Have you thought about your logo lately?

Your company’s logo is a symbol representing your business.  It serves as a visual representation of your place in the industry, your company’s culture, and your attitude to clients.  Have you thought about what your logo says about your company?  Read on to learn just how critical a clean, well-designed logo is the cornerstone to a solid brand.

Corporate Visual Identity
Over time, your company’s persona develops from what and how you communicate externally.  From choices in media (TV, Web, Print) to the content that appears in your communications (copy, images, icons), your audience develops an impression of what your business is all about, and how your brand fits into the spectrum of brand categories in their minds.

Visual Identity is one aspect of that.  It’s about developing a style for your communications, integrating color usage, image style, fonts, and above all else, your logo.  Why the logo?  Your customers see your logo more than any other visual element of your company.  It appears on your stationary, signage, advertising, and website.  Your logo is the visual that resides in a customer’s mind as the single symbolic representation of your company, encompassing all of the values and ideas that you’ve gone to great lengths to communicate in one small package.

It’s Just Text and an Image, Isn’t It?
Not at all!  A well-designed logo will perform several important ways:

• Communicate your industry and company’s individuality.
• Project style or attitude.  Using curved fonts and flowing elements will give a very different feel than jagged, rough text.  Your logo will give an initial impression of your company, creating an emotional connection and inviting customers to learn more.
• Be memorable.  Visual elements are processed by the brain in less than a second.  Simplicity and good structure improve the speed at which a logo can be processed and increase the chances that it will be remembered.

Designing a Logo that Works For You

Here are some things to keep in mind when updating or designing your first logo:

• Make sure it speaks to your customer base.  One logo might work very well for an industrial supplier but fail to excite the customers of a restaurant chain.  The values and needs of each industry’s customer are different, and should be well thought out before starting a design.
• Brainstorm.  Sketch a few different options and see what works.  Maybe using a serif font gives too formal of a feeling, or the placement of a graphical element makes the logo feel unbalanced.  Working with a few options gives you the chance to mix and match until there’s something you’re happy with – it’s rare to strike gold with the first attempt.
• Longevity.  Plan for your logo to be the visual focus of your company for about 8-10 years.  Even the best logos go through a review and revision process after that period of time, keeping what works, and changing what doesn't.  Minor redesigns of a logo are often taken well (consider Pepsi's recent logo and brand updates), but changing your logo too frequently can create confusion and dilute your brand.
• Get Feedback.  Take your design samples and ask for feedback.  Use the input you get from colleagues and those in your target market to tweak and rework the logo.  Remember, even though it’s your logo, it’s your customers who should be getting the most out of it.