Designing An Effective Company Logo
A good logo will identify your business and be pleasing to the eye. A great logo goes much further. It will speak to your target market, express your values, objectives, and personality. It will be unique and aware of its competitors.
These are some key things to consider during the design process, to ensure that the result is a success:
Should You Design It Yourself?
Think carefully about this. It’s easy to feel protective over the creation of your logo, but unless you have sound knowledge of design software, as well as the key principles and elements of design, you may require help from a professional.
However, a designer will need to understand your company, your target market, and your competitors. It is your job to communicate this vital information, so you remain an integral part of the process.
If you have a design background then by all means, go it alone!
The Different Types of Logo
There are 5 different types to be aware of. Which you choose may be dependent on the nature of your business, how your logo will be used, and your company name:
Symbol: A standalone icon that represents your business with a sleek and simplistic approach (e.g. Apple, Nike).
Wordmark: The name of the company. Consider whether the letter arrangement is visually appealing on paper. Google is an example of an effective wordmark in which the letters sit well next to one another. Typeface is key and should be unique (think Coca-Cola and Disney).
Lettermark: The company’s initial(s). This is a good option if the initials graphically depict well or if the company name is long (Hewlett Packard becomes hp). Again, the typeface is important.
Combination Mark: The most common logo type, consisting of both words/letters and imagery/icons. These logos are versatile as each element is intended to be recognisable even when used in absence of the other. Amazon makes use of its signature arrow to represent a smile, and to point from the letters ‘a’ to ‘z’, indicating that Amazon has everything!
Emblem: Used frequently by car manufacturers, sports teams, and institutions. Emblems include a lot more detail, usually the name or initial sits within a shield or crest. A high level of skill is needed to create an emblem as legibility is harder to achieve. When done well, emblems create an impression of prestige or luxury (e.g. Manchester United, Bentley, FBI)
How Will Your Logo Stand Out?
Remember your target audience. Your design will stand out to potential consumers if it appeals to a demographic. An older audience may prefer traditional over contemporary designs, or you may steer your logo in the direction of feminine, masculine, playful or formal, etc.
Research your competitors, you will not want to create a logo that is similar to the design of an existing business within your industry.
Don’t jump to the obvious ideas. For a coffee shop logo, you might think of a cup, or coffee beans, in brown and cream shades. This may not get you noticed.
The Starbucks logo is green and depicts a siren – a seductive sea creature used to convey the idea that their coffee is enticing. The nautical theme is also a tribute to the company’s coastal home of Seattle. This logo is so successful that it has even developed hipster connotations over time, making a chai latte fashionable - Instagramable even! A digital marketing dream.
Likewise, an owl has no direct affiliation with professional development or business mentoring, but at Wiseup we utilise the owl as a symbol of wisdom, to communicate our objectives in a playful and recognisable way. Get creative with your own logo. Research the meaning behind names, incorporate elements that symbolise your values, history, or geography. This is how original and meaningful ideas are born.
