Whether you already have a logo and you’re undergoing a re-design, you’re just getting started with your first logo or you’re curious about the quality of your logo, understanding what your logo says about your business will allow you to think like your customers. If you can see your business through their eyes, you’ll better understand what drives them to buy, not to buy or become a regular. How can you know what message your logo sends? These five checkpoints can help you re-evaluate your logo.
- The Psychology of Colors.
- Appropriate Typography.
- Professional or Homemade?
- Graphics, Words or Both?
- Clean, Simple and Easy to Decipher
Understanding color psychology, or how colors make people feel, is important for knowing what your logo says about your business. Different colors work better for different industries. Red an aggressive and provocative color that grabs attention is great for food service and restaurants, cars and technology. Blue, a trustworthy and dependable color that puts people at ease is one of the most popular color choices for many brands and industries including finance, health care and airlines. Choose a color that reflects the nature of your business and try to use as few colors as possible in your design for a clean, crisp and appealing logo.
Your logo’s typography should reflect the nature of your business. Do you run a home daycare? A more playful font, might be in order. If you run a law firm on the other hand, you’d want a more professional, clean-cut font. Find a typography that works for you by researching what competitors and other businesses in your industry are using for their logos. You can use sites like Brandsoftheworld or Veer to browse logos and see which typographies match which industries.
If you want to be taken seriously, a professional logo design is a must. Your logo will represent and define your brand, so it’s worth the initial investment of time and money. Making your own logo, or paying an amateur designer a cheap price to design a logo from a template is probably not the best choice.
If your logo has a combination of icons and words, the words should be as minimal as possible. Stick to just your company name and maybe a short slogan. If you have a word-heavy logo, it might appear clunky, cluttered and off-putting. Use few words, if any. Any words in your logo should be able to stand alone, without the aid of other words in your logo or the icon.
If someone can’t look at your logo and understand what your company does in less than three seconds, your logo isn’t effective. If potential customers or clients can’t understand your business at first glimpse, they’ll likely take their business elsewhere.Ask friends and family for honest feedback about whether or not your logo accurately reflects your business.
Knowing what message your logo sends about your business is a valuable way to think like your customers, get inside of their heads and see your own business in the same way consumers do. These five checkpoints can help you identify the effectiveness of your logo, launch your logo design effectively or have an efficient re-design process. Be sure not to settle until you have a logo you absolutely love.