In this pandemic-hit world, it might be difficult for you to remain optimistic and you might believe that things may be over but no winter lasts forever. Being a smart entrepreneur, you need to utilize all this time to be prepared for what lies ahead. In otherwise fast-paced world of startups, this might be the time to focus on activities that you might have payed little attention to and one such important job is to have a killer logo for your brand that can set a strong foundation for your overall branding efforts.
Can you imagine Nike without its black swoosh or Microsoft without its colourful window? It’s hard right? That is because a logo that may otherwise seem like a small element of your startup journey, can make a huge difference to your ultimate startup success. At the startup phase of a business, the key thing that drives your business to claim its own space with its brand identity and vision is to have a strong brand that customers recognize and a logo that communicates that message effectively. It is where your brand and your identity arises. It is the face of your brand that sets a tone for your business and becomes the foundation of all the components of your future branding efforts.
Learn how to design your life, not just your logo.
Your logo is part of your brand identity. Anything you do or present will be branded with your logo. Its job is to act like the ambassador of your startup’s vision and mission. You can also imagine it to be like the visual spokesman for the objectives that you and your startup hold. This article will walk you through major tips on designing an effective logo that represents your brand message perfectly.
✔ Make a Unique Logo
We all are well-aware that in today’s business landscape, competition is getting tougher and tougher and the last thing you want is to get lost in the crowd. Only those startups stand out and have a chance to make it who do it right! It all starts from when you sit down to design your logo. Logo is the initial point of your branding by which customers remember you and that is why it needs to be different so, that they can’t associate it with anything else but you.
Try to avoid the cliche’s in logo designs such as, letters written in geometrical shapes, arcs over letters or double letter overlaps, no matter how safe and easier it may seem. You don’t want a design that might start looking old school in just a couple of years. Keep an eye out for new graphic design trends and look for ways you can put it in your own logo.
The logo of Careem is a good example of a unique logo identity. C’ of Careem is shaped into a happy wink emoticon conveying itself as a fun, cheeky, and bold startup that aspire to think out of the box, but at the same time focusing on their customers’ satisfaction.
✔ Paint Your Logo Right
The colours you use can make or break your logo. Every colour has some subliminal meaning, and some emotion attached to it, so, you need to use colours very wisely. Consider the value you are adding to your customer’s life to help you decide with colours.
Companies like Careem, Easypaisa, Zameen.com have used green colour in their logos which symbolize wealth, health, growth, happiness and, nature.
Black colour is usually used by high-end brands as it symbolizes class, quality, luxury, and power
TCS, Airlift, or Delivery walay use red colour in their logo as red denotes a call to action, urgency, and speed of service.
Cool colours like blue symbolize trust, authority, and professionalism thus, it is mostly used by tech supported businesses.
So, use the colours carefully to convey the right message, and your logo will represent better.
✔ Choose the Right Font
At the startup phase, having a visual element in your logo is not enough. You should never forget to put logo type that is your brand name and/or tagline in your logo as well. Since, only a few people would recognize your company. Once you get enough brand recognition and people get familiar with your brand’s identity, you can always switch between using the visual element of the logo only or with the name too. The font you choose also makes a difference. It shall depend upon what message your brand wants to communicate. For traditional and professional look, you can use serif fonts. If you want a more personal touch, you can use handwriting or custom fonts. Along with fonts, also give consideration to the letter size as right variation in the size can create an extra impact. Make sure that your logo is proportional/balanced in size, and create a harmonious visual effect.
✔ Make the Logo Relevant
A good logo should not only be focused on graphics and symbols, instead, it should communicate a message about your brand. Attaching some story or expression with your logo will evoke a positive connection and emotions in your customers. Use every feature of your logo; colour, font, graphics, visuals, etc. to tell what value your brand delivers and how is it relevant to your customer. If your target customers are professionals then your logo design should be clean, sophisticated, and professional. If your target customers are teens and kids, then it should be cheerful and colourful. Doing this will make sure that your audience finds your logo relevant and hence, memorable.
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✔ Keep it Simple & Clean
You need a unique logo but it does not mean that it has to be complex. Nike has one of the simplest yet most effective logo. That one ‘tick’ or swoosh that speaks volume of all the positive things that the brand stands for. A simple logo with fewer colours, one icon, and clear text can be quite effective at being memorable too. The impact of a simple logo can be increased by adding some creative elements to it. Apple’s logo is just an apple but the missing bite in it makes it unique. So, no matter how much tempted you feel to add every visual element into your logo, stick to the most relevant elements in your logo to deliver a message that is clear and uncluttered.
✔ Make it Flexible & Scale-able
Your logo is going to be the face of your brand, displayed nearly everywhere. It’s going to be used on your products, website pages, brochures, business cards, promotional flyers, etc. Thus, it is important to make sure that your logo is designed in such a way that it can be placed in any size, alignment, backgrounds, etc. and looks good on all kinds of surfaces. Other than its scalability, a good logo should also be flexible enough to have room for modification in case of re-branding in the distant future.
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Again, designing a logo from scratch is a daunting task. These simple yet effective techniques will help you in creating an effective and creative logo to kick start your branding journey on the right foot. Try them out and let us see your logos in our directory.
