BRANDING   |   POSTED ON 31.03.2015

While just one aspect of your brand, your logo is often the first impression potential clients have of your business – better make it a good one. It’s important that your logo best represents your business and is consistent with all other aspects of your branding. And while many new businesses jump straight to the logo design, it’s recommended that the logo design be just one step on your branding journey rather than treated as a stand-alone task.

Before starting work with your branding specialist it’s important that you understanding the fundamentals of logo design.

To do

• Define and know your audience – before any website design is started you need to work out who your audience is, where your logo will be seen and how it will be used. What will appeal to your target market? Will your logo be on your shopfront or used in a Facebook cover photo? Your logo will need to not only appeal to your audience but be usable across all media.
• Aim for a point of difference – your logo is your chance to separate your business from all the others so strive for difference to really stand out.
• Sketch, sketch and keep sketching – Again, even if the plan is to have your branding agency complete the final design and even if drawing isn’t your talent – sketch. Don’t erase anything, just sketch pages and pages if the inspiration strikes. Like a picture brainstorming session – it will give you a great idea of want you like and don’t like and can be given to your designer to highlight the direction you are heading in.
• Keep it simple – avoid anything that is fussy, confusing or difficult to understand.
• Pay attention to how it will work – be careful with sizing and legibility, create alternates and variations and pay close attention to spacing and composition – logos will need to be different sizes for different applications so make sure it works and is still legible when reduced and enlarged. Your branding team can help with this.
• Don’t forget the psychology of colour – different colours mean different things so ensure that the colour/s you select best represent the feeling you want to evoke and the action you want people to take.
• Get feedback – Ask everyone what they think of your chosen logo (or your top 3 picks) before you roll it out.

Not to do

• Add too much – the strongest logos are those that are not complicated or overly fussy so focus on one key feature. The more you add to your logo the more you increase the likelihood you will just confuse your audience. If the proposed design is full of detail try removing something and see if it still projects the same message. If it does then that details probably wasn’t necessary.
• Follow the latest trends – you will just blend in with the other logos that are just following the latest trends and you will end up with a logo that is outdated in a few short years, if not sooner.
• Change it too frequently – all logos take time to build up recognition, by changing your logo too often you just don’t give your audience enough time to build up that recognition.
• Copy others – you could actually be committing plagiarism and in breach of copyright laws. The entire point of a logo is to set your business apart from the rest – so don’t just copy what someone has – use this is an opportunity to distinguish your business,  your business name and your brand.
• Be too expected or literal – sometimes the unexpected can work in your favour. If you sell cars there is no hard and fast rule that says your logo has to be or include a car – think outside the box or recreate the box altogether.
• Use too many fonts – using numerous fonts will just make your logo appear confused. Most logo designers and branding specialists recommend using no more than two different fonts in a single logo design.

If you’re in the market for branding, rebranding and your logo design is part of that process, contact your brand agency Liquid Creativity for advice.