Five things to think about when designing your logo

So you’ve chosen a name for your business and you’re ready show the world your brand spanking new logo. Your designer starts asking you a lot of questions and suddenly it all seems like a big decision to make in one meeting.

The decisions you make for your logo are important and require some thought. We often walk clients through the process and we’ve found these initial questions helpful so we thought we’d share them to help make your process less daunting.

Specifics

It’s time to nail down the exact annotation of your name.

– Would you like it written in sentence case, caps or all lower case?
– Would you like to include your full name (eg Pomegranite Online Presence Consultancy PTY Ltd) or just the name you go by (eg Pomegranite)?
– Would you like to include your tagline in the logo?

This is often helpful to explain exactly what the business does. Take our client CompuLok, for example. The tagline communicates how strong the locks are and without it, one might think software (like antivirus or firewalls) instead of hardware security.

What else is out there?

Check out your competition and give your designer references of things you like and things you don’t like. First of all you don’t want to inadvertently look like a competitor, and secondly, it allows you to communicate clearly in a language your designer understands: visuals.

When working on this logo for our client HOLAA, designer Vanessa Burger knew that love and Africa were at the heart of this project, and she was given examples of logos that also had these elements but in a way that the client really didn’t like. This helped her come up with a new formation of those ideas.

Surfaces and formats

Think about where your logo is going to be used. Imagine every instance: will it appear online only, or also on your product and other branding material?

When Lance Daniels developed the logo for our client Breakaway Café, he had to communicate the bicycle and coffee lifestyle as well as be aware of multiple formats and potential backgrounds.

For example, the logo would be used online as well as (potentially) on aprons, coffee cups, signage, etc.

Here’s the logo in use on the sign of the newly-opened café. (Photo courtesy of Up Cycles Instagram account – which you should follow. They’re great.)

Something to remember is that social media platforms generally have a square format for your profile picture so it’s important for your logo (or part of it) to be able to adapt.

Tone

What do you want to communicate with your logo? Is it serious and corporate or more fun and light-hearted?

When Monika and Marc started Sing for your Supper, they had no idea what they wanted so we got the talented Ché Dyer on board, who we know would be able to tell the story of their unique entertainment experience which combines excellent food and opera.

 

Are you thinking about creating a logo for your business, but aren’t sure which direction to take? We’d be happy to help! Just drop us a line to get the ball rolling.