Designing Your Brand

DIY or Professional – What’s Best for You?

The DIY Approach to Graphic Design: Is it Worth It?

Do you find yourself wondering whether you should hire a professional graphic designer or just do it yourself? After all, you’re pretty tech savvy, you can use basic design tools. So why not create your own logo or marketing materials?

When it comes to branding and design, many food business owners ask the same questions:

Is DIY really saving me money?
What should I consider before jumping in?
When does hiring a professional actually make sense?

As a marketing agency that specializes in small food businesses, we’ve seen both approaches work—and fail. A professional designer brings clear benefits when it comes to quality, consistency, and impact. That said, there are situations where DIY is perfectly acceptable.

The key is knowing when to DIY and when to invest.

When it Makes Sense to DIY vs Hire a Graphic Designer

If you enjoy tinkering with design, DIY can feel like a creative break from managing food costs and operations. But before you dive in, ask yourself one important question: Is this the best use of my time?

If it takes you a full day to create a “good enough” design that a professional could complete in an hour, are you really saving money? Time spent designing is time taken away from production, sales, or business development.

That being said, it isn’t always feasible to hire a designer, especially in the fast-paced world of social media. Sometimes a limited budget or a short timeline means you have to tackle certain projects yourself. Good options for DIY projects should include social media posts, digital promotions, contest ads, postcards and holiday cards, depending on your comfort level with design tools.

There are many apps available which allow you to design your own graphics. Additionally, you can ask your designer to create templates for ads and social media posts to guide your DIY efforts. They can even prepare a version of completed designs — such as sales sheets — on user-friendly platforms like Canva, so you can easily update and change them as needed.

Benefits of Hiring a Professional Designer

Graphic designers are trained professionals who understand the principles of design, such as colour theory, typography, composition, and visual hierarchy. They are always developing new skills and staying up-to-date with market trends, so they can create designs that are not only visually appealing but also communicate your brand’s message effectively. They understand what appeals to different target markets in your industry, and can ensure your designs work well across different mediums and sizes, from websites to food product labels to market displays. Our designers, for example, have a core focus on brand positioning and target audiences unique to the food sector.

In the food industry, it is also critical that your designer has a technical understanding of packaging, compliance with government requirements, and design production. A designer knows how (and where) to incorporate your logo, fonts, and colour scheme into each design or package to accurately reflect your company’s identity. They are also skilled at guiding the viewer’s eye through the design, making the most important elements stand out.

Quality designs will ensure you stand out from your competitors and will evoke a sense of success. For critical projects — those seen most often — this can significantly influence a customer’s decision to choose your product. Customers often judge what’s inside based on what they see outside; a poorly made food label can leave a negative impression. Therefore, it’s well worth investing a bit more for essential items like labels, packaging, websites, signage, banners, sales sheets, and farmer’s market stands, as these elements are crucial for effectively conveying your brand message.

Working with a designer also gives you the opportunity to collaborate, get feedback, and make revisions. A designer can offer you a variety of options and refine your logo based on your input, ensuring the final design is exactly what you want. This back-and-forth is harder to achieve when you’re working alone, and you may not have the objectivity needed to assess your own work.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the decision between hiring a graphic designer or designing yourself hinges on the value you put on your time and the importance of quality for your food brand’s image. For significant branding efforts and marketing materials, investing in a professional designer is often the best route to ensure high-quality results that effectively communicate your brand’s message. Conversely, for simpler tasks or when budgets are tight, DIY approaches can work if you are willing to invest time into learning the necessary skills.

If you are trying to decide whether to go it yourself or hire a professional, here are a few final things to keep in mind:

DIY is possible, but can be risky if you’re not clear on your brand positioning or if you don’t have a good understand of your target audience.
To be certain that you will effectively communicate your brand’s message, it’s smart to work with experts (like us) who really understand the food sector and the unique competitive landscape.
Using AI or prepared templates from design apps can often lead to copying the style of other similar brands. While AI can certainly add value, it should be used carefully.
It is possible to work closely with your designer to create branded templates that you can then use for social media or sales sheets for food retailers and markets.
Regardless of whether you DIY or work with a professional designer, put your main focus into the foundational components of branding and marketing, so that you can then direct the work and ensure the results truly represent your brand.