Why a great logo is essential to your business success

Your Logo is the face of your company you show the world and your customers. Thus they are amongst the most critical aspects to get right in your business marketing. A well-designed logo should be is the cornerstone of your overall marketing strategy.

Logos For every budget

Free Logos

Don’t use free online logo creators because you are telling your customers, your products and services are worth nothing.

Instead, have no logo.  Just have a great company name and write it in the text, using 1 or 2 simple colors on items such as business cards, invoices, business forms, and signs.

Remember that an awesome company name doesn’t cost a cent, just your investment time thinking, creativity, researching and talking to your customers.

Further reading:
How to come up with the perfect business name for your new company

$50 Logos

Again ignore the low-cost logo creators and don’t try to be a graphic artist yourself. Also, don’t go out and buy graphics software thinking you will suddenly become a talented graphic artist and create a great logo.

Instead, utilize your vendors such as business card printers & sign makers in-house art departments.  However don’t use any amateur, nonprofessional business graphics or illustrations – just your business name in text.

Ask them to merely write out your business name in an attractive font with a pleasing, and simple, color combination. Additional fees are usually under $50 and are sometimes less.

It is far better to have a simple logo of your company name which you can upgrade later as your marketing budget allows, with a professionally done logo.

You will have less bad customer impressions to erase later with this low impact, and low cost, branding

$300 Logos

I used the crowd and launched a crowdsourced logo design contest at 99 designs and love the result. Check out my new logo and read about my experience of launching a logo design contest at 99designs

Crowdsourcing is the best deal in town because you get thousands of the world’s best logo designers working for you for pennies. And you don’t even have to pay until you love your new logo design. It is risk-free way to create a logo because there’s a 100% money back guarantee

$1,000 + Logos

If your budget allows you can upgrade to the higher levels of Platinum packages at 99 designs. The elite top designers, rated tops by other satisfied customers, will work on your project and you will get many more logo idea submissions – over 60 concepts.

Additionally, you will receive a portfolio of logo treatments such as horizontal and vertically stacked versions of logo designs plus logos with and without design elements. Some packages include Brand Guides which detail colors, fonts and images that you should use throughout your marketing, both online and in print, to build your most influential brand.

Why Logo Design Briefs are Critical

The best logos are created before the design even starts with a well written, and thought out logo design brief. This document tells the graphic designer precisely what message you want to visually communicate with your logo.

Before you begin drafting your logo design brief, remember that you as a business person communicate differently than graphic artists do. Be sure to explain your ideas in concrete visual terms that your designer will understand and implement to your satisfaction.

The Look and Feel of Logo Design – Decoded

Has your graphic designer has asked you what “Look and Feel” you want, and you’re stumped. No worries, here’s an explanation for us business folk of that artsy term that is often used when logo designs.

The Look

In this means the actual visual representation of the logo design, which encompasses the style. Luckily we don’t have to write out what type of style. We prefer. Instead, I suggest you gather logo examples that appeal to you and to have the kind of look you want in your company logo. Professional website design sites, such as my favorite 99 designs, offer many logo images for you to select and including your design brief to tell the graphic artists to look you desire.  It’s easy to just click on the logos you like, and they are included in your style portion of logo brief.

The Feel

This is where the design communicates your company’s benefits and point of difference from your competition. Are you more professional, friendly, more exclusive or lower-priced? All of these features can be communicated visually and well-designed logo. Experience graphic designers know how to take the words that you submit in your logo design brief and translate them into art that relates to your customers.  Think of the words that you used to describe your products and services and include those in your design brief. I like the slider tool for your brand style on 99 designs.  There are seven options of which you can slide the button to indicate either greater or lesser quantity of these feelings such as:

Classic – Modern

Mature – Youthful

Feminine – Masculine

Playful – Sophisticated

Economical – Luxurious

Geometric – Organic

Abstract – Literal

TIP: If you are unsure about what any of these terms mean to a graphic designer, then look up the word on Google with the word LOGO added, like this “abstract logo,” and click on the IMAGES tab to review logo samples.

Symbols and Pictures in Logos

Many logos contained symbols, illustrations, and pictures as part of the logo design. Not every logo needs to have an image to be effective. In fact, many of the most successful logos are stylized versions of the company’s name, such as FedEx and eBay.

The advantages of having a graphic element symbol are that you can separate the company name of from the emblem and use them independently dependent upon the usage. An example would be the Apple logo, which began with both the company name, Apple and the graphic illustration of an Apple and now has morphed into just the use of the Apple symbol.  Their outstanding branding and marketing techniques have enabled them to drop the company name and just use the symbol.

Some designers combine the company name into a form of a symbol, i.e., using the letters to form some image.  In the hands of less talented artists, these logos can look childish and be a detriment to your professional business. However gifted designers can create some very interesting and compelling logos using these techniques of the letterform.

Colors and Shades in Logo Design

Color will play a vital role the effectiveness of your branding and logo design. Humans are hardwired to have emotional reactions to certain shades, and you want to use these to your advantage.  Customers often decide whether they like a product in 90 seconds or less, of which over 80% of that decision is based on color alone.

Review feelings that you want to inspire in your buyers and choose colors accordingly such as these reported especially effective:

• Restaurants – Red for Attention and energy. Green for well being and health.
• Banking – Blue for dependability.  Red for Warmth. Yellow for Cheerfulness
• Apparel and Accessories – Black for sophistication. Red for passion. Orange for confidence.
• Auto and Truck Manufacturers – Grey for quality. Red for masculinity. Blue for Reliability.
• Home Improvement – Blue for relaxation. Orange for Excitement. Red for motivation.
• Pharmaceuticals – Blue for cleanliness. Orange for optimism. Green for vitality.

Further Reading:
How Color Psychology Ignites Marketing

Final Logo Selection Musts 

When reviewing logo samples be sure to use follow these musts:

1. Must stand alone and not lean on color for strength. I recommend viewing logo finalists in black-and-white to be sure that the design is powerful. If you like it in black, you will love it in color.    
2.  Must be flexible in orientation and size for its maximum usefulness. Your final logo will need to use in both very small, for imprinting on pens, and very large for exterior building signs.  Also, your logo will need to be workable in both horizontal and vertical orientations. Professional logo designers will submit both linear and stacked versions. Additionally, strong logos can be used both with and without their company name and the design element alone.

How to use your logo to brand your small business

Once you have a great logo, you will want to “put your best face forward.” To strongly brand your company, you will want to have your logo front and center for every customer interaction. Your goal is to have your company logo associated with the benefits of your firm in the marketplace. Here are just a few places to use your logo effectively:

• business cards
• apparel and uniforms
• business forms and checks
• signs and banners
• stationery and mailing labels
• packing boxes and tape
• shopping and tote bags
• promotional giveaways such as pens, mouse pads, and water bottles.

I got my new logo made at 99designs and I love it! Read my 99designs review for logos

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