Designing Your Brand’s Logo
A logo is a great way to create an emotional connection with your business. It is a tangible thing that people see and immediately start to feel connected, whether good or bad. It is one of the few things that can stand on it’s own and communicate on behalf of your brand. With all of that power and emotional connection, is your logo ready for it?
Designing a great logo comes with a lot of responsibility and can be a big challenge. But we’ve made it a little easier for you to get started.
First, think about the design and keep in mind these principles:
Simplicity: A simple and clean design is easy to recognize and is more flexible than a complex one. Remember, you are going to have this design on various platforms and mediums, so it needs to translate well no matter where it is displayed. Busy designs can be confusing and distracting. Instead, keep your design elements to a minimum and make sure they are easy to identify with. Bobcat does a great job at having a simple logo that is easily transferred to different mediums and sizes.
Memorable: Is your logo easily recognized? At a quick glance, customers should easily recall what your logo looked like and stood for. This goes hand-in-hand with simplicity, as complex logos are harder to recognize and remember after glancing at it. Ford’s logo is definitely memorable! It is simple and everyone knows what brand it stands for as soon as they see it.
Timelessness: You know where we are going with this one. Think about Coca-Cola’s logo. Over time, things have changed slightly to reflect a more cleaner, modern design, but for the most part, Coca-Cola’s logo has remained the same. Will your logo still look good 10-15 years down the road? If not, are there simple elements that you will be able to change to keep up with the modern designs?
Now that you have an idea about some design principles to keep in mind while designing your logo, here’s what you should do next:
- Learn about your industry. Take a look at others within your industry to get a feel for what kind of space your logo is going to live in. If most of the logos put off a strict and uptight feeling, going with something whimsical may not be the best option as it may deter people from doing business with you. However, sometimes breaking away from the norm can be a good thing. It all depends on the industry and what people are most comfortable with.
- Understand your business. Figure out who your target audience is and what they are interested in. It is also important to think about the things that are valuable to your company, such as the fact that you are family owned and operated. Also think about what sets you apart from your competition. All of these things can come together to create a great, unique logo.
- Create, Present, Revise, Repeat. A great logo doesn’t happen on the first try! The best logos come from a mixture of ideas. So, take some time to come up with variations of your logo (2-3 at most), present them to others at the company, get feedback, revise it, and then repeat! Once it is all finalized, share with everyone, and share various examples of what it would like like on different mediums, such as your website, letterhead, t-shirts, etc.
Designing a logo is a difficult and timely process, so don’t fret! It takes patience, a good designer, and a great process to ensure your experience is a great one. And you will end up with a logo that everyone, customers and employees, will love!