A SMALL BUSINESS GUIDE TO LOGO DESIGN

 

The thing that we need to know about logo designing the most is that it is different for everybody. Each business owner has their own ideas about their logos and what constitutes a perfect logo. Some prefer to go the old and tested route while others follow trends and fads. A lot of things like stripes, fades, and others have come into fashion and then receded. It keeps on going. A few years ago negative spaces were all the rage.

What a small business owner must know about logos before they set out to design one themselves or hire an agency that provides professional logo design services is that your logo is one of the most important features of your brand. Remember that there is a lot more noise in the market than there used to be. A lot of new businesses have surfaced and the competition is fierce. Everyone wants a piece of the pie and you really have to outdo your competitors if you want to get noticed and earn a fair piece. To get noticed, you need to show your customers something that will stay in their minds and help them remember you and identify you. That is what your logo needs to be: memorable. Not only is your logo the first thing that your customers interact with, it is also a souvenir that they take with them and hold on to it.

Should Small Businesses Follow Trends?

This is where a lot of small businesses take the wrong route and get stuck for life. They take into account the latest trend and fad that is currently dominating the market and design a logo that follows that trend. For example, a lot of businesses now have 3D logos. As long as they stay in the digital world, it is fine but you cannot get a 3D logo printed for your business communications. These can include your letterhead, business card, envelopes, receipts, and packaging among others.

That is why we always suggest that you do your research and find out the trends that have successfully aced the test of time. Trends that are ever green. How can you find that out? One of the best ways to do that is to look at the top ten businesses in your industry and do your research about their logos. Big businesses usually spend a lot of time, effort, and money into their logos and after you have analyzed a few, you will start noticing the similarities among them or the similar techniques that they have used for their logos.

 How Can You Design Your Small Business’s Logo?

 There are a lot of elements in any logo and you have to be on top of your game if you want to know which ones to use and which ones to discard. So how can you find out the fundamental elements of a great logo? What trend is temporary and which one is here to stay? How do you know that your logo incorporates the evergreen elements?

Here we have broken down all the steps that you need to take and the elements that you need to have in order to design an awesome logo that stands the test of time and effectively communicates with your customers.

What is a Logo?

 We know that most of you will know some or all of the things in this guide but still it is good to get a refresher, especially before building your own logo or contacting an agency that provides the best logo design services. A logo is a small and attractive piece of design that is used to represent your business. It is a symbol of your business. It’s your very own bat signal, so to speak. But that is not all; a logo is so much more than that. Here are the things that a good logo must embody in order to attract customers and help them remember your brand:

Represent Your Brand

The very first thing that a logo must do is to embody your business or your brand. This has to be done in a very tasteful way so that the customers are attracted and not repelled by it. This can easily be done with simplicity. A lot of business owners think that they need to shove a dozen different elements into their logo for it to represent their brand. A great logo is tasteful and balanced.

Another thing that business owners must consider is that the logo has to be aesthetically pleasing but not at the expense of representation. Don’t put all your effort into your logo’s beautification and leave the functionality alone. You have to come up with a logo that has both, or if you are working with an agency that provides professional logo design services then you need to communicate this to them.

Be Recognizable

This is another strong factor that directly impacts the efficacy of the logo. Your logo is your brand ambassador. If it is not instantly recognizable then it is not doing its job properly. Take for example the logos of Amazon, McDonalds, Coca Cola, and UPS, among others. People take one look at their logos and instantly remember what they represent. The same should happen with your logo.

For this purpose your logo has to be unique. That is why we always suggest that you work with the best logo design services that you can find as they are in the business of creating unique and customized logos. If you go for a logo template online or a DIY logo, you might end up with something that has been used a thousand times before and you will just become part of the noise in the market.

Must Be Versatile

We touched on this point a little bit in the beginning. You will be using your logo on multiple channels and not all of them digital. So you have to make sure that your logo is versatile enough to be used on any material or channel and not lose its efficacy. It has to be scalable so that it can easily be resized. This means that your logo has to be simple enough to do all these things. The more complex it is, the harder it will be to scale it. Also, it shouldn’t depend too heavily on colors as different colors fade or lose their form depending on the channel.

Be Timeless

This is the final yet the most important piece of the puzzle. Your logo is your representative. It has to  be consistent over time. If you want to develop customer’s loyalty then you need to have a logo that they can trust. For this purpose you need a logo that doesn’t need change every now and then. It has to be evergreen and timeless.

Conclusion

So this is the gist of it all. You need a logo that is timeless so that it remains the same no matter what trends come and go. It has to be versatile enough to be used anywhere needed and it has to be recognizable enough so that the customers know it’s you. make sure that when you work with professional logo design services, you communicate all these things to them in advance and then enjoy as they build you a perfect logo.