Looking for a Branding Agency? Here are 10 things you should know.
You’re searching for a branding agency. Your startup needs more than a logo. Your SME has outgrown the DIY Canva phase. You know professional help is needed. But how do you separate the agencies who’ll transform your business from those who’ll just take your money and give you a nice logo? Here are 10 things […]
10 Reasons Your Startup Website Isn't Converting (And How to Fix It)
Your website looks great. Traffic’s decent. But conversions? Flatlined. Here’s the brutal truth. A pretty website means nothing if it doesn’t perform. The average site converts at just 3.68%. That’s 96 visitors out of 100 walking away empty-handed. Something’s broken. Let’s find it. 1. Your Site Loads Like It’s 2010 Speed kills. Or in this […]
Brand Guidelines in 2026: How to Stay Consistent When Your Team's Using AI
Your marketing assistant just used ChatGPT to write a LinkedIn post. Your designer fed Midjourney a prompt for a campaign visual. Your intern generated an email sequence with Claude. Three different people. Three different AI tools. Three different interpretations of your brand. This is 2026. AI isn’t coming for your brand: it’s already here. The […]
7 Signs You've Outgrown Your Startup Brand (And What to Fix First)
Your brand got you here. But it won’t get you there. That scrappy logo you made at 2am. The colour palette you picked because it “felt right.” The tagline that made sense when you were three people in a co-working space. It worked. Until it didn’t. Growth exposes cracks. What once felt authentic now feels […]
Do You Really Need a Brand Strategy? Here's the Truth for Startups and SMEs
“We don’t need a brand strategy. We just need a logo.” Heard this before? Said it yourself? You’re not alone. Most startups and SMEs skip brand strategy entirely. They jump straight to the visual stuff. The logo. The website. The business cards. It feels productive. Tangible. Real. But here’s the truth: without a brand strategy, […]
Web Design for Startups: 10 Reasons Your Site Isn't Converting (And How to Fix It)
Your website looks great. You’ve got traffic coming in. But conversions? Crickets. Sound familiar? Here’s the truth. Most startup websites are leaking potential customers like a sieve. Not because they’re ugly. Because they’re making fundamental mistakes that kill conversions before visitors even reach your CTA. You’ve poured money into ads, SEO, maybe even a fancy […]
Why Trust Will Change the Way You Approach B2B Branding
Here’s a stat that should stop you in your tracks. 87 percent of B2B buyers say trust is essential in their decision-making process. Not important. Not nice to have. Essential. If your branding strategy isn’t built around trust, you’re playing the wrong game. B2B branding used to be about polished presentations. Corporate speak. Features and […]
Should Brand Designers Use AI? My Honest Experiment at Patten Design
Let’s address the elephant in the room. I’m Bob, founder of Patten Design. And right now, you’re reading a blog post where the images were generated by AI. The words? Written with AI assistance too. This is my experiment. My honest attempt to figure out where AI fits in the world of brand design. And […]
Brand Guidelines Design 101: A Beginner's Guide to Scaling Your Identity
Your brand is growing. New team members. External partners. Multiple platforms. Suddenly, your logo appears in three different shades of blue. Your fonts are all over the place. Your messaging sounds like it’s coming from five different companies. Sound familiar? This is where brand guidelines save the day. They’re not just a fancy PDF that […]
Do you really need a Specialist Brand Designer? Heres the truth…
Let’s cut to it. You’re a startup founder or SME owner. Money’s tight. Time’s tighter. And someone just quoted you thousands for “branding”. Your first thought? I could just get a logo on Fiverr for fifty quid. Fair enough. But ask the real question: Do you need a logo, or do you need a brand? […]