Is Your Company Making A Good First Impression?

A logo is one of the first things a potential customer will learn about you. Whether found on signage or the web, your logo tells customers what they can expect from your company. The combination of symbols, language, and styling says that you are an innovator, that you are reliable, that you are an exciting opportunity, or however you want to represent your brand. Though, if not done correctly, a logo can easily misrepresent your company and put off potential customers. Is your current logo accurately depicting your brand identity? If you aren’t sure, continue reading for a guide to branding and logo design.

What Is Brand Identity?

There are a few subtle differences between a company’s brand and its brand identity. Your brand is how customers think of your business as a whole. It is important to note that the customer defines what the brand is; it is not necessarily how the company wants to be seen. Your brand identity is the visual components that a company uses to define and distinguish themselves. These visual components include a company’s colors, font, design, name, and more. A company does have control over these aspects and can use them to influence how customers perceive their brand.

The challenge of brand identity is utilizing these visual tools in order to accurately represent your company. It is through brand identity that you can build the brand you want in the minds of your customers.

How Can A Logo Help Define Your Brand?

A logo is a stylized representation of your company. Typically, a logo features your business’s name and uses color and symbols to define your brand identity. The very purpose of a logo is identification: it should distill your brand down to its simplest form in a way that is memorable to your customer. It shouldn't necessarily try to sell or even educate potential customers, but intrigue the audience you would like to engage.

The logo is the centerpiece of your company’s brand identity because it contains the kernel for all other visual elements: color, name, font, design. The features of your logo should then be integrated throughout your company from website design to signage to educational videos. A consistent design around a logo will help customers subconsciously link all the diverse aspects of your company together. It is through these design features that customers can start to build an understanding of your brand.

SEE ALSO: 4 Things a Good Website Must Have

What Goes Into Logo Design?

Designing or refining a logo can help you stay on top of your brand identity. Overall, your logo should be simple and clean. A good logo is easily perceived, visually memorable and plays into the psychology of your customers. Using the preconceptions around color, font, and symbols can help logos do all of this at once.

Color

Color is one of the most important aspects of your logo. The choice of hue will not only be a part of the logo but should be used throughout all of your branding. The psychology of color can create a general sense of your business in the mind of your customer before they know anything else. Here is a list of emotions that common colors typically convey:

• Blue: Represents security, strength, and tranquility.
• Red: Represents excitement and boldness
• Green: Represents freshness and nature
• Orange: Represents cheerfulness
• Black: Represents authority and tradition

Font

If your company name is displayed on your logo (and it probably should be), then your choice of font can deeply impact how customers perceive your business. Here are a few examples of how different font types can help define your brand identity:

• Serif Fonts: These fonts have a tail at the end of the stroke (example: Times New Roman) and have a traditional feel.
• Sans Serif Fonts: These fonts have no tail and are thought to be modern and clean.
• Script-like Fonts: These look like calligraphy and feel creative and elegant.

Symbols

You can think of symbols as a metaphor. You can use an image to stand in for some aspect of your business. Remember that any symbol that you use should be unique to your business. Your customer should be able to easily identify your brand and not confuse it with something else.

Developing your logo is the first step to taking control over your brand identity. One Firefly can help create the right look and feel for your company. Contact us today to get started.