Does your logo suck?

Logos have been the topic of great discussion lately. Gap changed their logo and after a tremendous amount of backlash from customers retracted the redesign and Starbucks has been the recipient of big buzz after announcing their decision to drop their name from their logo.

A few days ago, I wrote a post about branding. If a brand is your business’ reputation, a logo is the dress your business wears. It might contribute to your reputation, but more importantly it helps you express who you are, it helps you stand out, it helps people identify and remember you, it makes people feel a certain way when they see you.

Given a logo’s importance, it makes me sad to see how few businesses really invest in a great identity.

Logos should be evocative – they should begin to tell a story.

Every business should tell a compelling story through everything they do. Who are you? Why should I care? What will excite me when I buy / hire you? What makes you uncommon? Your logo is a critical tool to begin to tell your story.

Stories don’t need to be literal. In fact, the more evocative and less literal you are, the more likely you are to be unique and memorable. Some of the most recognized logos in the world are suggestive – the Coke wave (refreshment), Apples’s apple (according to many sources, it referenced Adam and Eve, where the apple represented the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge) and Nike’s swoosh (symbolized the wing of the Greek Goddess of strength, speed and victory).

Would Coke be iconic if they had an image of brown liquid on their can? Would apple be iconic if they showed a computer in their logo? Or how about if Nike illustrated a pair of running shoes? Stories captivate because they are emotive and not based on functional product or service benefits. Think about this when you’re designing your logo.

Great logos are iconic.

In the branding design world, we often tested just how iconic a logo was by removing or changing the company name. Would we be able to identify the brand name without actually reading the brand’s name? You can see how this works and take the logo recognition test over at Sporkle.

Colors, typefaces and symbols are the three key components that contribute to an iconic visual identity.

• Color – There’s a psychology behind selecting colors. I’m sure you’ve heard that many fast food companies used (and still use) red and yellow in their decor because it stimulates hunger. Colors evoke different emotions and reactions. A great resource to understand color psychology is The Pantone Institute. Ask yourself if you can own a color that is relevant to your brand personality?
• Typface – There are endless fonts to choose from when designing a logo. Some are free (which mean that most everyone has access to them). There are also paid fonts and custom fonts. Even if you’re using a free font, there are many things you can do to change its appearance and make it look more custom. But recognize that most iconic brands have hired a hand lettering artist to custom create a font just for them.
• Symbol -These are often the most recognizable elements of an iconic logo primarily because we comprehend visuals well before we read written words.

It’s terribly important to know that order to be iconic, you have to be different. All of the above loose their impact if everyone else in your industry looks the same. Which brings me to my next point…

A logo should be timeless.

If you’re in the wedding business you’ve probably seen a pretty distinctive style defining the industry today. Pale colors (like robin’s egg blue), scripted type, fillagrees, birds, nests. These are trends. Just like black, white and hot pink, chandeliers and head silhouettes were a trend a few years ago. Like the trends before them, these new ones will be regurgitated, reach a pinnacle, and eventually feel dated. Trends may be perfectly fine to incorporate into a wedding’s design, but, a business logo shouldn’t change with what’s au currant. A logo should be timeless.

A logo is only effective if it:

• conveys your unique & authentic essence
• stands the test of time
• has relevance to who you wish to speak with
• is consistent through everything you do

So, what story are you currently telling through your logo? Is it truly an expression who you are? Does it help you stand out? Can people easily recognize and remember you? Does it evoke the right feeling about your business?