Are you designing a logo for your business or for that of a friend? There are certain aspects of logo design that should be considered when creating your logo.
The design of your logo should not be taken lightly. What might seem like a good idea at the time may not translate well when you need to use your logo for certain marketing and promotion projects in the future. Also, once you have an established logo and brand, it can be hard to change that logo at a later date without affecting the relationship with your customers and affecting the brand recognition of your company.
How to Design your own Logo
To create a logo, you can either contact a graphic design company or you could make your own logo. There are a number of online tools that allow you to make your logo yourself. A common function of these tools is to provide you with the option of selecting from a range of logo templates and then fine tuning that logo to make it more personal to your company.
Creating your own logo can save you costs and can give you more control over the final outcome.
What to Think About when Designing your Logo
If you choose to design your logo yourself, there are some key points that you should consider right from the beginning. Establishing these early on will help you to complete your logo design and will provide you with guidelines for the creation of further marketing material later on.
Choosing Logo Colours
Colours can be quite personal to your own tastes but it’s worth noting then when used in marketing and promotional material, certain colours can inspire particular emotions, some of which may actually reflect on how someone viewing your logo may feel about your business.
As an example:
- Strong red colours often encourage feelings of hunger and also symbolise low prices. This is why many fast food chains feature red strongly in their branding and also why many low priced super-marts also feature red in their logo and building signage.
- Green colours often go hand-in-hand with the environment and help to promote a sense of caring for ecological issues.
- Yellow colours can suggest that a company is friendly and approachable – this is commonly used by insurance companies and other people-to-people services.
As well as colours, you may want to think about how your logo would look in solid black colour – i.e. if it was used on a fax or if a letterhead was photocopied – and also how a white version of your logo might look – i.e. when the logo is used on a dark background.
Images in your Logo
An image used in your logo can be a very quick way to spark a memory with someone who has seen your logo before as images can often be more recognisable and unique than words. When using an image, think about how that image reflects an aspect of your business or of your company culture rather than simply using an image that you like. The story behind your image can go a long way to encouraging interest from someone viewing your logo.
Another thing to think about when using an image in your logo is how scalable your logo is. The logo on your screen may look good and clear while you are designing it but remember that your logo may be much smaller when printed on a business card and much larger when displayed on your building signage. If you use a very complex image, it may be hard to make out when displayed much smaller than when you created it.
Your Company Branding
It’s worth remembering that the design of your logo will probably have an impact on the design of all of your company stationery and marketing materials. The colours used in your logo will probably represent your branding colours as a whole.
Think about what message your logo and other marketing material tells people about your company. Do you want to be represented as cheap and cheerful or expensive and luxurious? Or perhaps you want to be seen as trustworthy and professional or hard-working and dedicated?
Your logo can act as the foundation of your company branding and the message that you broadcast to your potential customers so make sure you get it just right before you order your printing.
This article was kindly supplied by NZS, New Zealand Search. To learn more, click here.