How to Build a Brand on a Budget

About this hands-on workshop:

This in-person session is open to VIC businesses in the Digital Solutions program. Not registered yet? Takes 2 minutes here.

Branding can feel like something only big businesses with designers and budgets get to have. The good news is a clear, consistent brand is mostly about a few simple decisions, and you can make them with free tools.

In this hands-on workshop, you'll make those decisions with support in the room. You'll settle your brand foundations, choose a colour scheme and fonts that are clear and readable, and put together a simple logo using free tools, then pull it all into a one-page brand kit you can reuse everywhere. We'll focus on low-cost and free tools and point out the common mistakes that make a brand look messy, so you leave with a brand you can actually use.

What you'll learn:

• What a brand really is (it's more than a logo) and why consistency builds trust
• How to choose a business name, and how to check it is available in Australia before you use it
• How to pick a simple colour scheme and one or two fonts that are clear and readable
• How to put together a basic logo yourself using free tools
• The common branding mistakes to avoid, and how to keep everything consistent

What you'll leave with:

• A completed brand basics planner for your own business (colours, fonts and logo notes in one place)
• A simple logo drafted during the session
• A one-page brand kit you can reuse, plus a free-tools and common-mistakes card to take away

Who it's for

This session is for small business owners who want a brand that looks clear and professional, but have little or no budget and no design background.