Unless your business acquires a brand identity, consumers would never be able to perceive the business in the right perspective. Branding helps to guide consumers in the right direction so that they view the business correctly. In the absence of a brand, your business will never be able to find a place in the hearts of consumers. With proper branding, it is possible to present your business to all sections of consumers without having to speak anything about it because the brand does the talking. The branding exercise comprises of several elements from logo and website to social media profiles, but it all starts with a logo.
Logos – The first step in branding
Logos are the first step in branding. The small graphics or images that form logos might seem quite innocuous at first sight, but it packs a lot of punch for consumers to understand the business. Logos are immensely powerful in conveying the essence and meaning of the organization and business by using graphic design elements that create a compelling visual appeal. Logos create a quick and deep impact on the minds of consumers, and they can comprehend the business personality in split seconds. The logo tells it all about the business to consumers in an encapsulated form and creates an identity that remains deeply embedded in consumer minds for years together.
Create the first business footprint
Since logos help to create the first footprint with your business and have the capabilities of leaving a deep impact on consumers, you can use it for the most important first impression about your business. The initial impression of consumers becomes so long lasting that you cannot take chances of creating unimpressive logos. Therefore, learning how to create logos is part of any entrepreneur’s education. Keep reading to know how you must prepare to create logos and what options are available so that you can share your ideas effectively with the logo designing company.
Look beyond the visual design
Logos comprise of some unique logo design only, but there is much more hidden within the design that you must understand. The hidden elements of the design are critical in communicating the ideals of business to consumers. It will be a mistake to think about logos regarding unique shapes and flashing colors only because concealed under the logo are some messages that unveil the true picture of the company.
Since logos are your first chance to create the right impressions with consumers, you have to know what options are available in designing logos. The easiest way of learning about logos is to study various prominent business logos and analyze how the design elements work in unison to create high impact. By studying some logo styles given below you should be able to get a better grasp of the subject and create the most appropriate logo for your business.
Logo styles
Various styles of logos are available that form the foundation of logo designs and designers play around this style to create unique designs. By knowing the styles, you can try out various combinations to create a design which bears some distinct marks of your business and makes it unique. All logo designs consist of imagery, typography and graphics and no matter which style you prefer; it uniquely impacts your brand. It is important to choose the right style at once because you cannot try to experiment with it as it would confuse consumers. The logo you create in the first instance becomes the face of your business that you cannot afford to change although slight tweaking can happen in extremely rare cases.
Wordmark logo
Some logos use the name of the company and display it in the logo by using some specific form of text. This is known as wordmark logotype and is the simplest style in designing logos that depict a brand or company. To get the most from this type of design, you must choose a custom font that becomes a trademark for your business identity that you start using a part of your brand recognition strategy. Google and Coca-Cola are typical examples of Woodwork logos and such logos help to propagate the business name across the globe.
Letter mark logo
The letter mark logo is a variant of the wordmark logo with the similarity being in the use of text for creating a brand logo. Also known as monogram logo, the specialty of the style is that it uses the initials of the business name instead of the full name of the company. This type of logo suits companies that have long names that cannot fit into the small design space but there is a need to reflect the company name in the brand identity captured by the logo. NASA, HBO, CNN are some top examples of letter mark logo.
Brandmark logo
There is no text used in this style of the logo also known as a pictorial logo. The brand logo comprises of an image, icon or symbol created with the purpose of representing the fundamentals of business just like the famous Nike swoosh, the Twitter bird, and the Apple silhouette. Images are highly forceful in eliciting a response from consumers and leave an indelible mark on consumers who can never forget it.
Combination mark logos
A combination of wordmark and symbols are used for creating the style of the logo just as you would find with Adidas, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Xbox, and Doritos. The purpose of the design is to create a brand logo by being creative while maintaining clarity.
The emblem
While the emblem uses both symbols and text, it is different from Combination mark logos because the text finds its place within the symbol as you would find with the iconic vehicle maker Ford, NFL, Starbucks, etc. The design is rigid, and the text is inseparable from the symbol.
Base your design on any of the fundamental styles and see how creative you can be to design a logo that becomes a benchmark for others.