If your company were a person, what would it look like?
Your logo is essentially your brand ambassador. Whether put on a business card or a custom t-shirt, your logo is a visual representation of your business and your brand. For new potential customers, your logo is your company's first impression. It can impact a customer's perception of your business, influence their attitude towards your company and can even impact their purchase decisions. A stunning logo can make people remember you, while a less than stellar logo can cause you to go unnoticed.
Yes, there's a lot of pressure on your logo. But, while you may think you need to hire a designer and spend hundreds of dollars designing the perfect logo, there are some simple tricks that can land you at the best logo for your business.
Visualize Your Brand
Your logo is your company's visual identity. To help you understand what your company should look like visually, try creating a mood board. Post colours, images, words or quotes that represent your company to create a visual representation that will inspire your logo design.
Match Colours to Your Brand's Personality
The colour you choose for your logo will influence your customer's interpretation of your business. When selecting a colour to represent your brand, it's important to think about the emotions that your colour choice will evoke.
Yellow, for example, evokes feelings of optimism and happiness, while blue evokes feelings of trust and professionalism. Pink is a fun and flirty colour, while red the colour of passion and high energy. Probably why Coca Cola and Redbull chose this colour to represent their brand. When selecting a colour for your logo, ask whether the colour evokes the emotions that are right for your brand.
For more information on colour psychology, see our blog post: https://www.entripy.com/blog/the-psychology-of-branding-with-colour
No More Than Two Colours
Simplify your logo by reducing the number of colours used to one or two and avoid using an overly elaborate image. Think about where your logo will be used - on a website, on social media accounts, on promo items or on a custom t-shirt. Will your design look good on these items or does it need to be simplified? Can you shrink your logo down to business card size and still have it legible? When choosing colour options, remember that printing a 6 colour logo is going to be more expensive than printing a one or two colour logo, especially if you're thinking about printing your logo on custom apparel.
Consider Your Industry
Your logo is a visual representation of your business, so it should ideally match the industry you're operating in. If you're a company that deals with children, you'll probably want to use some child-friendly colours and a whimsical font. While if you're in the natural products industry, you might want to use soft colours and imagery that represents nature and purity. A tech company may want to choose a more modern font that's a bit edgy to represent innovation.
Include Your Company Name
Your logo should include your company name. Some companies, such as IBM and Coca Cola have chosen only a logotype to represent their business. If your name is unique, such as Entripy, you may be able to get away with this, but if you have a more generic name, like Mary's Flower Shoppe, you'll want to identify your business with a logo mark - an image to differentiate your company.
Design It Yourself
You don't need to hire a designer to create a great logo. There are plenty of logo making sites, that can do the work for you, with a little bit of guidance. Sites like Withoomph allow you to type in your company name and a few keywords and will generate a few logos for you.
Tailor Brands ask you a few questions such as your business name and asks you to describe your business in one sentence. Then they show you a few designs and font styles and ask you to choose which one appeals to you, then lets you choose from a number of logos based on the designs you say you like. The whole process takes a minute and it's kind of fun.
A Flower for a Flower Shop?
Although these design-it-yourself sites may throw a flower in your flower shop logo, don't think that you need to feature your product in your logo. Apple's logo isn't a computer. Starbucks logo isn't a cup of coffee. Choosing a unique image or design to complement your logo can help you stand out.
What are your favourite logos?
