We all know that branding is important, regardless of a company’s size, but what exactly does branding convey? The goal is to provide a sense of the company’s work, dependability and character, all of which connect the business to consumers.
Within those branding efforts, a brand logo plays a major role. What may seem like a simple graphic carries a great deal of weight. Boiling your organization down to a single image isn’t a simple task, yet an effective logo design that’s memorable can go a long way toward helping your business stand out from the competition.
The Message of an Effective Logo
A logo must embody a variety of different traits of your company’s identity and reflect certain components within your design:
- What your Company does: Your logo should represent the products and services you sell. Although logos are often metaphorical, keep your business’s activities in mind when coming up with ideas.
- Who your Company is: Character and personality can mean the difference between your company cathing the eye of a consumer and losing business. A logo that conveys integrity and professionalism will factor into a consumer’s choice. Display an aspect of the culture of your business and what you want customers to feel when they think of it.
- Who your Audience is: Have your logo designed to target your audience. Ask yourself, “Who’s the demographic we’re aiming our efforts at? How large a net are we planning to cast?” The audience you’re trying to reach and their habits can give you an idea of the style to adopt in order to grab their attention.
Logo Style Guidelines
Many great logos have become so familiar that no name or text is included with them, and although your company will have difficulty reaching that level of familiarity, something eye-catching can still stand out from the crowd. Incorporate a few important design mantras into your process:
- Less is More: In logo design, simplicity is an asset. The best logos are easy to recognize and remember, which has a major impact on branding. Using too much color or activity in a muddled fashion will work against you and send the wrong message. Remember that designs with intricate lines and complex color schemes won’t print well on coffee cups, business cards and silk screened shirts. If you want your logo to be everywhere, make it easy to print on many different items.
- Quality is Timeless: Forget the trends and fads that will fade in a year or two. Many classic logos have been around for decades because something that’s truly successful will continue to resonate with people.
- Stay Consistent: Your logo must be recognizable wherever and however it appears, whether on products or promotional materials. It has to look the same with the same color scheme, scale and appearance. Any changes or variance can hurt your marketing efforts and make your brand look amateurish.
Being a dependable company with excellent products and services is only one facet of an effective business strategy. Getting the word out about your company is essential and that’s where the importance of marketing comes into play. With the usual rush of information coming at us constantly, a well-designed and appealing logo can stand out and impress your target customers. Although it may seem like a miniscule task, your logo is how a potential consumer gets a sense of your company. Track down a professional designer and collaborate on a design that will serve as the face of your company and the centerpiece of your branding campaign.