• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Welcome! 😉 Here’s a Free Thank You Gift.
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Branding and Brand Strategy for Growing Companies

Branding and Brand Strategy for Growing Companies

Branding for Restless Companies and Driven Entrepreneurs

  • Home
  • Start Here
    • About David Brier
    • In The Press
    • Keynote Speaking Engagements
  • Brand Intervention
    • Branding
    • Rebranding
    • Storytelling for Entrepreneurs
    • Leadership
    • Portfolio
  • Brand Storytelling
  • Contact
  • Blog
Logo_Design_by_David_Brier-DETAIL-FOCUS 550

Helping a Startup Avoid this Most Common Branding Pitfall

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Logo_Design_by_David_Brier_DETAIL-FOCUSMost startups (over 97% by actual experience) begin with a fundamental flaw.

It’s the first inclination commonly driven by the thrill and enthusiasm of entrepreneurialism and this mistaken thinking: that what the company does matters. This flaw shows up in the naming, the logo, the slogan, etc. 

I’ll explain.

Fact is, people don’t care what we, as businesses, do — they care what they get out of it, whether buying something personal or for a business.

Does this item make things easier? Faster? More enjoyable? Tastier? Smaller? Bigger? etc…. (If we’ve done our job right, the thing we bought is referred to as “awesome.” If we’ve done our job poorly, it’s referred to as “a purchase.” That should tell you something.)

So when Suzy came to me with her startup business, I was thrilled (I really enjoy working with startups where the passion is there, the exuberance and more). And the first item we tackled was the name of the startup.

Branding, Naming,
Logos and More

The name I was initially presented with was for her new, all-natural mobile skin care service (that provides a variety of services to repair, overhaul or maintain one’s beauty) that comes to customer’s residences, making it the ultimate in convenience and service.

The name was Skin Tech which I initially tried to work with. After trying to work with that, I realized, nobody will know what that means, or know what’s in it for them.

I shared my conclusion with Suzy, and we agreed to rename the company.

We went back and forth and Suzy had an inspiration: Skin Rehab. Brilliant! That conveyed an immediate idea of what the service would do for the customer. I then developed the slogan: Restoring what’s rightfully yours (since this is a service for women and men, it had to not alienate either gender).

One Down. More to Go.

With a name and slogan that now conveyed an instantaneous concept, the real work could begin and the criteria was quite intricate (something that’s vital to any brand or rebrand: establishing an exact criteria. Want a checklist for a rebrand? Click here. Or for an existing brand? Click here.).

The brand identity (and specifically the logo) had to do the following:

  • Convey the service is 100% natural (without being cliche and stating “all natural” which means nothing anymore)
  • Appeal to men and women
  • Stand apart from other skin care services in terms of look, feel and language
  • Be memorable while capturing some of the spunk of the brand itself
  • Work for the parent company brand, Skin Rehab USA
  • Also work for the various “city brands” where the services would be offered (with Austin, Texas being the first one)

The breakthrough was conceiving the design to incorporate different “backdrops” to provide the setting that would instantly communicate the city this service was being offered in.

This Demanded Every Skill I Have

In short, I had to:

  • Crystallize a name that had legs going forward
  • Develop a slogan that was meaningful without resorting to cliches
  • Figure out how to convey “natural” without stating it
  • Develop a distinct design that would appeal to any gender
  • Figure out a design that could successfully be “customized” for each new city the service is offered in

So, after a week or so, I finally zeroed in on the design that felt right.

After sketching, I had a concept that would demand I draw two letters that didn’t exist, made up of nature. But first, I had to create the two letters since no alphabet had the exact right dimensions of qualities I was seeking. Here is my initial sketch (you can see part of the logo sketch on the left-hand part of the sketch):

Logo Design sketches by David Brier

I was getting some of the proportions I needed. I drew these original letterforms for the R and the S and refined them so I had my “areas” I had to fill.

I didn’t know what I had gotten myself into, but it took sketching out the letters and what would go in them that would convey “natural”:

Logo_Design_Sketch_drawn_by_David_Brier_closeup

Logo_Design_Sketch_drawn_David_Brier

Then it took redrawing them (taking an additional 23 hours just for the redraw which you’ll see below) so they would work at all sizes from side-of-building applications to smaller applications.

The rest fell into place as you can see below.

The primary Skin Rehab USA version (for the parent company—the additional copy line below would be added as applicable):

Primary_Logo_Design_by_David_Brier-SKIN_REHAB_USA

The “Austin, Texas version”  (which is a key music capital and home of Stevie Ray Vaughn and Willie Nelson, hence the backdrop we chose below):

Logo_Design_by_David_Brier-SKIN-REHAB_AUSTIN

A lighter version of the logo was developed for certain applications:

Logo_Design_by_David_Brier-LIGHTER-version

The obligatory “woman-wearing-the-design” shot:

Logo_Design_by_David_Brier-GIRL_in_TSHIRT

Details of the finished logo and letters:

Logo Design detail

Logo Design Detail

Thought you’d get a kick out of seeing this new brand, the lesson that it imparts and some of the behind-the-scenes photos and backstory.

If I can help you with your brand challenges, drop me a line.

 

Related articles:

Innovation Hell: Saving Good Ideas From Premature Death

At 1:53, this Mad Men star says what every client should know before hiring a branding expert

Why Did Your Brand Stop Working?

Contact David Brier

Join 7,612+ subscribers

who get step-by-step actionable
brand strategies every Saturday

GET INSTANT ACCESS
Ready to defy gravity?

For over 30 years, David Brier has worked with large and small companies and startups that refuse to blend in and want — not only a brand that has something to say but — a brand that demands to be heard: to defy gravity and rise above the noise. Read More…

Discipline
  • Branding
  • Rebranding
  • Storytelling
  • Leadership
  • Portfolio
4 ways I can help you
  • It’s the Entrepreneurs Bible. Yours Free
  • Amazon’s #1 BestSeller “Brand Intervention”
  • Transform Your Business and Brand in 9 weeks
  • Work With Me And My Team :One to One
Subscribe to my branding insights email and get my free e-book on branding
Free Branding Ebook - The Lucky Brand
You Know You Want To!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2025 · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy · Log in

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok