Believe it or not, there’s a difference between a company and a brand. One can be controlled, the other can’t; one has a marketing budget, the other is the marketing budget; one has to be sold, the other sells itself.
According to Chron, a company markets or produces goods, products and services, while a brand is the “personality” by which the company is perceived by the consumers. Marketing specialists can make a difference in human perception, but nobody can completely control a brand once it comes to life through your customers—this makes the aspects you can control more important than ever.
If a brand is your company’s personality, then the logo is your company’s face. You can’t decide how people see you, but you can decide what it is that they see, and that makes logo design an extremely important aspect of brand management.
The Good
Getting creative with your logo can have a definite positive impact on your brand identity. Thus, there are a few basics that you need to keep in mind when designing a logo, or having one designed.
According to Mashable, there are several aspects to an effective logo. In simplest terms, a good logo should always be:
Simple: easily recognized with clear imagery.
Versatile: easy to scale and use across multiple applications, media and platforms.
Relevant: appropriate to the industry in question.
Memorable: again, clear and concise imagery.
Enduring: able to withstand the test of time.
Creating a logo that hits all five points requires a professional eye and expert skill, but also necessitates a great deal of creativity. Your logo can be clever, utilizing negative space and text in unique ways in order to create an image that speaks clearly for your company while endearing customers to your brand.
The majority of consumers aren’t graphic designers, but anyone can tell a boring logo, plain logo from something clever and creative; the more interesting, while still maintaining the five key tenets of logo design, the more appreciative even the most untrained eye will be. This leads to greater brand recognition and more commitment from customers, which in turn leads to the most effective form of marketing in the world: word of mouth. Having a logo that speaks louder than words, and effectively so, promises a positive impact on your corporate image on all fronts.
The Bad
There’s always a dark side, of course, and with graphic design that’s truer than ever. It’s possible to be too creative in your design, which is not only counterproductive to achieving a good corporate identity, but can also lead to increased consumer criticism and a complete loss of control over your brand image. You want to be famous, not infamous, so try to avoid making what Creative Bloq has called the biggest mistakes in the business.
Too much color: keep your palette limited to three or four colors. Some professionals cite five as the ceiling, but even that many could end up creating a design that’s too busy, scales poorly, and doesn’t actually have a single memorable element aside from the sheer disorganization of it all.
Following trends too closely: while simplicity and minimalism are in this year, and may be in for some time to come, sticking too close to specific trends—tight circles, single colors, no text—can end up leaving your logo dated in a year or two. Find the trends that have stood the test of time, and make a logo that works with them.
Overdoing typefaces: while many logos feature multiple fonts, the general rule is to avoid using more than two under any circumstances. Too many typefaces create an inconsistent, unprofessional image, no matter how “creative” the chosen font may be.
Other issues, such as imitation and oversimplification, have less to do with creativity and more to do with laziness on the part of the designer. In the end, your logo must be 100 percent yours, and must be able to support a brand image consistently for years to come. If your designer says that means toning it down a bit, listen to them.
The Necessary
Whether you’ve hired the best agency in the country, signed off a contract with a freelance underdog, or opted to commission creative logo designs by Designhill or another crowdsourcing design group, you need to be aware of the impact your logo can have on your brand identity.
You can’t control what people think of you, but you can control how you present yourself. Choosing the right designer and achieving the best logo makes a world of difference in building customer loyalty and presenting your brand in a positive and memorable light. Don’t settle for anything less than what you really need—get creative, keep it simple, and make sure your logo supports your business from all sides.