What Not to Do After You’ve Worked With a Designer
You finally did it, hired a designer, went through the process, got your brand polished and consistent. Everything aligns, your packaging looks sharp, and your visuals finally feel professional.
Then the fun begins.
Someone on your team decides the logo would “pop more in blue.” You change a font, stretch the layout, crop the image differently “for the feed” and start placing your logo in different places on your images, (when it’s always been centered and scaled*). Maybe you have a friend who knows someone really cheap who does the greatest work, she can “re-do” your brand guide for you to match it to that “blue that pops” more. Before long, that beautiful, cohesive brand starts to unravel, faster than you can say c-a-n-v-a. (*can you feel me rolling my eyes?)
I’ve seen it too many times, and it’s painful to watch. So here’s what not to do once your designer hands you a finished, functional brand system.
When DIY Hurts Your Brand
Design isn’t just decoration, it’s structure. Every colour, font, and margin was chosen for a reason. When you start adjusting spacing, switching fonts, or dropping random filters on photos, you’re not personalizing, you’re breaking the system.
Little inconsistencies might not jump out at you, but they add up. Audiences pick up on it. Things start to look “off,” even if they can’t explain why. That’s how professional turns into amateur overnight.
The Illusion of “I Can Do It Myself”
This one’s common. Someone has a background in fashion, marketing, writing or interior design and assumes that translates to graphic design. It doesn’t. Those instincts might be useful, but design is its own discipline (as fashion and writing is… you wouldn’t want me to design your wardrobe!)
Designers think about scalability, hierarchy, legibility, and how your visuals work across packaging, web, print, and social. What looks great in a square post might not translate to a product label or retail shelf, and that’s the stuff only experience teaches.
When ‘Personal Preference’ Starts Undoing Strategy
Once your brand system is set, personal preference is the fastest way to wreck it.
What you like today might have nothing to do with what connects to your audience (or your brand). Trends shift, moods change, and “this feels fresher” becomes the excuse that kills brand consistency.
Your brand isn’t your outfit. You don’t change it because you’re bored with it.
Stick with what was built to last, strategy, not impulse. If you aren’t sure how to ask yourself the right questions to get clear answers when you are making decisions, reach out to your designer, they will help! (There is nothing a designer hates more than to see a beautiful brand they created get ruined)
The Cost of Going Rogue
When you start tweaking your brand without guidance, the visual drift chips away at credibility. It confuses customers, weakens trust, and makes you look inconsistent and, amateur. Once that happens, the fix isn’t small, it’s another rebrand to unfu*k it.
How to Keep Your Brand Cohesive (Without Needing a Designer 24/7)
Use your brand guidelines. They exist for a reason.
Save official files and templates. Don’t rebuild from scratch.
Check consistency. Fonts, colors, spacing, all of it.
Ask when unsure. A quick designer check-in now beats a redesign later.
A great brand deserves to stay great.
If you’ve invested in design, protect that investment. Follow the system, resist the urge to “play,” and trust the strategy you paid for.
Because good design doesn’t just make you look professional, it keeps you that way.
*Fun fact, your designer knows you are going rogue when your logo starts showing up way too BIG… this happens all the time. Trust me. No bueno. Control yourself. Ok, good talk ;-)
