Logos are a critical aspect in business marketing. As the company’s main graphical representation, the logo is an anchor of a company’s brand as it is the single most visible company’s manifestation within the company’s target market. Its thus, for this reason, a well-designed logo is a key part in the company’s overall marketing strategy.
The best logos of renowned brands around the world have an impact. They are memorable and they instantly bring out images of the particular brand they are associated with. For example, think of the Golden Arches found on the McDonald’s logo or the swoosh of the Nike logo or the allIclassic script’ of the Coca-Cola logo, they all have one thing in common: they are instantly recognizable and consumers of the brand have a way of associating with the logo.
Importance of Logo Design in Business
1. Purpose
Logos for corporate are intended to be the face of the company i.e. they are the graphical display of the company’s identity and uniqueness by providing essential information on a company for consumers to identify with The logo is also the main item that is used in advertising and marketing strategies of a company.
2. Brand Identity
The logo is the main visual component of the overall brand identity of the company. The logo will appear on stationery, business cards, website(s) and ads. The logo’s theme should; however, be in line with the company’s colours in order to reduce ambiguity.
3. Design Principles
Great logos should be unique and easily comprehensible to the potential consumers. Although there are a lot of choices in terms of colour, typography and visual element, the logo should help convey information about the company e.g. tech firms tend to use angular logos to convey speed while service-oriented companies rather use rounded logos, conveying a sense of service and trust.
4. Return on Investment
A well-designed logo translates to trust form consumers since it conveys a degree of professionalism and this translates to more sales and referrals. Consumers will tend to associate with products with a logo as opposed to those without or those with poorly done logos.
Common Mistakes in Logo Design
Mostly, small businesses tend to have less professionalism in good logo creation with poor attention paid to the size and positioning of the logo and having different versions of the logo for different purposes such as letterheads, business cards and web pages. The logo must always be the same for ease of brand identity by the customer.
5 Keys to Successful Logo Design
Creation of a successful logo can have a great influence on the overall success of your brand. It is always important to understand the qualities of a good logo that will make your business more successful. Here are 5 keys that will guide you to design a great logo for your brand.
1. Simplicity
Simplicity is one of the most important aspects in logo design. Your logo should be composed of clean lines merged with a few details such as shades and/or artistic touches. Colours should be limited to specific choices (according to your type of brand). The text should also be limited to the brand name. Good examples include the Google logo, the Nike swoosh, and Twitter’s “T”. Always remember in design of a logo, less is more.
2. Uniqueness
For your logo to be instantly recognizable, it has to be unique. Use of common shapes is okay but they should be altered in a way that is unique to your brand such as by applying a special colour effect or other details. It is; however, advisable to create your own unique shape/item that is not being used by another company such as the bitten off apple for Apple Inc.
3. Recognition
Your logo tags along your brand. Therefore, for your brand to be instantly recognizable so should be your logo, no matter its colour, size or format. Your logo should always be identified as your brand’s image. For example social media logos such as Facebook and Twitter are often manipulated to fit different themes of blogs and yet they are always instantly recognizable.
4. Tone
Your logo has to convey a message about your brand or company to your audience. A simple logo may not convey much but it sure should create a tone that will reflect your brand. For example, for a toy company, the logo should convey a tone of playfulness by use of bright colours and comic sans.
5. your logo will be used I every aspect associated with your brand, including print media, web pages, social media, email list and so on, it is important that your logo is easily transferrable in between any of these mediums and yet retain its recognizability.
