A logo is not a brand yet: branding for small Georgian businesses

“We need a logo”: that's how most of our conversations begin. And it's natural: the logo is the most visible part. But think of your favourite neighbourhood bakery. Why do you love it? Probably not because of the logo. Because of the smell, the seller's smile, the bread that's equally good every morning and the paper bag you recognise instantly.

All of that together is the brand. The logo is just its signature.

What a brand is made of

• Name: easy to pronounce, memorable and equally readable in both alphabets;
• Visuals: logo, colours, fonts, photo style;
• Voice: how you write on Instagram, how you answer the phone, how you apologise;
• Experience: packaging, delivery and what the customer feels every time they deal with you.

Georgian letters: a task of their own

Many popular Latin fonts have no Georgian letters at all. As a result, on a site or banner the Latin text appears in one font and the Georgian in a random system font, and the design “falls apart”. That's why we choose fonts for both alphabets from the start: either one that also has Mkhedruli, or two fonts that match each other in weight, proportion and character.

Think about Mtavruli too: Georgian “capital letters” make a strong impression on headings and signs, but not every font has them.

A bilingual brand

If you serve tourists or foreign clients, the logo should work in Latin letters too. Decide once and for all how your name is written in Latin letters and write it the same way everywhere: on the sign, Instagram, Google Maps, invoices. “Tsiskari”, “Ciskari” and “Tziskari” look like three different businesses in the same city.

Informal “შენ” or formal “თქვენ”?

In Georgian this one choice changes a brand's character a lot. The informal “შენ” is friendly, bold and youthful; the formal “თქვენ” is warm, respectful and trustworthy. Neither is bad. What's bad is writing with “შენ” on Instagram, “თქვენ” on the site and mixing both in one paragraph of an email. Choose one and write it into the brand book.

A minimal brand book even a small business needs

You don't need a hundred-page document. A few pages that every employee and designer has at hand are enough:

• logo versions (colour, black, white) and its minimum size;
• colours with exact codes, for screen and for print;
• fonts for Georgian and Latin;
• a few examples of the photo style;
• tone examples: how we write and how we never write;
• ready templates for social media.

Consistency beats everything

A brand earns trust when people see it the same everywhere: on the sign, the site, the business card, the packaging. Every “let's do it a bit differently this time” chips away at that trust.

A brand is a promise. The logo reminds people of that promise, but you're the one who keeps it every day.

If you're starting a new business or your existing brand has “fallen apart”, write to us and together we'll sort out what you already have and what's missing.