The Do’s And Don’ts Of Creating A Logo

For something fairly small, logos hold a big impact. How can you effectively summarize your brand with one little image? While your logo does not determine the fate of your company, putting thought and effort into it can help spur growth and draw in new customers. Logos are used to represent your brand- on your website, social media, products, letterheads, apparel, and so much more.

The importance of logos:

The basic answer is that logos help build brand awareness, but the true answer goes deeper than that. Your logo has the opportunity to express your company with just one glance. Customers will relate the logo to your product, mission, and employees. A logo establishes credibility for your company by making good use of colors, fonts, and images. It also allows customers to recognize your brand before they are familiar with it. Logos grab attention, positive or negative. If you are successful with creating one, they can serve also as cheap or free advertisement through stickers, t-shirts, and other such items.

Creating logos that resonates with your customers is crucial to selling your product. Brands that create clean, easily recognizable logos tend to have great success. Think of McDonald’s, Nike, or Apple. Chances are, you can picture their logo immediately and know what products they sell. Other companies have logos that do not reflect the quality of their product, reflecting in poor sales. Payless and Suave both conducted secret “re-branding” experiments recently. Each brand came up with a “new name”, complete with fresh packaging and a different logo, but the same products. The customers that were blindly trying the products gave raving reviews, although when the companies went back to their old logos and packaging sales went back to normal. While they were trying to send the messages to customers that it is what’s on the inside that counts, they seemed to miss the customer’s message back that branding matters.

Creating a logo:

When creating a new logo, you want to make sure it is practical, fun, and versatile. Brainstorm a story behind the “why” of your company, and use that story to come up with fonts and colors. For example, when people think of Coca Cola, they picture polar bears and white script with a distinct shade of bright red. In most cases, simple is better. Test your logo to make sure it looks good in different sizes- you want it to be visible for mobile users and clear on desktops.

Brainstorming words that you relate to your company is a great way to get the ball rolling with your logo design. Choose the top words you want customers to relate to your company, and sketch up ideas to incorporate them into your logo. Amazon added the iconic smile, while FedEx chose to add a stealthy arrow.

Choosing your colors is an important next step. People have emotional responses to colors, so make sure you match your colors with the reaction you are aiming for. If you sell a wide variety of products, consider a color scheme to go across products. This is especially a good idea for food an beverages, with different colors marking different flavors. Make sure that the icon and fonts you choose look good with all variations of the color scheme. Ecommerce logos often use several bright colors, while other fields such as healthcare lean towards using one or two muted colors. Find what is best for your company and demographic.

Once you decide on several options for your new logo, consider testing it out on customers who fit your buyer persona. Letting your ideal customers have a say allows them to get more invested in the process, lets them know that you value their opinions, and will draw in more customers like them. Take their feedback seriously and do not be offended by any negative comments you might receive- use the criticism to create a logo that your customers will love.

Whether you are starting a new business or re-branding your current company, creating a logo is a challenging but fun task. Make sure that making the logo is a team effort to yield the best results, and look for inspiration within your resources.