Bookmark This Page

Delicious Google Bookmarks Stumbleupon Digg BlinkList Ma.gnolia Reddit Yahoo My Web

Your Logo Is Your Face

What's the most immediately recognizable part of a person? In most cases, it's their face. We even refer to whole human beings as "faces" from time to time (as in "faces in the crowd," etc.). When we close our eyes and think about people, we usually remember their face.

You have a face. Your business doesn't. Your business could have your face if you wanted to plug a photo of your smiling mug on every document that leaves your desk or on every bag, that leaves your store, but most of us aren't quite that photogenic or vain and we try to find another way to give our business a memorable "face" of its own.

We call it a logo.

A logo is the very symbol of your business. It is an immediately recognizable representation of the business designed to send a clear message. It's the most powerful branding tool around and it is an absolute essential. If you are operating without a logo, you are far too forgettable.

So, how should you choose a logo? Probably the best answer to that question is that you shouldn't. Well, at least you shouldn't dream it up completely by yourself. A professional logo designer is probably a better choice.

Logo design specialists understand things like color psychology, the various subconscious messages conveyed by shape and many other factors that can result in a spectacular logo.

Your sketch on the back of a cocktail napkin might seem great as closing time approaches, but it probably won't hold a candle to what the pros can do for you.

It is perfectly reasonable, however, to bring your thoughts regarding design into the process. If you absolutely can't live without monkey being involved in your logo, tell that to the designers and see if they can find a way to make it work for you.

Not everyone is going to shell out the money for high-end professional logo design. Those can cost thousands. Instead, many small business owners are going to deal with online logo design firms and graphics artists who produce high-quality logos at a more reasonable price.

That's a workable solution. Once your small business grows to be an industry leader, you can have the big boys tweak the design, after all.

When dealing with a freelance designer or a budget logo design firm, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

First, make sure the work is 100% original. You'll be using this logo everywhere and you want it to be uniquely yours. Even more important, you will want to have the rights to this intellectual property in order to protect it from any wrongful use or theft. In order to copyright or trademark the logo, you'll have to be certain it truly belongs to you.

Second, ask for vector graphics. In simple terms, there are two types of graphics when you are dealing with logos. The raster graphics will work fine for everyday online use, but you will want to be able to scale that symbol and to use it on everything from free giveaway coffee mugs to paper brochures. Blowing up the raster leads to an unsatisfactory result. Using the fully scaleable vector, on the other hand works like a charm.

Third, find out about the colors. Your logo will end up in print and you will want to make sure you can retain color consistency. The better logo designers use special color schemes that any printer can reproduce exactly. The most popular of these is probably the Pantone system. Not all reds look like your read and not all blues are the one you want to see reproduced. Make sure you have a color scheme upon which you can really get a grip.