No matter how effective your product, your marketing and branding approach can significantly affect the success of your business. One of the most important components of successful branding is the logo. As shown in a study done in 2020, “60% of consumers avoid brands that have odd, unattractive, or unappealing logos, regardless if they received good reviews.”
Whether you are redesigning your logo or creating your company’s first logo from scratch, do your company a favor and take your logo seriously. Below, we have outlined critical concepts to keep in mind as you approach your logo design.
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Know your product, know your audience.
If you want to brand your company successfully, you have to understand who your target audience is. Knowing the buyers is just as vital to the salesperson as knowing the product. If you do not know your buyer, you could take the wrong approach in pitching your sale and miss the sale opportunity entirely.
Knowing your audience or buyer when it comes to logo design means understanding their aesthetic inclinations, particularly with respect to the product you are selling. Suppose you are a real estate agent in the business of selling modern, luxury homes. In that case, your target audience will be more drawn to your services if your logo communicates an upscale, modern business method. To take the example one step further, imagine how ineffective a logo of mixed colors, patterns, and playful doodles would be in luring in a customer seeking to buy or sell a modern home. It just would not make sense.
Alternatively, such a logo could go a long way to promote and advertise a crafts store. This is why knowing your product and knowing your audience are inseparable concepts. A great way to help flesh out your audience and your product when designing a logo is to make lists of simple words you would use to describe both. Once you have your lists, the next step is to imagine what those words would look like as images.
Work with a professional graphic designer.
As the business owner or head of marketing and branding, it is up to you to decide the message you want your logo to send to consumers. That being said, it is not always a good idea to take on the entire logo design project yourself. When designing or redesigning a logo, it is best to seek the services of a professional graphic designer, to ensure that your logo looks professionally done. No matter the intentions behind a design, a poorly done logo will only communicate to consumers that you have an amateur business that is not to be taken seriously.
Graphic designers can be of tremendous assistance in bringing your logo vision to life and even improving it. For this reason, it is important that when you work with a graphic designer, you communicate your vision effectively while also remaining open to the advice of the professional. Graphic designers are trained to understand things like spatial organization, color theory, and other concepts most of us do not spend much time at all thinking about. Of course, this does not mean they are guaranteed to get it right. Keep the reins on your own logo design project, but allow your designer to present you with a number of different options and approaches. You never know– they could design something you did not even realize you wanted.
Consider your merchandise
A good logo means nothing if it does not look good on your physical goods. Whether those goods are the actual product you are selling, or promotional products you are making to help promote your brand, it is crucial that the colors and shapes in your logo complement and enhance the object it is printed on.
Gareth Parkin, CEO of GoPromotional, a leading promotional products supplier in UK, points out it is always a good idea to have a few different color schemes of your logo worked up. For example, if you want to make a promotional t-shirt that is on red fabric, but your logo is also in red, the logo will disappear on the shirt. Visualize where your logo will be and how it will look on those products, and then talk with your graphic designer about complementary color combinations. Choose at least one other color scheme option on hand and ready to go if you need it.
Get multiple versions and formats
Consider the orientation of your logo. For certain products, it may be better to align your logo vertically, rather than horizontally—or to miniaturize and simplify your main logo while maintaining its essence to better suit smaller products. For example, a busy logo on a small pen will be hard to read, whereas it might look great printed on a large website display ad. Your designer should guide you through this mental exercise by providing multiple logos with and without text, imagery, and in different orientations.
Be sure your graphic designer provides you with all your logos in different formats to ensure they are compatible with different printing processes and uses. These may be jpg, pdf, png, and vector. Note that vector is most important as it does not use pixels and can be blown up or shrunk down without losing its quality.
