To be considered a logo, a design needs to meet a few basic but essential requirements. If the design has any of the problems listed below, your logo is a disaster and probably isn’t even technically a logo.
If your logo looks suspiciously like someone else’s you are going to confuse your target audience and, at worst, you could have a lawsuit filed against you. A primary goal when designing a logo is for it to stand out against your competitors. You want to represent your brand values while communicating the right message to everyone you’ll be doing business with.
If your logo looks intricate and beautiful on the side of a truck but can’t even be understood as an icon on a mobile device then you don’t have a logo, you have a graphic. A logo needs to look great at 40px by 40px on a small screen, again at 40ft x 40ft on the side of a building, and everything in between.
If your logo can’t be printed without colour on a black or white background then you don’t have a logo. You might have a gorgeous, colourful piece of art but you don’t have a logo. The reason a logo needs to look good in black and white is because it needs to be versatile. A logo could and likely will appear in a variety of applications. It needs to look strong on an ink-printed business card while looking just as good stitched on a fuzzy sweater. If it looks good as a silhouette, then you likely have a quality logo.
If your logo has the hottest Pantone purple, the coolest fibonacci sequence of lines, and hints at Taylor Swift’s latest album, then you probably don’t have a timeless, iconic logo. What happens when Pantone releases their new colour for the year or Taylor Swift’s newest album doesn’t do well on the charts? Changing your logo to match every design trend that comes along will not only be a lot of work (and money), it is a surefire way to confuse your customers and destroy any brand recognition you’ve worked hard to gain.
If you have any of the problems listed here, don’t stress! I can help. I’ll get in touch and you’ll be on your way to changing that logo from a disaster to a triumph.
A business card is a first impression that can be carried away. To make the best first impression, your business card should avoid these major pitfalls. If the design has any of the following problems, your business card is a disaster and is going into the round file.
Packing your card full of superfluous images, icons, and information overwhelms the first glance and creates confusion. You business card should include how to get in touch with you and not much else.
Flimsy stock often suggests a flimsy business. One of the 5 major senses is touch and if your business card doesn’t feel good, your potential connection will sense it. Spend the money on the right material.
Your business card needs to match your website needs to match your flyer needs to match your Facebook needs to match your vehicle wrap. Your goal should be to create a cohesive experience for anyone introduced to your brand regardless of how they met you first.
If they can't take it with them, they'll leave you behind. Or worse, toss it in the trash.
If you have any of the problems listed here, don’t stress! I can help. Get in touch. I’ll get in touch and you’ll be on your way to changing that business card from a disaster to a triumph.
Consider how your customer will experience your business. From the moment they discover you, they are experiencing your brand. Their first visit to the website, their first communication with your support team, and, if you did everything right, their first purchase — these are all interactions that you need to consider when developing your brand strategy. What they see and how they experience each piece shapes their opinion of your business.
A strong brand will declare their intentions through actions. Every decision made represents the critical thinking behind the business. A customer wants your architecture business to feel stable and calculated. If your architecture website has a blue triangle logo and your business card has a purple circle, your customers may get the impression that consistency isn’t important to you. How could someone trust you to design a building if your brand isn’t calculated and sturdy?
Consistency throughout each interaction showcases your brand values. If a potential customer sees a social post about your latest product and then walks by a bus shelter ad with a similar design, they will recognize your branding. This consistency will further develop their opinion of your company. After their purchase, when the box of your product matches the design they’re now familiar with, the customer trusts that what was promised to them through advertising will live within the product. As they continue to experience your consistent brand values they will loyally purchase your product over and over again.
A small business that has invested in branding can position themselves in an elevated price range that matches the quality of their product or service. A customer is more likely to pay a higher price for a product or service that oozes quality. Simply put, a strong brand can charge more money.
When launching a magazine ad campaign with a certain design aesthetic, a strong brand will place their logo on the ad. When that same logo appears on Instagram with a different ad, the viewer will relate the two ads because of the consistent branding. A consistent brand supports the ads by lending their stamp of approval to each campaign.
Looking like everyone else is a surefire way to never make it onto anyone’s radar. A strong brand will establish themselves with a specific aesthetic that aligns with what they stand for and what they are offering. If it isn’t unique, it isn’t a logo.
Brand recognition is a key factor in gaining new leads and having existing customers return and repurchase. A consistent brand represented on all marketing materials and throughout all interactions helps a customer recognize who they are dealing with. How many times have you seen the golden arches and known exactly what you were going to order?
With new businesses launching daily, and just as many failing at the same rate, it is
essential that your small business launches with the right setup to succeed. The
foundation of a strong brand smoothes out many of the first bumps along the road.
Establish your brand so you can get down to business.