Logos: Illustrating Your Company Identity
Your logo is only a part of your entire identity. So before
we get started with the logo we should have a clear understanding
of the values and goals of your company, and what consumers
want and expect of you. The goal of a logo is to visually
communicate these concepts.
Your logo will be the image that represents you. An effective
logo design will visually represent who you are, what you
do and how you do it in the most simple and practical way
possible. It will be the image that people associate with
you so an effective logo is an essential part of your overall
identity.
An effective logo will:
- Be an integral part of your overall identity
- Be simple but speak volumes
- Convey your mission, goals and vision
- Attract your target audience
- Differentiate you from your competition
- Be timeless (not faddish)
What follows is a quick primer on technical considerations.
You'll also find some tips and recommendations regarding the
design and decision-making processes that will help the logo
design process run smoothly and quickly.
Simplicity: Your logo should be as simple as possible.
It will be used for various purposes, in different sizes from
very large to very small. A complex logo with many shapes
and lines will look like a blob when it's sized to fit on
a business card. This doesn't mean that your logo needs to
be boring, however. One elegant shape can express volumes.
The goal in logo design is to find the optimal balance between
form and function -- a design that expresses your name or
image, that can also be used for a variety of purposes.
Colors: To keep printing costs down and ensure that
your logo can be used in various media, your logo should only
include up to 3 colors. If you will mainly use your logo for
FAX and black-and-white ads you may only want to use one color,
without gradients. If you will only use your logo on the Internet,
however, the choice is limitless. The printing process is
what will limit the amount of colors you should use, so decide
from the start how you will use your logo. Function will drive
the logo design. I recommend a maximum of 3 colors. You may
only need one color now, but your logo will be with you for
the life of your business. You will expand and grow, so it's
best not to limit yourself to only one color, or go hog-wild
if you're only on the "net" for now. Plan for the
future. Two or three colors will give you the greatest flexibility.
When printed on a white background, the white in your logo
will not count as a color. But if your logo contains white
and it is printed on a dark background, the printer will need
to use white as an ink color. For example, let's say that
the logo you are considering contains red, white and blue.
If your business cards will be printed on white paper the
printer will only use 2 colors of ink -- red and blue. If,
however, you run an ad in the phone book yellow pages, white
ink will also need to be used so that the white portions of
your logo are white rather than yellow. As a general rule,
the more colors used, the more you will pay to have it printed,
especially on collateral items such as coffee mugs and T-shirts.
Logo vs. Logotype: A "logo" is only an image,
without text. A "logotype" includes text (your business
name). Logos can be used for branding very small items, or
items that come in a package where your logotype has already
described your name. A logo can also be used when the market
has been saturated with your image and consumers already identify
it with your company name. The Nike "swoosh" is
a good example of this. For small businesses, especially starting
out, I recommend using a logotype so that consumers will identify
your logo with your name. Later on, after you've incorporated
at Wall Street and your products are being sold at Macy's
you can start using your logo alone.
Client as Art Director: Genesis Box encourages your
suggestions. After all, it's YOUR identity! But beware of
trying to mix too many elements. For instance, you like the
shape in this draft and the color in that one, so you'd like
to see a hybrid -- color that shape with this color. Sometimes
that works out just fine. Most times, however, blending elements
will reduce the impact of the image. It's akin to mixing colors.
You may like bright green and you also like bright red, but
when you mix the two together they make gray. Gray is a fine
color but not nearly as vibrant as the individual colors that
made it. The color loses impact. Logos in particular need
IMPACT.
So go ahead and suggest away! You're the boss. I'll do what
I can, but be aware that the image may lose its original impact
if altered. Most likely, the thing that made you say, "wow,
I like that", is the thing that will go away when the
image is modified.
Messing With The Wow: When you see that logo that
makes you say, "Wow! That's IT! I love it!", it's
likely that others (your potential customers) will have the
same reaction. That reaction is generated when all of the
elements are in balance -- marketing considerations, composition,
use of form and color, text placement, etc. Even with the
"wow", some folks want to see the text moved just
a tad, or a color lightened up just a bit. As mentioned previously,
the impact will most likely be diluted. Innumerable variations
have already been tried before it was presented to you. You
are seeing the best. When you say "wow", modifications
are probably not necessary. But please do let me know your
thoughts. Sometimes a minor modification does work!
The Absence of Wow: If there is no "wow"
or even near "wow", rearranging elements will probably
not work. Best to start from scratch on new concepts. In my
experience, one of two things has occurred: Needs and preferences
have not been clearly communicated or understood, or personal
preference conflicts with target market preferences.
If we suspect that there's a communication breakdown between
you and I, try again to communicate to me what you do like
and don't like about the drafts, and the particular feeling
you want portrayed. Be as detailed as possible. Provide examples
if you can, and tell me what you like about other people's
logos.
Sometimes your personal preferences conflict with what we
anticipate the target market will prefer. Perhaps you are
a soft, pastel kind of person but the business sells chainsaws.
We should have established this potential conflict during
the initial data-collection phase, and it may have already
been ironed out, but personal preferences are difficult to
set aside. They will cause you to not like something that
may be very effective for your business. Here's where surveys
come in. Ask friends or associates who are members of your
target market what they think. A mall is a good place for
objective feedback -- people aren't in a hurry and usually
don't mind sharing their opinions. Seek out your target audience
and ask for their honest opinions.
I haven't had a dissatisfied client yet, so hang in there!
We'll find what you need.
Decision-Makers: Try to limit the number of people
who will review and approve the logo to 3 or less. If it goes
into committee the issue will stalemate. All of the drafts
will be technically effective. Each will consist of the shapes
and colors that best describe your name or the image that
you want to portray. What's left is deciding what appeals
to you and your customers. By all means, run some marketing
tests -- survey people and ask them what impressions the images
give them. But when it comes to the final choice, it comes
down to personal preference. Taste varies with each individual
so involving many people in the final decision will bring
the process to a standstill.
The Bottom Line: I wish I could say that all projects
run smoothly. Most of them have, but there have been others
that seemed to drag on endlessly, with no resolution in sight.
But those were the early days, before I learned about the
above tips and recommendations. If we follow these guidelines
things should run as they should. It may take up to a month
to get it just right, sometimes we get "it" on the
first Round. But eventually we WILL arrive at an effective
logo that achieves just the right balance of form and function.
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