Logos usually require more attention than they receive
Before you start designing business cards or upgrading the letterhead of your business, you need to consider your logos. Where possible it should feature your company name, embellished with a splash of colour and a few graphic touches.
Your logo is the most critical design element because it’s the basis for all your other materials. Your stationery, packaging, promotional materials and signage.
Through the use of graphic design, your logo should reflect the overall image you wish to convey about your company. It should give people a feel for what your business does and how it operates.
The best logos have several things in common
- Keep it simple. A right way to think about simplicity is how many parts there are in the logo. For example, who would have considered having an apple as a logo? The old Apple logo was rainbow-coloured, while the current one is in solid black or greyscale. That newfound simplicity makes the logo easy to look at, which customers appreciate.
- Brand consistency. Your logo will communicate things to consumers about your brand, so you need to ensure its design fits your company’s overall message. Consider the Apple logo again. Apple’s old logo reflected the free spirit of an upstart taking on technology giants. Its current position, as one of the most valuable corporations in the world, calls for the sleek, futuristic logo it has now. But it still has a level of consistency.
- They are memorable. It is the quality which makes your logo easy for customers to recall. And this leads to repeat customers and word-of-mouth marketing. Your logo should help people to remember you exist and give them recall when they want or need a product or service like yours.
- Outstanding. An excellent logo is worthy of comment and discussion, cutting through the clutter of your industry to reach desired customers.
Market testing of your logos is important
Do market research, don’t just trust your gut or rely on your understanding when designing a logo. One way to test various logo designs is to survey your target markets. You will receive a lot of valuable feedback from different people about how heavy or light, or what colours and wording you should use. Some independent feedback will reveal whether your logo is saying everything you want it to mean.
Trying to create a logo on your own may seem like the best way to avoid the cost of going to a professional logo design company. However, the quality of work and the results will often amaze you. If the price still seems exorbitant, remember that a good logo should last at least ten years. If you look at the amortisation of that expense over a ten-year period, you will quickly see it as a worthwhile investment.
Even if you have an eye for colour and a sense of what you want your logo to look like, you should still consult a professional designer. They know whether or not a logo will be adaptable across various mediums. Often you might come up with a fantastic design. But more often than not you will not be happy with it, or it would cost too much to print.
Making your logos work everywhere
A strong logo needs to look good in every place your customers will see it. Before signing off on a design, ask your designer to supply versions suited to different uses, so your brand always appears clear and consistent.
- A full colour version for your website and printed materials
- A single colour and a black and white version for stamps, engraving and embroidery
- A simplified icon that reads well as a social media profile picture or browser tab
- Horizontal and stacked layouts for different spaces
Keep all these files together, along with simple guidelines covering colours, spacing and minimum size. Sharing them with printers, signwriters and web developers protects the quality of your logo and saves time every time a new item is produced.
Your logo is the foundation for all your promotional materials, so this is one area where spending a little more now will pay off later.
