 Marketing
Best Practices
Logo-gistics
Six Things Every
Business Needs To
Do When Creating A Logo
By: Dale W. Hutchings
A logo is an excellent way to make your company stand
out among competitors. If done properly, your logo can
do more than give you a high-quality, professional look;
it can help to make your business memorable to others.
Your logo will help your current clients to remember you
down the road when they need someone with your products
or services again, and it can be an enticing factor in
attracting new clients. In a nutshell, when designed
properly, your logo will convey credibility and
professionalism.
The question is: How do you decide on a logo? What image
will be best for you? Here are six things every business
owner needs to do when making that important decision:
1. Use A Professional Graphic Designer. Don’t attempt to
do it yourself. If you do, more often than not, that’s
exactly what your logo will end up looking like: a
do-it-yourself job. Find a designer with a proven track
record, one with a portfolio of impressive logos.
Chances are if you like what he has done for other
businesses, you’ll be satisfied with what the artist
produces for you.
2. Make Sure The Logo Design Reflects Your Business. To
accomplish this, give your graphic designer plenty of
input. Make sure he has at least some idea what you are
looking for; likewise, make sure you convey to the
artist design possibilities that truly reflect your
business in terms of your product or service. (If you
are not good at this type of thing, then get input from
others who you feel are more “marketing savvy,” or hire
a marketing consultant to help you brand your company.)
3. Choose colors and a style in keeping with your
potential customers/clients. If you have an antique shop
or sell traditional American furniture, obviously your
logo design should have a conventional look to it, in
terms of both the image icon created and the typeface
used. On the other hand, if your company develops
computer games or is an architectural firm specializing
in innovative, 21st century building designs, your logo
should have a much more contemporary, perhaps
futuristic, look. Go with the logo design that best fits
your business. This is the first impression you want to
give people in terms of your identitiy.
4. Get Feedback Before You Commit. Don’t select a logo
just because you like it. Get feedback from others such
as business colleagues, potential or current customers,
friends. Ask people what the logo “says” to them. If
their responses are what you are looking for, then you
might have your logo, or it is close to what will be the
final product.
5. Make Sure The Logo Is Flexible. Ask yourself: How
will it work for whatever applications I might have? How
will it look on Business Cards? Signage? Letterhead? My
web site? How about when I fax or photocopy it? What
does it look like when I reduce, enlarge, colorize or
print it in black and white?
6. Love, Don’t Just Like, the Logo. Keep in mind this is
a business decision: you may love a certain icon that a
graphic artist has created for you, but that doesn’t
mean it is right for your business. Ultimately, the
ideal logo design will be one that fits whatever
products or services you are selling to a tee. The logo
you finally decide to go with will be something that you
will be looking at not for weeks or months, but
hopefully for years. Therefore, when you make the final
decision on a logo design, don’t just like it, make sure
you love it.
If you follow these six simple steps in choosing a logo,
whatever decision you do make will likely be the right
one.
Dale W. Hutchings, APR, specializes in “out of the
box” marketing and has more than 30 years of Public
Relations, Marketing and Advertising experience. Dale
has had his own practice since 2001. He can be reached
at
hutch7@verizon.net
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