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How Should I Choose a Logo Design for my Business?

Shannon Kietzman
Shannon Kietzman

Choosing a logo design for your business is an important step toward proper marketing. Your logo is the first thing many customers or clients will think of they hear the name of your business. Similarly, a successful design will be easily recognizable by your current and potential clients and customers.

The first thing to consider when developing a logo design is its purpose. For example, one intended to be used on a website may be different than one that will be used to make stationary or printed on objects such as coffee mugs or promotional pens. If you intend to use your logo for multiple applications, you must consider one that will look great in small print on a letterhead or in large print on a billboard. You also must consider one with colors that can be easily reproduced for a variety of purposes.

Businessman giving a thumbs-up
Businessman giving a thumbs-up

Above all else, remember that your logo design represents your company. Therefore, it should represent the image you wish to portray to your customers and clients. If you are a lawyer, for example, your design should be professional and a bit conservative. If you are a professional clown, however, your logo should be fun and light-hearted.

Your logo also must be original. If it looks similar to other designs, it will be difficult for customers or clients to tell the difference between your logo and that of other companies. In addition, you need a unique design in order to help set yourself apart from the competition and to communicate to your potential clients and customers that you have something new and different to offer to them.

Your logo design also must be appealing to your target audience. Therefore, you must take some time to study who your target audience is before creating the image. If you are targeting upper middle class business people, your design will be vastly different from a company that targets teenagers who like to skateboard. If it fails to catch the attention of your target group, your business will likely be passed over for the competition.

Discussion Comments

ervinhanks

When it comes to web design agency I prefer a small business web design service. It is not only affordable, they also value clients.

anon291223

@ValleyFiah: That story sounds hilarious! I'm very interested in the pizzeria. Where is it located?

anon170744

I am becoming a disney travel specialist. am I allowed to use Tinkerbell's image in my logo? I would think not, but I have seen several people use Mickey ears.

anon120058

Logos are like slogans, except that they are pictures, not phrases of words. Logos are a big part of your company, and I want business to be good for other companies.

aplenty

@ ValleyFiah- It sounds like your friend didn't think much about branding. This type of thing happens all the time, creating a dilemma for the business owner. If the business owner designs a new logo, he or she may lose some of the brand recognition built up over the years. However, as you said, if the logo remains unchanged the business owner may alienate potential new customers.

ValleyFiah

@ GiraffeEars- What you wrote made me think of a friend of mine who had the worst business logo ever. A friend of mine opened a pizzeria, naming it after himself and using a clip art vector graphic logo. His logo was literally a slice of cartoonish looking pizza that you would find plastered on the sign of any gas station pizza deli. The entire logo design made his business look sloppy and thrown together, but once you enter the establishment and try the food, it was the complete opposite. The food is all made from scratch with premium ingredients. His shop is a 250-year-old farmhouse that was converted into a restaurant. The building had antique wood floors, century old exposed beams, exposed brick walls, and custom-made high-top tables.

The restaurant is very popular amongst the area locals, but he is having trouble luring new customers because of the name and logo. The logo and company name did not fit the business at all. I often joke with him saying that a third grader must have been his logo designer.

GiraffeEars

One key point not mentioned is that your logo should be able to represent a brand through all phases of a business’s life cycle. As a business grows, a logo can obviously mature with it, but the theme should remain constant. A company's logo design must be able to withstand the test of time, and portray a business’s image now and in ten years.

anon54587

is there any more information about plaster of paris?

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