. If you'd rather describe what you need, the Designer writes the words and lays out designs in your Mark, then makes the other sizes. Whatever you use, keep the brand sheet open while you work. Most DIY brands do not fail because of a weak first look; they fail because the look slowly changes, one exception at a time, until nothing repeats. ## FAQ ### Can I do my own branding? Yes. Work in order: define your audience and feeling, choose colours, type and a signature look, design a simple logo last, and test everything on real posts. ### What should I design first when branding myself? Not the logo. Start with your ground colour and palette, then type, then a signature look; the logo is easier once those exist. ### How long does DIY branding take? A first version can be done in a few focused sessions. Keep it unchanged for a season before judging it. ### What is a brand sheet? A single page listing who the brand is for, its palette, fonts, logo versions, signature look and a few rules, so every design stays consistent.