Creating a Logo You Will Want To Show Off

Everyone wants a really cool logo when they start their new business—and even when they are re-branding, sometimes, the logo gets a face lift too. I mean, a logo is what connects you to your business, which is your brand, right? You want everyone to think of you (well, your business) when they see your logo. Just like other name brand logos that are so famous, I don’t need to name drop. Im betting you could name three off the top of your head right now.

Now, take a look at those logos that you just thought of—because I know you thought of at least one sometime. The colors, the fonts, the way they hum with the brand’s website, social media platforms and other places you have seen the logo. Notice anything?

No matter what you are looking at when you think of those famous logos: their products, business card, company stationary, clothing, website, Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media platform – they all look the same, right down to the font and as close as possible to the exact colors.

                                        That right there my friend is keeping your logo consistent with your branding.

So how can you get a great logo that matches the décor? Every designer will have their own way of doing things, and I always say:  "no way is wrong if you get the logo or result you love, that you are excited about and it embodies your business and brand".   (Yes, you can quote me on that !)  A logo will be with you for a long time, make it what you want it to be.

Here are some tips (that I suggest--see previous mention, everyone has their own opinion on 'how' to do something):

Ideas & Style: Do you have an idea of what you want? Have you seen some logos that you kind of like? Obviously you want to be unique and steer clear of out and out copying someone else’s logo but you can get an idea completely different by showing your designer an example of what you like. By giving your designer some samples will help them to brainstorm with you. You are going to also want to make sure that you logo looks good on both dark and light colored backgrounds, so keep that in mind as well when designing your logo.

Color: Two to three colors is standard. One color should be your main color and one or two supporting colors. Not to say that you couldn’t have more colors, if that is what you want, but think about other logos that catch your eye. Some logos have a multitude of color and some sport just one color! (ie: Apple, Nike, FedEx, etc). Another idea is to look at a color wheel to see if the colors YOU like actually work together. You may also want to look at color for the emotion it pulls from people. For example, red is a very powerful color for some people. Google: Meaning of Colors.  You will see tons of information on colors and the effect they have on certain things.

(WebPageFX has an awesome infographic about the psychology of color:
                   https://www.webpagefx.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/psychology-of-color.jpg )

Fonts: (Some designers call this Typography) Think again what you want to portray when someone looks at your logo. To swirly? To stiff? Too many letters? What is your logo portraying? Is your logo going to be for adults, kids, families or general? That will determine as well possibly the font you might consider using. Some designers suggest steering clear of most common fonts such as Comic Sans. You want to make sure your font is easy to read when scaled down and when enlarged—especially the swirly script fonts. You should stick with one font style, two at the most. Any more than that and it honestly will start to look cluttered and confused. (Think branding).

Drafts: Before you are done, you should get a few drafts to look at so you can change some things if you want. You may want to let one or two family or friends look at your drafts with you for their thoughts before you finalize your logo.

Finalized and Official Logo complete! Whew! That is a lot to think about isn’t it! When it’s all said and done, you should have a logo that you can put on a dark or light background so your designer will probably give you multiple versions.

But you aren’t done yet. Hello? Don’t forget the SWAG!

One thing that I personally do when I am working on a logo, I think of what it will look like embroidered on a hat or t-shirt as well as what it will look like on a mug. Believe me, you are going to be so excited about your new logo, you will want to order some pens, water bottles, shirts and all kinds of things to hand out to your new clients, friends and family.

Bottom line…It’s your logo. Your designer should suggest what they think works best, but you have the final say on what you want. So what are you waiting for? Go get your logo!

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