Driving your business with a professional logo

Logo design is an important element in the development of any business, company or brand. A logo is a graphic symbol or icon that is central to the identity of the owner and will often consist of four key elements:

• A symbol or icon
• Colours
• Wording
• Typeface

These four elements combine to create a logo which will embodies the very essence of the company, business or brand. The logo becomes a symbol that represents the core values of its owner. The logo reflects the owners function, service or product and what the customer or client can expect in terms of quality, service, reliability and satisfaction from the owner. As such the logo is at the very core of any business.

When the consumer sees the logo of a major brand they know exactly what to expect, they know exactly why they have decided to do business with that brand – be it cost, quality of service, reliability, product quality, product or service uniqueness, etc. The logo acts to build trust between the business or brand and the client or customer. As a result a logo actually adds value to a business.

An unprofessional logo or badly designed logo, or worse still no logo at all will add no value to your business and tell your potential customers nothing about your business – except perhaps that you did not realise the importance of presenting your business in a professional way!

A good logo should have the following attributes:

• Distinctive
• It should adhere to accepted design principles
• It should be representative of the company or brand
• Easy to use in all required circumstances e.g. large or small, black/white or colour, against various backgrounds, online of offline

The creative process to develop a logo can be very complex. It is important to consider the positioning of the business or brand in its market, its core values and its points of difference. Factors such as the industry the business or brand operates in, its geographical location and the target market will also be factors.

Considering the four elements of the logo itself, the shape and design of the icon will be key in conveying the core brand message. It is also important that this shape can be used alone without the other elements of the logo in certain instances. Colour plays an important part in visual reference and combinations of colours provide greater scope for positioning.

Typeface is important as well because different typefaces can be used to create different feelings, to plant different ideas in the minds of the target market. For example a typeface such as sans serif is usually perceived as being strong or modern on the other hand serif would be perceived as being traditional or elegant.

The fourth element, the wording, is usually in the form of a logo descriptor. The logo descriptor is a phrase that encapsulates everything that the company or brand does or stands for. For example our own company provides marketing services to small and medium sized businesses and our logo descriptor is ‘Access to BIG agency talent for small and medium companies’.

The four elements must be successfully combined and balanced to create the perfect logo for the business or brand. Typeface, shapes and colours must be compatible and complementary for it to succeed. When possible it is always better to finalise two to three designs and then put them to market research groups. The findings of those groups can then be instrumental in then developing the final version of the logo.

When the final logo is developed it should be used in a clearly defined way across all communication channels for the business or brand including stationery, advertising, brochures, direct mail and online. Often a design bible is developed to dictate all elements of usage.

So to summarise, why will your business benefit from a professionally designed logo?

• Professionalism
• Trust
• Added value
• Brand building

A professional logo is a great and effective sales tool. It is something that will help bring new clients or customers to your business and as such is an investment for the long term development of your business or brand.