Brand Identity Checklist for Startups

Founders come to us in one of two states: either they've spent nothing on identity and are launching in three weeks, or they've already spent a fair bit on a logo and realise, mid-launch, that half of what they need still doesn't exist. This brand identity checklist is built from watching both types over six years at iGrid, and it's ordered by what actually bites first, not by what looks impressive on a proposal.

Before you print anything

Check that you actually hold vector files of your logo — AI, CDR, EPS or SVG — not just a PNG someone emailed you. Check that a one-colour black version exists, because at some point you will need to stamp, engrave or embroider the mark, and colour won't be an option. Check that you have locked Pantone and CMYK values for your primary colour, because the first time you print on two different machines with two different colour guesses, you'll notice the mismatch immediately and so will your customers.

• Vector logo files (not just PNG/JPG exports)
• One-colour and reversed logo versions
• Locked Pantone/CMYK colour values
• A defined typeface for headings and one for body text
• Visiting card and letterhead templates ready to print
• A one-page usage note covering minimum size and clear space

Before you go live online

Your website, Instagram and WhatsApp Business profile should carry the same colour values and the same logo variant, sized correctly for each platform's crop. This sounds obvious, but I regularly see startups with a square logo cropped badly for a circular profile picture, losing the edges of the mark. Ten minutes spent exporting a properly cropped version avoids this entirely.

Before you order packaging or signage

This is the stage where the earlier checklist items either pay off or cause real cost. A dieline for packaging needs the vector logo, the locked colours and a decision on how the mark sits on a curved or folded surface — none of which you can improvise at the printer's counter. A signboard needs the one-colour version and an understanding of minimum legible size from the road, not from a laptop three feet away. Skipping ahead to this stage without the groundwork above is where founders lose the most money, because reprinting packaging or resizing a signboard costs far more than getting the base files right the first time.

Most startup identity problems aren't design problems. They're missing-file problems that only surface once you try to print or scale something.

What I'd deprioritise early on

A full forty-page brand book, a custom illustration library, a dedicated icon set — none of these matter in month one. I'd rather a startup spend its early budget nailing the six items in that first checklist properly than spreading thin across extras that won't get used until the business has real traction. Build the base solidly; the elaborate stuff can come later, once you know which direction the business is actually heading.

If you're a founder trying to figure out which of these boxes you've already ticked and which are missing, send us your files on WhatsApp and we'll go through the checklist with you honestly, including telling you what you don't need yet.