If you are serious about what you are doing and company or product, your logo should be treated with respect and concern. It is your company’s first marketing decision. It should not be clipped from free stock— and absolutely not handed off to your 14 year-old to do on his Fresh Paint computer program.
Here are some basic tips and guidelines to get you started.
- Whether it is text or graphics, or a combination of both — keep your logo balanced and clean. A logo is the use of the right name and/or expression of symbols/marks.
- Keep it simple but reflective of your company. You want it to work well when printed in solid black and white.
- Make them remember you but stay away from the obvious. Do research. If you have competition, study their marketing — what is working, what isn’t, do you know? Positively, stand apart from the crowd! Experiment — use abstraction or a symbol that is personal to you or the industry. Being too literal may be boring. Do a few sketches before you reach the perfect mark (the first one may be the right one or it could be combination of a couple ideas). Remember Rome was not built in a day. Don’t get too many opinions, they will cloud your judgement.
- Think about how your logo will be used now and in the future. Will it work well on products, promotional items, marketing materials, etc. A good logo will work well on many things, many colors, and at many sizes.
- Do the colors and message communicate. Did you know there is a psychology behind colors? Do the colors you want to use work well with all backgrounds and types of media? Is it always going to be cost effective to print that 3 or 4 color logo with the tight registration?
- Type! This goes beyond if is spelled correctly… Much like color, is your typography sending the right message? Can it be read at all sizes? Is it spaced correctly — and how do you know? Is it too trendy? Does it match other type that you may want to use in other marketing materials — and again, how do you know?
- Are you different enough? Or do you look very similar to another logo? Please don’t be a copycat!
- It’s okay to morph your logo a little once and while to keep it fresh. A logo that is timeless will feel grounded and stand up over the passing of time… tweaking of your logo will happen with very little uprising if it is strong and well received by your market.
- Remember your logo is just the ”front guy”, it needs branding to support it and make it strong and recognizable.
- Always hire a professional to help you with your logo and branding. You will need to have vector graphics for your logo for all applications — packaging, marketing, media, etc. A properly drawn vector design will provide you with this flexibility. You will also want the expertise of the creative marketing professional for design and creative advise for your brand image. They do much more than make pretty pictures. They will offer creative guidance, research, support and opinions — together you can ensure that your mark speaks to your target audience.