So you are thinking of starting a business and need a strong visual presence? Or are you a business up and running and think your brand needs a refresh?
Here are 7 quick tips to consider when designing your business logo or creating a creative brief for a designer.
1. Don’t expect instant success
It is a big ask to become an iconic logo over night, don’t be disheartened if people take time to warm to it. And everyone will have an opinion, trust me!
2. Get inspiration online
Though we would always advise to get your logo designed professionally, before you meet with anyone, there is a lot of inspiration you can get from doing some research. Find images or typefaces that you like and would represent your business. Share this information with your designer it will help them develop something for you that you will like.
3. Colour is key
Colour could be the make and break for your logo, colours mean different things to people and it is hard to appeal to everyone. But most importantly choose colours that represent the essence of your brand.
This is a great infographic highlighting the colour options, created by The Logo Company, broken down it states.
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Red: energetic, sexy, bold
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Orange: creative, friendly, youthful
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Yellow: sunny, inventive, optimism
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Green: growth, organic, instructional
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Blue: professional, medical, tranquil, trustworthy
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Purple: spiritual, wise, evocative
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Black: credible and powerful
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White: simple, clean, pure
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Pink: fun and flirty
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Brown: rural, historical, steady
4. What’s in a name?
If your brand has unique characters you might be able to get away with a logotype logo (Coca Cola, Rayban etc) but more often than not you will probably require a strap line or additional text to clarify or describe your business name. Pick your fonts wisely, it needs to be easy to read in all formats, particularly in a printed format. Again seek advice form your designer on what works and of course how much will it cost for you to use it!
5.Be unique and clever
In todays world it is hard to find anything original and certainly your logo design maybe feel a little familiar to you as often logos are successful because they mimic something your mind you relate to. Try to be as original as you can, by developing a logo that will be easy to remember for your customer and have the ability to be become well know for your business. Do your research, in your own industry so you create something that will have the necessary stand out amongst your competitors.
6.Understand the brand
Don’t go off message when developing your logo, your customers will need to identify your logo with your business so having obscure symbols with uncomprehensible strap lines isn’t going to make your brand work. Think of the bigger picture of your business, where you operate and above all know what your logo means. It could be the making of a good story in the future.
7. Keep it easy and flexible
Nowadays your logo could be appearing in many different formats, so consider this when designing your logo. It must look great on different backgrounds, work for apps, icons, avatars and print, and it must be flexible in size. Develop a logo that has these flexibilities built in so it easy to convert from one type to another. From my own experience I have learnt to reshape my own logo so it is able to fit into social media avatars more easily, a necessity in todays digital age.
Need some advice on logo design or branding for your company, ten give us call we have had tonnes of experience and like to think we keep ourselves well briefed on what’s hot right now. Call Sue on 07971 065941 or email [email protected]
