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How are you handling branding/web design?

What do you all use to create a unique and compelling brand style and website design?

I see startups/side projects that look like they just nail the branding and web design. Great fonts, color choices, logo, custom illustrations, etc.

Like most makers on here, I'm a product-focused business owner and fall flat on making that look sexy on the front end in a cohesive and unique homepage.

Do these startups just have an awesome designer on their team or are they outsourcing their branding/web design to somebody?

It seems incomprehensible to me that small startup teams of developers are also wizards at branding and landing page design.

Would love recommendations or branding/web design intros if you have them!

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    We're a small team of 2 that made Viyo.io. We bootstrapped the product and neither of us are full-time "designers". We are both fullstack developers, but since I tend to work more on the front-end I decided to use the opportunity to practice design. I used a lot of existing templates and "copied" ideas but put my own spin on it. So far it's worked out!

    Since the. We've been able to get quite a few clients that needed design work (we still take clients to keep the lights on) and now we've got our own product that we implemented UI/UX design for to use in our portfolio. We've been able to use this to get some pretty decent clients like adidas and Reebok, but mostly startups.

    Anyways, I would say that there are enough resources out there to bootstrap a project without any actually design background. And if you're really wanting some professional help, feel free to drop me a line at [email protected] and I'm happy to chat, even if it's just for advise/direction.

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    Logo and brand identity designer here! Is there a way I could help you with? Either with some free consultation or with actual design work.

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      Hey @Pats - Would love to hear about the types of brands you work with. The logo isn't as much of a need rather than a unique brand style that reflects nicely and cohesively on a website. Do small bootstrapped teams usually use your services or do those who have kickass branding and website usually have funding behind them and invest into bringing someone like you on to help lead the charge on branding and website design while they build the product?

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        I usually work with small businesses that I design their brand from scratch. However, I am not a web designer, so I can't give you an answer on the website part

  3. 1

    Yep, branding/UI is a science, you need to be helped by a designer to get a good one! But you can it in multiple ways:

    • Hire a designer directly through dribble, behance or your direct network
    • Find one on marketplaces like upwork, fiverr, 99design…
    • Use a logo/branding generator like logology, looka…
    • Use some pre-made template, make a quick & dirty "font logo" and use a color scheme like paletton

    The order is sort by pricing & quality. Of course, the more you pay, the best branding you get. The pricing is very wide in branding! You can have a logo for $5, or a logo for $300 000.

    Disclaimer: I'm the co-founder of Logology.

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      Yeah, that's where I'm hung up a bit. I see some bootstrapped companies still crushing it with branding and website design. Did they just splurge on a branding investment? Most bootstrapped companies can't afford $50/month subscriptions and branding/website design freelancers charge a pretty penny. Especially if you go the agency route.

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