AdAdvantageSuccess Home Page for Internet Marketers!

Home   |   Marketing eCourse   |   Online Marketing Kit   |   Web Hosting   |   Links   |   ClickBank Portal
Advertising Information   |   Blogging & RSS   |   Branding Information   |   Copywriting

Logo Design - Branding - Brand Identity Guru


Do you have any idea how important your company logo is? Well you should. It appears on everything from your corporate identity system, brochures to your website, reaching customers, prospects, vendors and the press. In other words, your logo gets to everyone and as they say you only have one chance to make a first impression. Present yourself clearly and dynamically, and you'll look like a professional, even if you are a small company.

We also recommend hiring a branding company to execute your logo. They can help you with positioning your company and creating the logo design. Here are some tips for effective logo design:

1. Your logo should reflect your company and it's positioning. If your logo contains a symbol--often called an "icon"--it should relate to your industry, your name, and a defining characteristic of your company or a competitive advantage you offer.

What's the overriding trait you want people to remember about your business? If it's quick delivery, consider objects that connote speed, like wings or a clock. Consider an abstract symbol to convey a progressive approach--abstracts are a great choice for high-tech companies. Or maybe you simply want an object that represents the product or service you're selling. Be clever, if you can, but not at the expense of being clear.

2. Avoid too much detail. Simple logos are recognized faster than complex ones. Strong lines and letters show up better than thin ones, and clean, simple logos reduce and enlarge much better than complicated ones.

But although your logo should be simple, it shouldn't be simplistic. Good logos feature something unexpected or unique without being overdrawn. Look at the pros: McDonald's, Nike, Prudential. Notice how their logos are simple yet compelling. Anyone who's traveled by a McDonald's with a hungry 4-year-old knows the power of a clean logo symbol.

3. Your logo should work well in black and white (one-color printing). If it doesn't look good in black and white, it won't look good at any color. Also keep in mind that printing costs for four-color logos are often greater than that for one-or two-color jobs.

4. Make sure your logo's scalable. It should be aesthetically pleasing in both small and large sizes, in a variety of mediums. A good rule of thumb is the "business card/billboard rule": Your logo should look good on both.

5. Your logo should be artistically balanced. The best way to explain this is that your logo should seem "balanced" to the eye--no one part should overpower the rest. Just as a painting would look odd if all the color and details were segregated in one corner, so do asymmetric logos. Color, line density and shape all affect a logo's balance.

Many logo gurus insist your logo should be designed to last for up to 10 or 15 years. But I've yet to meet a clairvoyant when it comes to design trends. The best way to ensure logo longevity, in addition to the rules I've listed above, is to make sure you love your logo. Don't ever settle for something half-baked.

And once you commit to your logo design, be sure you have it in all three of these essential file formats: EPS for printing, JPG and GIF for your website. Essentially, these file conversions render your logo as a single piece of art-so it's no longer a symbol with a typeface. Which brings us to the most important rule in logo design. . .

Never, ever re-draw or alter your logo! If you want to animate it for your website, fine. But don't change its essence. Reduce and enlarge it proportionally. And if you become tired of your logo, that's good. Because that's usually about the time it's starting to make an impression on everyone else!

To measure how strong your brand is copy and paste: (http://brandidentityguru.com/bightml/brandmasterpiece.html). Then click "Take the brand strength test". This is a short survey that measures the strength of any company's brand. It's a great tool to see where you are today.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru (http://www.brandidentityguru.com), a leading brand consulting and market research firm located in Easton, Massachusetts, USA, near Boston. Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation.

Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations.

Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial, Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Simon (America's largest shopping mall manager) and many others, including numerous emerging growth companies.

Scott White is a very enthusiastic speaker and has the gift of being able to explain the principles of branding in a compelling and entertaining manner so that people at all levels can understand.


MORE RESOURCES:

International Projects by CBX Win Awards for Store Design and Branding
MarketWatch - 10 hours ago
NEW YORK, Dec 03, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- CBX, the strategic branding, design and consultancy agency based here, has been honored with awards for ...


Judge blasts Mesa-Aloha branding deal
Bizjournals.com, NC - 1 hour ago
... to license the brand to Mesa, whose interisland airline go! was seen as a primary cause of Aloha’s bankruptcy and shutdown in March. ...


A New Look for McDonald's
BusinessWeek - 1 hour ago
But New York-based brand consultant Dean Crutchfield notes that similar mass branding projects at giants like Unilever (UN) have cost from $50 million to ...


Bike to Work Book offers free cover branding
Bike Biz, UK - 7 hours ago
The personalisation is for bike companies, bike shops and bicycle campaign groups. In the US, the first advocacy group to get a personalised copy is from ...


News 10 Now

JCC unveils new logo, tagline
Newswatch 50, NY - 8 hours ago
“We were gratified by the students’ interest in this branding process,” said Karen J. Freeman, Marketing and Public Relations Officer for the college. ...
JCC reveals new logo, motto WatertownDailyTimes.com
JCC launches new identity News 10 Now
Jefferson Community College Unveils New Marketing Campaign WWNY TV
all 4 news articles


Intertainment Media Inc. Announces Subsidiary Funding
MarketWatch - 5 hours ago
The Itibiti platforms provides clients with custom branding, loyalty and revenue opportunities allowing them to extend their "Brand Experience" to the ...


NewsOXY

Clearwire: WiMAX Might Be Delayed
xchange Magazine, AZ - 1 hour ago
Clearwire, which is branding the WiMAX service as “Clear,” also said this week it is open to the possibility of building out LTE, another 4G technology, ...
Sprint Completes Clearwire Merger, Clear Will Replace XOHM PhoneNews.com
Clearwire: What’s Changing And What’s Not With The Close Of The ... MocoNews
Clearwire goes official with mobile WiMAX, will use ‘Let’s Be ... RCR Wireless
Seeking Alpha - SlashGear
all 452 news articles


BRANDEMiX Selected to Launch Cerebral Palsy Associations of NYS ...
PR Web (press release), WA - 18 hours ago
"Successful internal branding and communication means higher retention which translates into long-term cost savings and improved quality of service," says ...


Lifelong publicist takes over branding at WHYY
Bizjournals.com, NC - Nov 28, 2008
Public broadcaster WHYY in Philadelphia has promoted Art Ellis to executive director of communications and brand management, putting him in charge of ...


PIA/GATF Announces New Name And Logo
What They Think, KY - 7 minutes ago
The re-branding will result in a number of beneficial changes for the organization's members as well as the entire marketplace. The first is the renaming of ...

Branding - Google News

Home   |   Marketing eCourse   |   Online Marketing Kit   |   Web Hosting   |   Links   |   ClickBank Portal
Advertising Information   |   Blogging & RSS   |   Branding Information   |   Copywriting
Copywrite ©      2006 www.AdAdvantageSuccess.com      All Rights Reserved.