Designing a logo can be a) a profound and moving experience, or b) easy peasy lemon squeezy.
First things first, it’s up to you how much spin you want to put into the process but if no one can immediately understand what your logo means then it’s pretty much a vanity project.
The best advice is always to use a full-service digital agency, like TKStarley, who have the resources, the creativity and the experience to ensure your logo says all that your customers need to know.
Connecting your target audience with your products, services and brand identity is exactly what your logo should be employed to do. If you’re looking for a few tips and tricks of the trade relating to logo design then read on – and don’t forget to keep things simple.
Make sure your logo stretches across a wide range of media
When creating a logo it’s always best to make sure it transcends both online and offline media. Will it have the same impact on a t-shirt as it will on your website? Does your logo communicate just as well on your social pages as it does on your email marketing campaigns? These are just a couple of questions to ask yourself prior to getting started. Size, also, matters. Checking out your logo proposals in a variety of sizes is exactly what a design team, such as TKStarley, will do as a matter of course. You want your logo to look just as awesome on the side of a bus as it does when you’re sitting on the bus using your iPhone.
Great logos are memorable and easily understood
If you want to play a time-wasting Facebook game and tell your pals how many logos you identified correctly then you’ll soon find out which ones work and why – the McDonalds ‘Golden Arches’ logo is one of the most recognisable in the world! Creating a symbol that stands out may appear like a simple process but it can take a heck of a lot of time to perfect. Colour, font, style, symbolism, images: if you’re in any way unsure as to how to concoct the perfect blend of variables then it pays to employ an agency who can. Standing out from a crowd isn’t always a case of shouting the loudest or being the tallest. Nostalgia, emotion and context all play an important part in what an audience will remember. Creating a logo that incorporates this depth of feeling is exactly what you need.
A quality design agency will ask themselves three key questions
Successful logo designs always inspire an audience to view a brand’s identity just in the way that the company wants. The amount of time required to get a message across can often be frighteningly short. When a design agency starts the process they’ll always ask themselves:
- Why does the client need a logo?
- Who is the client’s target audience?
- What is the logo required to do?
When working with a client it’s sometimes necessary to dispense with egos from both sides and work solely on what’s best for the business as a whole. Asking the question why do you need a logo can often throw a client into confusion.
“Of course I need a logo!”
“But why?”
“Everyone’s got one!”
“But why do you want one?”
“Do you want my business or not?”
“Let’s find out.”
Once an agency has ascertained the reasons behind the logo design request then they can begin to develop a relationship built on trust rather than purely massaging egos. Unravelling the reasons behind a project can often be a truly enlightening affair and if you’re employing a design agency that isn’t prepared to ask the tricky questions then you have to ask yourself: what’s in it for them?
Be unique, be simple and keep your message and your audience at the centre of everything that your logo stands for. Creating a logo can be as easy as writing your name, but if no one knows who you are, who’s going to know what you have to say?
More about the author: Chris Owen is a freelance copywriter specialising in digital marketing and creative content.