What does your logo say about you?
A logo is much more powerful than you think. In fact, it’s so powerful that it can inspire people to learn more about your brand, even if they have no idea what you do. While an uninspired logo can turn customers away before you even get the chance to speak with them.
93% of purchasing judgments are made on visual perceptions.
The purpose of a logo is to make your brand easily recognizable and to make your target audience associate a specific ‘feeling’ when they think of your brand. What that feeling is, depends entirely on the message that you’re trying to convey.
Take for example the Nike swoosh. It’s the combination of curves ending in a sharp point that offers a strong suggestion of movement. Nike is so smart that they added the exact elements that their brand stands for into their logo — activity and movement.
Another example is the recent not-so-popular logo change of Uber. According to Uber, there new logo represents bits and atoms. But how does this help customers understand what Uber does, what makes it unique, or why anyone should do business with Uber? After all, bits and atoms are everywhere. If these are the key branding elements of Uber, they fail to distinguish themselves from everyone and everything else.
Key takeaway: Particular logo shapes send out particular messages.
Before you read any further, it’s important for you to think about how you want your brand to be perceived. Is your business fun? Quirky? Forward thinking? Traditional? Geeky? Think about what your brand stands for, and build from there.
There are 3 key aspects of your logo that you need to consider: color, shape, and text.
Color
Your logo will likely appear in a variety of ways: Lettersheads, websites, t-shirts, business cards etc. So it’s important to stick with a simple palette of 3 colors maximum. Here are a few commonly used colors for logos, and the associated feelings that they evoke.
Red
- Evokes strong emotions
- Used for impulsive shoppers
- Creates urgency, often seen in clearance sales
Yellow
- Increases cheerfulness, warmth
- Represents optimism, youthfulness
- Can cause strain on eyes
Blue
- Associated with water, peace
- Most preferred by men
- Creates a sense of security and trust in a brand
Orange
- Reflects excitement, enthusiasm
- Shows warmth
- Represents a friendly, cheerful, confident brand
Green
- Constitues health, tranquility
- Associated with wealth
- Connected to environmentalists
Purple
- Often used in beauty or anti-aging products
- Used to soothe or calm
- Represents a creative, imaginative, wise brand
Shape
Our subconscious minds respond in different ways to different logo shapes. Straight lines, circles, curves and jagged edges all imply different meanings. You can use shape to infer particular qualities about your brand.
For example, circles, ovals and ellipses tend to give a positive emotional message. Therefore, using a circle in a logo can suggest community, friendship, love, relationships and unity.
On the other hand, Squares suggest stability in more practical terms and can also be used to imply balance. Triangles have a good association with power, science, religion and law.
These tend to be viewed as masculine attributes. Our subconscious minds associate vertical lines with masculinity, strength and aggression, while horizontal linessuggest community, tranquillity and calm.
Text
So now you know that people have certain feelings and emotions when they see certain shapes and colors. What you may not realize is that they have a similar response to typefaces and fonts.
For example, if you want to portray that your business is traditional or respectable, you might want to consider a serif typeface. If you want to people to see your business as stable or modern, you should lean towards a sans serif typeface.
Small businesses often play it fast-and-loose with logos, by not paying enough attention to their proper size and positioning and surrounding them with materials–including clipart–that come off as cheap.
While you may have the perfect combination of color, text and shape, it’s essential that you (and everyone in your company) have the proper size and formatting when using your logo.
Customers are more likely to respond positively to a professional-looking logo; and this could potentially lead to increased sales or improved mind share within the target market.
A well-designed logo implies a degree of competence that could help steer potential clients toward selecting your business rather than a competitor with no or substandard logos.