From the time you get up in the morning and walk into your bathroom and till you switch off the TV and go to bed, you are constantly being exposed to and bombarded by hundreds of brands and logos. Increasingly the identity of a product or company is the only factor that distinguishes one from another in a sea of similar products or companies.
For example if you walk into a super market and wanted to buy a bottled drink or mineral water. In the fluids section you are likely to find at least 20 different brands of mineral water. I am talking about a medium to large sized super market. All of these brands of mineral water contain the almost the same contents and mineral composition. Then why are they priced differently and why do you buy one particular brand and not another? Your decision to buy one particular brand among the 20 or so is largely based on which of the brands you perceive to be the better one. Now, ‘perceive’ is the key word. 9 times out of 10 the price, taste or the bottle shape is a secondary consideration.
So companies, in a saturated market have to rely on their marketing campaigns to make people buy their products. And these marketing campaigns depend hugely on the image of their brand. The brand image starts with the company logo, the company colors and the effective marketing of these coupled with a catchy message determine the success of any marketing campaign. Of course the budget and the product play a part too.
The Nike swoosh is not such a popular mark because it is the best commpany logo design wise. It is popular because of the millions that went into branding that mark into the general psyche.
Company logo design – Why should you get one?
If you are a small company trying to establish yourself online or offline then the first thing that you introduce to potential customers is your company logo design. The effect your logo has on your potential customers or your website visitors will influence their buying decisions, to a certain extent. Of course the quality of your service and customer service and reputation also have a major effect.
When meeting a prospective client, your business card speaks a lot about the type of company you are and the perceived quality of your service. A cheap looking card with a poorly done company logo design might instantly create a feeling of distrust in the client. From then on it would be an up-hill ride for you trying to sell them anything. For service oriented businesses, it is more so important. You would not have any tangible products that you could promote to convince your customers. Your image is the only thing your could use to sway the buyers mood. These type of companies have to extra careful in the company logo design they opt for.
A few years ago, it was sufficient to have your company name in text and you could go about your business. However now with an increasing number of players competing for the same target market it is getting more difficult for companies to distinguish themselves. This is even more important for internet based companies. Even brick and mortar companies have to pay attention when it comes to their logo. A home made logo is not enough to compete against the bigger companies with potentially unlimited marketing budget.
A good company logo design should follow some basic guidelines.
We have compiled a list of various company logos if you are interested.
Your Company Logo Design
Your company logo is more than just your corporation’s logo. The company logo design consists of your business persona. A company logo design consists of all the logos and brands that are incorporated in your business. They include all aspects of your corporation from your product brands and labels to the logo design on your website. Your company logo design is the front door to your business and should be well designed and professional.
A company logo design consists of all aspects of your business. This logo design gives your employees something to believe in and associate with and for consumers to identify you with. A company logo design is the most important logo design that your company will purchase.
When forming a company logo design it is important that all aspects remain consistent and are used widely. In-house graphic design and marketing departments should be supplied with a list of criteria that all designs are to follow. Corporations should insure that the proper colors and fonts are used so that any promotional products that these businesses produce are achieved consistently. Many corporations are very strict with these guidelines and any variation in colors or fonts are taken very seriously. There have been in-house designers fired for using the wrong shade of blue on a project that represented the corporation. This is an example of how important it is to insure consistency in your designs and products.
A company brand is often viewed in four different areas. These areas include corporate brand name, corporate designs, corporate communication, customer service and corporate behavior. These areas are included in everything that a corporation is involved in. Corporate designs include uniforms, company logo designs and other supporting products that are produced by the corporation. Corporate communication includes commercials, print advertising and public relations. These communication devices often involve the company logo in some way. The company logo may be used in the commercial or print advertising as a graphic or at the top of a press release letter. Corporate behavior includes the internal values and norms of the business. The company logo is often used on paper items that are produced by the business such as benefits information or orientation paperwork.
Basic Guidelines for Logo Designing
Like other branches of creative art, logo designing at the basic level is the result of creative vision. Even then all the arts from painting to sculpting follow certain guidelines and grammar. Logo designing is no exception.
An effective logo is the sum total of different images, shapes, typefaces and colors. As a designer you must know how to use all these elements in right proportion to reflect the personality of a particular company. The logo is going to become a long term asset for your company giving recognition to your brand and as such you have to follow the right process to get to the effectively communicate the message.
Here are a few standard rules to follow:
Industry specific appearance
Since logo is going to be the visual representative of your company, it needs to rightly reflect the type of industry that the company belongs to.
As for example, when you are designing a logo for a service sector company, the logo should typically come with a soft and smooth touch. They use rounded fonts to reflect the consumer friendly orientation of the company.
The hi- tech logos on the other hand consist of straight lines and sharp and angular geometric shapes. This is meant to bring out the character of sharpness and innovation.
Consideration of the Usage
Whichever industries the logo may belong to, today’s logos are used in different places and for varied purposes. The purposes include building up brand to ad campaigns to building up of client base. As such, a good logo is one that is scalable and memorable. It must be visually attractive to a large spectrum of audience. With the growing importance of e-commerce, the logo must be savvy enough to fit perfectly in your e-commerce site. Thus you have to keep these usage criteria at the time of generating the logo.
Detailing in the designing
* The basic ingredients of all logos are more or less same; it is your power of detailing that gives distinction to a particular logo. While reviewing your logo before final deliverance, keep the following points in mind:
* Try to produce a simple graphical statement about the company’s positive attributes. The simple logos are not only memorable, they are easier to reproduce. Thus simple statement works best for earning recognition.
* Use the elements of logo such as color or typeface to convey your message. Make sure, the elements themselves don’t become so assertive that your message gets lost in them.
All through the design process, keep in mind that the logo is going to become a constant feature of the company for next few decades. Use simple tools to interpret a strong message this is going to be the pillar of your success.
Logo Design Companies
Logo Design Companies vs. Freelance Logo Design
When companies are looking for someone to create logos and other graphic design projects, the first choice that presents itself is what type of graphic designer to hire. On one hand, there are many logo design company with long lists of credentials, employees, and satisfied clients. On the other hand are self-employed people who do freelance logo design from their home office. Both categories have a list of advantages and disadvantages when it comes to creating logos.
Advantages of Freelancers
Freelancers offers one key advantage, which is why this type of contractor has become more and more popular over the past few years. Freelancers have much lower overhead, which often translates into lower prices. Creating logos in one’s home is much cheaper than creating them in a professional logo studio that must be rented. When you choose a freelance worker, you may be getting the same product at a fraction of the price. Some times however, the prices might be as much as or may be more than a logo design company. This happens when you want to work with the top freelancers out there. They are quite talented and charge relative to that. An advantage paying a high premium to work with an A-class freelance logo designer is that most of them work on one project at a time, so you get complete dedication and high quality of work that would be worth the investment.
Disadvantages of Freelancers
On the other hand, there are several disadvantages to freelancers. They usually come with fewer references and, often, less experience. This may mean lower quality. Also, they cannot usually handle extremely large projects because of the scale of their operations. It is very easy for a freelancer to become overloaded or have personal/family relates issues which might prevent them from sticking to deadlines. Because there is no one to pass work off to, the result may also be diminished quality. Also working with freelancers who do can not communicate effectively in English could effect not only on the interepretation
A freelancer might also have no supervisor. This means no one checked their references and interviewed them for their position, no one is making sure they work in an ethical manner, and no one is checking the quality of their work. When creating logos, these disadvantages can have immense consequences for companies choosing freelance logo design. This however does not apply to the A-class freelancers out there marking their mark.
Advantages of Logo Design Companies
Logo design companies also have several advantages. They have more employees than a freelancer, which means a broader skills set. It also means that there are likely to be experts on a variety of topics in the company. Logo design companies can handle immense projects, and if a designer becomes sick or overloaded, there is always another pair of hands to take over creating logos for you. Most logo design companies have long lists of references as well as procedures for ensuring the quality of finished projects. Supervisors screen employees and help them maintain good working habits.
Disadvantages of Logo Design Companies
There are also disadvantages to logo design companies. They are often more expensive than freelance logo design because of the higher overhead. Some companies are less ethical than others, either not holding employees to very high standards of honesty and quality, or simply outsourcing their jobs to low cost freelancers and pocketing the difference. However, it’s easy to tell which companies do this, because reputable logo design companies will have employees listed on their website as well as examples of high quality work they have completed for other clients and most often than not would be registered with the local BBB or other such Authenticating organizations.
Freelancer or logo design companies? The choice is up to you. If you are looking for a deal and don’t mind a little risk, a freelancer can be a perfect match. If you want guaranteed quality and 100% professionalism, an established logo design company is sure to deliver a product you will love.