Any business owner would tell you that a Logo & the logo design is quintessential to a brand’s success. Trading goods or services without your brand’s identity may not be fruitful in the long run.
Often, while brainstorming factors of building a business, prioritizing the importance of a logo design are often forgotten.
If you think you can climb the ladder of success without the foundational identity of your business, you stand corrected. Here are a few reasons why.
PURPOSES OF A BUSINESS LOGO:
1. Branding
You devised your brand’s name; now, you should create an emotion around your brand. Often, people forget names; but they don’t forget faces. Your logo is the face of your brand’s story and emotion.
People become loyal to a brand when they recognize a logo; on advertisements, banners, social media, or anywhere.
Not to forget, an ambassador may change, but a brand’s logo will always remind the consumer.
2. Impression
People have a minuscule attention span. They don’t spend more than 5 seconds on brands that don’t catch their eye.
Your brand needs to create a lasting impression with the amount of content consumed. A logo would grab their attention and communicate your business value effectively.
One can establish their brand’s market leadership and authority over their niche and corporate identity.
3. Foundation
The logo is only a part of the brand’s identity, yet as crucial as the foundation of your brand’s values and story.
Color themes, fonts, and tones all reflect what you want your brand perception to be in the long run. You get one chance to get a concrete corporate identity, and then evolving is acceptable.
Your logo makes your brand’s visual identity and stationery, such as visiting cards, website landing pages, letterheads, etc.
4. Unique Identity
To pique the consumer’s interest, you have to be unique. Introduce your brand in a way that stands out from the rest. It will always have a positive impact on your business.
Many organizations don’t research the existing brands and their logos and compete with a similar design or color palette. This may create confusion in the consumer’s mind, and if copyrighted, it could also instigate lawsuits.
Differentiating your brand from its competition results in a better target audience.
How To Create A Unique Logo Design For Your Business?
Prepare a color palette. Research the existing brands. Decide the theme of your logo, as it is your identity in the long run. Compare a rough sketch of your design with similar name companies and popular brands to ensure your inspiration is not already trademarked. Compare the color theme as well.
5. Sticking to your consumers’ minds
Logos are a symbol of identification. Psychologically, a pattern of repetition will create a connection that lasts for a long time. It would be best if you got your consumers to recognize you anywhere.
A well-designed logo will communicate your business’s background and make you stand out.
Once you are identified, your business needs repeated customers. Sticking to the user brings the utmost credibility. Increasing customer loyalty consistently is vital to brand perception.
WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS OF A GOOD LOGO DESIGN?
While your branding has to convey a message to your consumers, it is not easy to visually communicate the representation of your identity. Many factors have to be considered.
These are a few compelling elements of a good logo:
Coherence:
The design of your brand’s logo should be coherent and not try to combine too much information. Too much design will not be effective in communicating your brand value. Using simple elements of color and shape in your logo is not easy, but the most rewarding way to relay a message. It should be easy to remember and identify.
E.g., Nike’s Logo. The simplicity of the ‘Swoosh’ has a hidden meaning and is instantly recognizable. Nike is the name of the Greek Winged Goddess of Victory. The swoosh represents swiftness and victory.
Visually Aesthetic:
The best logos are the ones that have a well-designed structure. A brand’s logo must be visually appealing to the eye. A congested design is not aesthetically pleasing.
Your logo can be typography, a visual symbol, or a mixture of both, based on what you need to convey. It must look professional, not gibberish.
Clear Intentions:
A brand’s logo must accentuate a brand’s perception. It should also connect and resonate with the customer and the brand’s products. The logo must be harmonious with the brand.
For instance, a decorative font used in a professional tech company would not match the company’s niche.
Adaptability:
An essential characteristic of a logo is adaptability. The logo should be clear enough to look effective across various marketing media. Be it for the digital or print medium; it should be concise and versatile.
Intricately designed logos may lack clarity once the size is reduced to fit the media. Fonts with an obscene amount of color may not look attractive. It’s essential to be prepared for this aspect of logo-making.
Color Psychology:
While colors play an essential role in your brand’s niche, you must ensure to be different from your competitors. Each color symbolizes an emotion. Use the knowledge of color psychology in your logo design to your advantage.
For example, Red is the most used color in the Food industry as it has been said to induce hunger in people. While Red is quite common, many brands like Subway have opted for another color palette, establishing their niche in green and yellow.
UPPERCASE AND LOWERCASE LETTERS: WHICH IS BETTER?
The style of lettering your brand uses directly correlates to your brand perception. Your brand can either be perceived as elite or as affordable. Premium brands are luxurious and more eminent in their category and have always used Uppercase lettering in their logo. Whereas other brands often use Lowercase lettering to signify that their brand is for everyone.
In recent years, consumers have begun to pay a higher price for products that last longer in their categories.
Studies found that elite brands are perceived to have better quality products than other mainstream brands. They have a distinguished social standing, and their reputation makes consumers of all classes purchase from their stores.
Psychologists have analyzed that brands with uppercase lettering in their logo make people feel it’s more luxurious. Uppercase lettering affects the brand identity with a subtle, premium look.
UPPERCASE LETTERING LOGO DESIGN:
An all-uppercase letter logo looks bold and powerful. The ideal typeface of your brand’s logo must provide insight into your business’s strategy.
Brand Personality: Consumers can judge a brand’s stature by its logo – whether it’s a premium brand or a mainstream one. Uppercase lettering strikes an excellent visual balance and looks conspicuous.
Visual cues, such as the lettering, shape, color, and packaging, build the brand’s personality. Uppercase lettering will attract a consumer as it is more visible than lowercase.
Such brands use their reputation to display their authority over the market with the brand name visible on their products. This makes the consumer feel they have purchased from a reputed business over a name most may not know. It also boosts their esteem and value.
Studies show that minor influences in the emotional state of mind will influence purchasing decisions. Should lettering be trivial? Absolutely not. Capitalization has a broader effect than just eliteness too. It has an unconscious dominion over the gender of people as well.
LOWERCASE LETTERING LOGO DESIGN:
Simultaneously, lowercase-lettering logos are considered to provide an emotional connection with their consumers. They want to showcase their all-inclusive, casual outlook.
Research shows that differences in the presentations of brands have a more prominent authority over a consumer’s attitude. Lowercase lettering in a brand logo can signify that the brand is accessible and priced at a low range. These corporate identities feel more informal and secure a consumer’s trust with their wide range of affordable products.
Some consumers may find luxury brands advertising more for their brand than their product. They tend to avoid associating with brands that display their social standing.
Why Lowercase?
While lowercase lettering will create a feeling for your consumers, visual balance is important too. A mixture of Capital and small may also achieve the same result. Something as minute as changing the typeface of your logo can revolutionize the brand identity.
BRANDS WITH UPPERCASE LETTERING LOGO DESIGN:
VERSACE:
Gianni Versace is the founder of the Italian luxury design house Versace. It began in 1978 and was known for flashy prints and pop colors. The fashion house was initially named “Gianni Versace,” which later evolved into “Versace.”
Versace always focuses on premium clothing and luxurious Italian accessories.
In 1993, Gianni decided to design the logo as the head of “Medusa” as the primary focus with capital letters of the sans serif typeface, “Radiant.” The meaning of this logo design was that she made people fall in love with her work, and there was no way back.
While it denotes lust and vanity, the ‘rock and roll’ designer invokes simplicity through the logo. It’s a timeless fashion icon, and the uppercase lettering displays Versace’s bold and powerful clothing.
The use of Gold in the lettering symbolizes richness.
After her death, the brand was headed by Gianni’s siblings, Donatella and Santo Versace. Under their leadership, the brand’s identity is now a cultural phenomenon.
BENTLEY:
Founded in 1919 by Walter Owen, Bentley is a British-based motor company. It may have begun by manufacturing aircraft engines for World War I and now is one of the most exclusive car manufacturers.
The Bentley logo is an insignia that features a pair of silver “celestial” wings with a capital “B” in the center. The versatile winged emblem is customized for different versions of the cars. The luxurious car market has recognized Bentley as a heritage and vintage class. This brand logo is an example of endurance and consistency, which is seldom. The uppercase “B” has never changed.
The insignia depicts artistic freedom of expression and creativity. Wings also denote speed and thrill. With pure White and elegant Black as its primary colors, Bentley’s logo design represents sophistication.
ESTÉE LAUDER:
Estée Lauder is one of the leading multinational beauty and cosmetics manufacturers based out of New York. As a global icon of skincare products, Estée Lauder Companies Inc. is also a fragrance and hair care product marketer.
Launched in 1946 by a woman of the same name, it is a luxury cosmetics retailer today. While the logo isn’t very gaudy, it represents the brand’s identity with its elegant, unique, and sophisticated wordmark.
Estée Lauder was the only woman to appear in the 1998 Time Magazine list of 20 Most Influential Geniuses.
The brand is one of the few cosmetic giants that hasn’t changed its logo since its inception in 1946. The corporate logo design is a minimalist Sans Serif typography called Akzidenz Grotesk, cementing the brand’s elegance. Estée Lauder’s logo has only evolved into a crisper, refined font named “Optima.”
The innovative logo aimed to be represented easily on different colored backgrounds and packaging. Blue and White in the logo design portray excellence and nobility.
Estée Lauder is an excellent example of a timeless logo that conveys the company’s values.
