Nowadays everyone is a designer. Tools like Canva, Pic Monkey, and Pablo make it easy to create visually captivating images for social media, websites, print, and more. Companies like Fiverr promise to hook you up with whatever graphic or image you need for almost nothing.
Quick and simple image creation is great for your small business' marketing, but not so much for your logo. Some things are just too important to be rushed or created without intent and strategy. Your logo — arguably the most important piece of your branding — is one of those things.
What’s the real purpose of a logo?
A logo lets people know who your company is. Sounds simple, right? It's actually super important because of the deluge of imagery we are exposed to every day. Do you know how many images you saw just in the time it took you to turn on your computer and land on my blog? (Thanks for being here, by the way.)
Which of those potentially hundreds of images are memorable to you? I assume not that many. That is why it’s so important to design a logo that is super unique to you! You need to stand out from the crowd of images and from your competitors.
The most important purpose of a logo again is to identify the person, product, business or service you are offering.
Logos are designed strategically.
They aren’t just something you whip up because you thought that font looks pretty or you like the color green. Every detail in a logo serves a purpose. To attract your ideal client or audience. It’s your hardest working business tool that will allow you to stand out from all of your competitors.
To create an effective logo, the designer should know the purpose of your company, its voice and tone, your industry, and your personal aesthetic. That is why logos from sites like Fiverr look and feel generic — they have to be! The designer simply does not have the information they need (or the time) to create a beautiful, unique logo.
But, YOU don't have to be generic. You can choose to make the investment in a logo that is personalized to your business and its ideal customers.
Why do logos matter to any of us?
They are the face of who you are, they are the visual handshake when a new potential client starts researching your company. When you close your eyes and think of a company, what's the first thing you see? Their logo.
When you get familiar with a company, you start attaching your feelings and memories to that logo/brand. We create a bond or brand loyalty. At that point it's ride or die for your clients—they trust you and the services that you offer. Think about when Apple comes out with a new iPhone. There are other phones just as good, or dare I say better, but when Apple releases a new product people are camping out like its Black Friday. We all want that kind of brand loyalty.
Logo designs influence our decision making process.
We associate fonts, shapes, and colors with specific emotions. There is tons of research behind our buying behavior and its relationship to different fonts, shapes, and colors. If you want to know more about the color aspect and how it influences people's emotions click here to download my guide on “What Your Brand Colors Really Say About Your Business”.
Think about car company logos. The Mercedes Benz logo is synonymous with wealth, elegance, and class. The Tesla logo conjures up thoughts of innovation, cutting-edge technology, and exclusivity. Subaru is all about adventure, the outdoors, and family. When you see these logos, especially if you are a customer or a fan, these thoughts come to you unbidden. They can make you feel happy, proud, satisfied. It all depends on the psychology of the logo.
By simply looking at your logo people decide how it makes them feel, and how they feel about your brand. You have ONE chance to make a lasting impression, because once it’s been seen, it’s hard to unsee a “mistake”. When Pepsi rolled out their new logo in 2008 they paid Arnell Group more than $1 million dollars to design their next logo and it took one artist to do this to it:
It’s kind of hard to unsee that image, am I right? You are welcome. It happens a lot with logos. Airbnb had something similar happen to them when they put out their logo. I won't post what some designers did to that one, I will let you go down that rabbit hole by yourself. For what is worth, Airbnb took the internet mocking on the chin, and still has their same logo. They have enough brand collateral to do so. Does your business?
This is why it’s so important that your logo correctly represents who you are as a business, so you can attract the right audience, in a positive light.
Your logo can and should communicate your brand values and meanings.
Look at Amazon, it has a smile and an arrow that connects the A and Z. The smile communicates the happiness you get when your package delivers. Even more so now with Amazon Prime. Who doesn’t like ordering something you desperately need and get it in under 2 hours?! The A and Z suggests the breadth of their product offering—everything from A to Z.
Do you still think a logo is still just a pretty font and some color?
If you would like to know more about making your logo stand out, let's connect and talk about your needs and how to get you back on track attracting your ideal clients.
After reading this and you find yourself thinking a refresh might be in order or a total rebrand, click here to read about the difference between a Brand Refresh and a Rebrand.