16 Tips From Logo Designers
If you have a poor logo design, everyone will notice, and you will be judged. But far more importantly, your logo won’t be effective because it won’t convey the brand’s identity to old or potential customers.
While it’s true that normal people don’t notice the tactics and finesse of your work like logo designers do, it’s also true that your design influences their purchase decisions at a subconscious level. There’s a reason why web developers use logos on both expensive and cheap websites – they help establish familiarity and brand recognition.
People might not know how logo designs affect their perceptions, but designers should grasp all these details. Entrepreneurs should also spend some time understanding these facts. Otherwise, you might spend your budget on ineffective designs that don’t sell.
Imagine this scenario: you’re an overworked young entrepreneur, and you have a limited budget, but you know how important a good logo design is for increasing your sales. If that’s the case, avoid the expensive process of sending your logo for tens of revisions, especially if you pay your logo designer by the hour. Instead, to make sure your business logo design is effective, read the advice below:
1. Use Matching Fonts
A good logo design should have matching bowls in the headline and the text. The fonts’ bodies should also be similar, even if their weights are different or if they come from different families.
An important design rule when it comes to pairing fonts is to have typefaces with the same visual language. This means that your fonts should have the same feel and connotation.
You want to pick fonts that match because they create a consistent, symmetric, and wholesome design. This design will improve the logo’s readability, making it easier on the eyes, which in turn attracts people’s attention.
2. Use Colors That Match
The best web design and logo design use colours to define a brand, so the color palette on a mobile screen should match that on a printed flyer. If your logo looks too shiny on your online website, it means you haven’t changed the color mode to RGB. This isn’t just annoying; it can also confuse potential customers and decrease your chances of creating a memorable logo.
Many online logo designs are misadjusted to the companies’ websites or blogs, which is cringe-worthy even for a newbie logo designer.
3. Use Quality Print Materials
Company logos go on a plethora of printed materials, such as posters, flyers, invitations, packages, or postcards. Poor quality printed materials make your logo design look bad, which reflects poorly on the brand.
A low-quality paper looks and feels cheap. This mistake can’t be compensated even by the most interesting design. That’s why it’s wiser to choose paper with a fine texture and a heavier weight, which conveys value. People perceive this value and associate it with the brand subconsciously, so it’s good advertising.
4. Use Quality Images
You can’t use poor quality images for your custom logo design. Some designers ignore this rule and end up with blurry logos that the target audience doesn’t recognize. These images decrease the chances of your logo being memorable.
Other poor icons and photographs simply lack harmony; they’re tacky or common. These images distract the viewers from the central message you want to convey. Besides, low-quality images look unprofessional, which reflects poorly on your work as a logo designer.
To avoid this mistake, use high-resolution images and take into account retina screens when you’re working on a digital logo. These images will look professional on all high-quality visual devices.
5. Take Notes
Website designers and logo designers should take notes carefully. Your notebook should be a rhapsody of ideas and images. Your note-taking should be informative and precise, with plenty of visual details.
When you’re in a meeting to decide how you’re logo is going to look, listen carefully. Make sure your notes reflect the conversation and information offered by the company.
You can use pencils, your laptop or your tablet but the medium isn’t important. What’s important is to take notes that will help you solve problems creatively. You need notes that show whether you and the other people involved are on the same page when it comes to your logo designs.
6. Use The Right Black
When you’re designing a logo for print, take into account the right type of black. The wrong one projects a ghost effect after printing, giving the text a burr of shades such as yellow, blue, or dark pink. That’s because your black is created by a combination of different colors.
So if you have black in your logo, use pure black for printed materials. Pure black encompasses 100% black (K) and 0% other colors.
However, use rich black for digital materials. This black is the one created by mixing various colors in RGB and looks better on digital devices.
7. Focus On A Key Message
Oftentimes, logo designers go overboard with animated elements, shadows or outlines. These elements might seem creative, but throwing them all together is distracting for the viewers. As such, people can’t focus on the key message, which is the brand’s identity.
A mishmash of effects is not creative. Creativity is first and foremost effective in conveying your brand’s image or a key message your audience needs to remember. That’s not to say effects are bad, but effects should highlight your key message. Their main purpose is to set the atmosphere, not steal the limelight. That’s why it’s best to stick to just one effect; more than that can be overwhelming.
8. Focus On User Experience
The rule of thumb for good user experience is to be consistent in your design. If you like hover CTA buttons, use them on all pages. If you think your visitors respond better to auto-fill keyboards, be consistent and use them everywhere on your website.
Sometimes designers can lose sight of these mismatches and can’t identify each one. Start with analytics and user data and check for forms that don’t bring in conversions or have a low click rate. The reason these aren’t effective might be design inconsistencies.
9. Project The Same Feel Throughout Your Materials
The rule of consistency is unassailable. As such, make sure all the materials used to build your brand’s identity convey the same meaning and project the same atmosphere. Digital and print materials alike should look the same and feel the same. That means your online advertising and branding should match the tone of your ecommerce website and your business logo design.
Consistency is key when creating your brand’s identity. Otherwise, the target audience will be bombarded by a mix of dissonant elements, so they can’t identify your key message. As such, they won’t be able to identify your brand, remember it, or connect to it.
The result: less engagement is translated into fewer conversions.
10. Develop A Customer First Mindset
People aspire to the sort of effortless beauty that almost looks like a genetic ability, whether we’re talking about fashion or logo designs. But remember that there’s no such thing as a perfect logo. A logo is always perfectible, and it takes a lot of hard work.
That doesn’t mean your company won’t have good profit even with a less-than-perfect logo.
Take Apple, for instance. When this was just a garage-company, its founders didn’t focus on their logo; they focused on devising quality computers to answer the real needs of their potential customers. In fact, Apple’s initial logo was a melting pot of design mistakes, from the image of Sir Isaac Newton under the apple tree to the convoluted typeface.
The point is you can always change your logo, as long as your company has a customer-first mentality. Focus on solving people’s needs, and your logo will follow.
11. Don’t Obsess About Your Logo
Even perfect logos aren’t a guarantee that you’ll increase your sells. The only way in which you can increase your profit steadily is by focusing on your audience’s needs. Try to solve their problems and offer people a nice experience when they come into contact with your brand.
Your logo can’t become the prototype of your brand identity if you don’t have one. That’s why it’s important to offer people a consistent experience with your brand.
Focus on hiring and inspiring skillful people to ensure your employees are in tune with your brand philosophy. That way, you will create a wholesome experience for your target audience, making them want to engage with your brand.
12. Don’t Be Afraid Of Trial And Error
Branding might make or break your company, but only if you have something to make or break in the first place. That’s why it’s important to focus on how you address your customers’ needs.
Even the perfect logo doesn’t solve your customers’ problems. It also can’t change the impression people have on your brand unless your products work.
But if you want to get as close to perfection as possible with your logo, don’t be afraid to test the market. Some logo designs are simply not appealing, even if they follow all the rules. The truth is you won’t find out what works and what doesn’t until you ask your audience.
13. Perfect Logos May Not Sell, But Poor Logos Surely Don’t
Even the best-designed logos might not bring a horde of new buyers to your doorstep if your products, services, or marketing techniques are subpar. It’s important to create and deliver relevant products to customers and to market them creatively. Otherwise, not even the best logo can help you.
But that doesn’t make the reverse affirmation true. If perfect logos might not increase your sells, it doesn’t mean that bad logos don’t affect stellar products or services.
We live in a communication-centric world. A poor logo is associated with a lack of effort and unprofessionalism. A logo that’s not easy to read goes unnoticed. A blurred image might be misinterpreted. And so forth.
14. Logos Aren’t Decisive When It Comes To Purchase Decisions
Logos aren’t the only elements that influence buyers’ purchase decisions. Let’s say that you want to buy a new pair of Nike shoes, but you see a Nike ad with a smudged logo. Does that stop you? It might not, but it might stop someone who’s never heard of Nike before.
Of course, logos aren’t deal-breakers if you want to eat at a restaurant that you’ve heard is good or buy a car that you love. But think about it. Nike already has a good reputation. That restaurant where you want to have dinner comes with stellar reviews from your friends. That car you love, you spent days researching for info about it.
New brands don’t have these advantages, so they have to convince people to buy their products. As such, brands need strong marketing campaigns, where they use a mix of tactics and strategies.
A brand’s logo is just a cog in the marketing mix, but without it, the whole machinery can break.
15. Perfect Logos Don’t Create Loyalty
If you want to gain your customers’ loyalty, you have to get them to notice you first. Traditional advertising is overturned by word of mouth when it comes to building a loyal brand community.
It’s true that you need stellar products and great customer service to create a top user experience and to gain word of mouth. But once you get your loyal brand community, they will be represented by your logo. They will wear your logo with pride because it becomes a symbol of their shared beliefs.
16. Sales Systems Are More Important Than Your Logo
Before investing in a good logo, focus on the selling machinery. Make your business scalable. Work on marketing tactics. Invest in user experience. A good logo should reflect your brand’s identity, but you have to have one first. And the best way to build your brand’s identity is to focus on people’s needs. The rest will follow suit.
Why Do These Points Matter?
The elements we’ve discussed above relate to the intricacies of the designers’ work. But if lay people don’t notice them, it doesn’t mean they’re not influenced by them. You should take into account all the details above because they affect the users’ experience and their interaction with your brand.
People’s response to a certain campaign or project is directly influenced by key design elements such as fonts, colors, images, and quality of print materials. Make sure all these elements are high-quality and consistent with each other, so you can ultimately convey an effective message.
For more information on business logo design, get in touch with our experienced logo and web design Melbourne team.