Written by: Matt Wilhelmi
A distinctive logo for your product and/or business will aid in selling your product or idea more effectively. A trained designer can design an attention grabbing and distinctive visual for your product and business by utilizing design elements that can be used separately or come together to create a great logo system for your brand.
A logo commonly consists of an icon or symbol. This can be used alone, but usually not until your business or product is well known. The NIKE “swoosh” is a good example of this. Icons can range from the simple, like the NIKE “swoosh”, to the more complex, like Starbucks, just as long as it gets your message across without becoming muddied at smaller sizes.
Until your product becomes recognizable by itself it should be accompanied by the business or product name in the form of simple or stylized text. Your logo might even consist of stylized text without a graphic icon in the form of a logotype or wordmark. Disney and Star Wars are examples of this.
The icon and wordmark, along with a slogan, can all come together to form a cohesive logo system. State Farm’s, “Like a good Neighbor…” is an example of a good slogan. I even bet most of you finished the slogan in your head after you read the first several words of it here. A good slogan should be quick and simple yet try to include a key benefit, impart a positive feel, and most important be memorable. But this is not always the case. Some companies have nailed the mark with just a hand full of words to even just one word. For example: Apple Computers – “Think Different” or Acura – “Advance.”
The logo is only one crucial step to creating your business’s brand. After the initial logo design, one must develop the business’ identity with the creation of signs and signage systems, production design for magazines, newspapers, journals, corporate reports, and other publications, promotional displays, packaging, and marketing brochures for products and services, and even more so today, material for internet web pages, social media, and other multimedia projects.
Using a designer’s knowledge in methods such as color theory, type setting, illustration, photography, animation, and various print and layout techniques will get your business further noticed and more recognized in public settings and media. Look for a designer with traditional skills that has upgraded their skills to include modern methods. Today, more than before, the computer is the modern designer’s preeminent tool. A designer with expansive knowledge of state-of-the-art design software programs such as, but not limited to, Adobe and Corel will help them create layouts and design elements immaculately and professionally.
A handful of our custom designed logos
