Company logos are about establishing a business identity and making a connection with your direct customers. The logo must represent your company’s values through its design. The logo must encapsulate the chief elements and characteristics of your business in its design. Along with its design, the way you use the logo is also crucial to your business’s branding activities.
Here are four important considerations for creating and using business logos.
1. Logos are for businesses of all sizes. If you think your small business doesn’t need or shouldn’t have a logo then think again. Irrespective of the business size and category; a logo is a crucial branding element for any company.
Say, you own a small artisan bakery business in a big city like London then having a logo can help you establish a brand identity before you hit the big time. For instance, you can use logo boards in London in the form of attractive signage and bring the right attention to your business or store very effectively.
This is just one way you can use your business’s logo. With its regular use in all your business and branding activities, the logo can soon enough begin to act as the face of your business with good recall value.
2. The logo design and signs can be as per your budget. Big companies can and do spend thousands of pounds on the design of the logo alone. This in no way means that logo design and print work needs to be expensive. You can hire a reputable print company in your area to create the logo work as per your budget.
3. Logos can impact your business negatively or positively depending on its design. If you or your in-house team can design the logo then you can go ahead and ideate to come up with a fantastic solution. If not then you can hire a design or print company to come up with a creative solution for the logo. The point is to spend enough time to create and finalize the design as a logo (if not done right) can impact your business negatively also.
Think of the cost of outsourcing the logo design work to another company as a worthwhile investment and not an unnecessary expenditure. If the typography, colours or the image of the logo are not in line with your brand then your customers may feel disconnected with it. In the long run, it can harm your business branding.
The colours must give meaning to the logo and not look out-of-place. Whether you prefer font-based designs or ones based on images; it is essential that the colours in the logos convey the right message to the public.
The design itself can help your customers relate to your brand in different ways. Mascot logos are excellent for brands that focus on children and families. A good designer can also help you create a logo with a unique shape and such logos are perfect if you want a newly-created image to represent your business. The design must also look good in different forms such as on banners, sign boards, digital media and merchandise.
4. The use and placement of logos need careful planning and considerations. Storefront signs are excellent places to showcase your company’s logo. The logo must be present on your company’s letterheads, your business’s social channels and other media. If you are attending a press event or a trade show, you should have various types and sizes of signs with your business’s logo such as press boards, small pop-up displays and banners.
If you use service vehicles such as vans for your business, the logo signs must appear on them also. Essentially, utilizing the benefits of the logos for marketing is not only clever but essential in this day and age of digital advertising.