5 Common Mistakes Brands Make Before Working with a Designer (And How to Fix Them)

There’s a certain kind of excitement that comes before working with a designer, you’ve been thinking about your brand for months, collecting inspiration, dreaming about how it’ll all come together.

But as someone who’s been on the other side of the process many times, I’ve realized something: the success of your branding project often depends less on what we design, and more on what you’ve already built before you even start.

So if you’re about to invest in branding or rebranding, here are five mistakes I see most often and what I’d encourage you to do instead, so your project starts off strong.

1. Jumping Straight Into Design Without a Clear Strategy

A lot of businesses rush into the visuals, the logo, the colors, the fonts because that’s the fun part. But without understanding the “why” behind your brand, you risk ending up with something that looks beautiful yet doesn’t connect with the right people.

Before we talk about design direction, I always ask my clients: Who are you speaking to? What do you want them to feel? What’s your bigger vision?

When you can answer those questions clearly, design becomes a reflection of your strategy, not just decoration. If you skip this step, it’s like decorating a home before the walls are built.

2. Being Unsure About What You Actually Offer

It sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how many brands come to the table still figuring out their services or ideal audience. And that’s okay business evolves but clarity at this stage makes everything smoother.

When you’re confident about what you offer and who it’s for, it shapes everything: tone, messaging, visual choices, and even your website structure. If you’re still refining those details, your designer can help guide that process but the clearer you are, the more aligned (and timeless) your brand will feel.

3. Hoping Design Will Fix a Bigger Business Problem

Design can elevate your business but it can’t solve deeper issues like unclear positioning, inconsistent pricing, or lack of systems. Sometimes clients expect new visuals to “fix” why they’re not getting inquiries or sales, but the real problem often lies elsewhere.

Strong design amplifies what’s already working. It gives shape and clarity to a business that already knows who it serves and what it stands for. So before investing in a rebrand, take a moment to review your foundation:
Is your offer clear? Is your messaging consistent? Do you know what experience you want your clients to have? Once that groundwork feels solid, design becomes a powerful tool, not a temporary patch.

4. Not Knowing Your Competitors

When you don’t know who your competitors are, you’re flying blind. Without a clear picture of the landscape, it’s easy to misjudge where your brand fits, or worse, completely blend in. Competitor awareness isn’t about copying others; it’s about understanding how they position themselves so you can carve out your own distinct space. Knowing what’s out there helps you make smarter design, messaging, and packaging decisions—and ensures your brand stands out for the right reasons, not just by accident.

5. Treating Branding and Website Design as Separate

Your brand and your website are part of the same ecosystem. The visuals, messaging, and user experience should all tell one cohesive story, yet I often see brands approach them months apart, with different creatives, and then wonder why something feels disconnected.

When your branding and website are designed with one clear strategy in mind, the result is effortless. Everything feels considered from your logo to your type hierarchy to how your homepage introduces you to the world.

That’s exactly why we created our Brand + Web Experience at Fred & Co to bring both together through one unified lens. Because your audience doesn’t experience your brand in parts; they experience it as a whole.

If you’ve made one or two of these mistakes before  you’re not alone. Most brands do. What matters is that you approach your next project with more clarity, alignment, and intention. When you take the time to understand your strategy, define your offers, and prepare your vision, design doesn’t just make your business look good. It makes it work better.

Let’s get to work.

At Fred & Co Studio, we help small business owners and creative founders craft thoughtful, strategy-led brand identities and websites that feel like an extension of who they are. not a template of what everyone else is doing.

Explore our services here & let’s create something that feels like you and grows with you.

Warmly,
Molly
Founder, Fred & Co.