Like naming your firstborn son, the birth of a business revolves around the creation of a logo. As with any name, you want your logo to give the perfect image of your business. At the same time, you don’t want a logo that makes people think of some other business. As a visual representation of your business name, your logo must be timeless and unique. Consider the following tips to help you to design a logo that will successfully become one with your business name and branding image.
Simplicity is Key
Keep things clean and clear. Too many graphics and images and too many words are distracting at best. A complicated logo will only serve to alienate an audience rather than to educate them. If a person has to look and then read what a logo says, either in its fine print or elaborate verbiage, they’re immediately turned off. A logo isn’t a commercial; it’s a simple image that either makes you curious about the brand name or is instantly recognized as part of a brand.
Lose the Literal Logo
When you look at the Nike logo, you don’t see a shoe, just like you don’t see a Mac computer when you see an Apple logo. There’s no need to have a logo that’s a blatant representation of your business. If you start out as a company that only walks dogs and choose a dog as your logo, it’ll be difficult to expand your brand to include caring for other animals. Give yourself some breathing room. Opt for a logo that gets the message across without being overly literal in its message. At any rate, individuals who look at your logo with a bit of wonder and curiosity will spend more time staring at it and ingraining it into memory than those who see logos based on common, everyday items.
As you design your logo, look for simple lines and colors that can easily be translated into multiple mediums. For instance, you want a logo that will pop on the top of a baseball cap when seen 50 feet away. At the same time, your logo should stand out on the side of a billboard without being too distracting and obnoxious. Consider that your logo will be used on everything from websites to T-shirts, so the coloring should be easy to replicate. On this note, the fewer colors you use in your logo the better. Think of the great logos out there, from McDonald’s to Starbucks, and think of their color schemes. Exactly. That’s what you are going for; clean lines and crisp colors.
While your company may never be as big and powerful as the top corporations so easily identified by their brand and logo, don’t sell yourself short. Follow the lead of the pros as you get started with your own corporate logo and you’ll be one step ahead of the game.