This week’s logo of the week is Infinity8Weddings – an ultra slick and modern logo emphasising clean lines and a nicely presented brand.
As well as winning logo of the week, the customer has won 50 free business cards designed and delivered by our team.
This week’s logo of the week is Jackson Global. A modern and professional logo design for a bespoke recruitment consultancy into the Thermal Energy and Oil and Gas sector.
As well as winning logo of the week, the customer has won 50 free business cards designed and delivered by our team.
When you finalise a logo with us, along with the final files, you also gain the ownership rights of the logo(s) you have chosen.
But what Ownership does this actually mean?
Aside from the obvious that we cannot re-use elements of the logo design for another client’s logo, but it also means that you can do with your logo whatever you like – including making amendments to it, altering the colours and using it as you see fit.
In short, ownership of the logo design means that you can:
A common question that arises as to whom owns the copyright of the logo – we endeavour to create unique work for you and when we transfer ownership to you, we also transfer any rights associate with the logo (apart from a few rights such as to display your logo on our portfolio & sites).
However, to cover yourself fully from anyone using your logo (or a similar one), it is recommended that you register your logo with a copyrighting service although this isn’t a requirement. We don’t offer that service because we are not legal experts and there are services such as the Copyright Service (copyrightservice.co.uk) which will register your logo for a fee.
Also, bare in mind that that not all logos can be copyrighted – particular if the logo is primarily text based using a non-distinctive font or uses a commonly appearing icon such as a globe (imagine all the logos you see with a globe in and you get the picture- you may be able to copyright the logo in its entirety which includes all the words, text style and the icon).
Creating an effective logo design for your business can be difficult and successful logos have the following qualities.
Consider the Nike ‘tick’ – it is simple and effective and immediately recognisable on its own. A good logo design should be the same. A simple logo also has the added advantage of being able to be embroidered on clothing in a simple and straight forward manner. Keeping to a minimum of two of three colours will also mean you end up with a logo that can be used virtually anywhere.
You don’t want your business to be mistaken for a competitor – even if it that competitor is an industry leader in the market (you’ll quickly become subject to legal action from the bigger company under the laws governing ‘passing off’!).
Consider your use of chosen icon in your logo – is it a cliché in your industry or is it truly unique and original in your market?
For example, a globe is frequently used in telecommunications, a house in real estate agents etc. Stay clear of these clichés and you should end up with something unique.
Is your logo easily memorable or will several exposures of your logo have the same effect? If it is the latter, than you need to do something to make it more memorable. This goes hand in hand with originality – if your logo uses a house and your selling houses, then you’re not very memorable to your customers because your market is flooded with competitors that have similar logos.
Knowing why your customers come to you and what motivates them to do business with you will ensure your logo design speaks of those qualities. For example, if you’re known for great customer service, how can you communicate that with your logo?
As an example, the Nick logo indicates speed and forward movement whilst the Asda logo speaks of safety in its green colour and solid look of its type face means that you can expect your products to stand up to a little abuse.
An effective logo is recognisable at a glance and should be effective in both black and white as well as in colour – and should be adaptable to virtually any medium from Twitter avatars through to putting it onto billboards and t shirts.
If you logo design relies on fine print to get the message across, you are in trouble.
The logo design is often the staging point for further branding efforts and will inform your other branding efforts – from colour choices through to which fonts will be used on your stationery – you logo is the vital stepping stone to getting your branding working together in a cohesive whole.
This week’s logo of the week is DogCare. A simple and effective logo design for the number 1 resource for dog grooming and dog groomers!
As well as winning logo of the week, the customer has won 50 free business cards designed and delivered by our team.
Keep your eyes peeled on our blog as we pick one lucky customer every week. You can also view our design samples gallery here.
Whatever your logo design tastes, type will play a major part of the logo design process.
Working with type has so much more to it than merely selecting which font to use and a myriad of design elements come into play once you put type to a design.
The font chosen speaks volumes of the intention of the design. Does the font convey readability and clarity or is the font more fanciful and whimsical? Does it match the brand image you’re trying to portray?
Although there are literally thousands of different fonts available and most graphic designers have hundreds to choose from, they have to marry the correct font to the correct logo as this may create the wrong impression.
Does emboldening certain words or even all the text create the desired effect? Placing such emphasis on a certain word (or words) can help convey a specific message as well as create a nice visual effect in the customer.
Size plays just as much a part of the design as the actual font does. Does increasing the size of the text have the desired impact or when does it start to detract from the design?
Increasing the size of the text in relation to the other elements will give the text more importance whereas decreasing the font size will give the other elements more visual impact. Perhaps even look at seeing if some parts of the font look better in slightly bigger than the rest (particularly if you are looking to emphasise that word or words).
The placement of the text can play a crucial role as well. For example placing the text on the same line as an emblem gives both the same importance, whereas placing the text below the emblem slightly elevates the emblem in terms of importance.
Also consider playing with the placement of each individual word in relation to the others. Will it convey the right message?
Playing with the letter spacing of the words can create interesting effects such as making the text appear to be spaced out or compact and short (which can convey meanings of their own – particularly if the font is compacted into itself which implies brevity for example).
The colour of the text also helps convey a meaning and it is entirely possible to colour letters, or words in differently to create visual effects. Just bear in mind the meanings of the colour when using them!
Text can be placed any number of angles to achieve specific effects in a logo design and can even run backwards if necessary to create interesting visual effects.
As you can see above, there are literally thousands of options to go from when you consider all the different options discussed above and creating good looking logos is more about conveying the right message by apply specific effects in to a specific logo design – something to which the logo designer should have a natural insight into and a learned knowledge of, drawn from previous experience and their own design journey.
When your reaching your finalised logo, you should bear in mind how usable it will be when you come to use the logo in the future. Therefore, consider the background of your logo before finalising your logo.
The safest option is white as any logo displayed on a white background will be as legible as possible and provides the maximum contrast and will mean that the logo will look good on letterheads and stationery.
However, the white background also means that it is a blank canvas, meaning it doesn’t convey any additional meaning which may be beneficial or a hindrance, depending on the use.
Black can make bright colours look brighter and give deeper emotional impact and make a logo stand out if the colours chosen are suitable – placing a dark brown logo on a black background simply won’t work and will be lost in the background.
However, it also means you’ll have to accept a reasonably dark website and stationery, as the logo will then only work on darker backgrounds.
Choosing a coloured background means you can convey deeper meaning than the logo design alone – depending on the colour chosen.
However, it faces the same problems as black, you’re going to have to work with your chosen colour into your branding and use it across your website and stationery design.
You also have to be sure of the colour choice conveys the right message about your brand.
Adding a patterned background to a logo means you can add additional visual elements to the design and can form a strong statement on their own. It also makes the logo more memorable to boot.
However, the pattern can also create more problems than a coloured background – for example, when creating a website or stationery, they need to consider the pattern as well as the background when working with your logo.
Having a transparent background means you can place your logo on the widest possible number of backgrounds but in of itself doesn’t convey anything further, just like white.
However, you can always use your logo on any colour background and it should show up fairly clearly.
Just bear in mind that your logo may not play very well on a white background if your logo is light coloured and vice versa.
White space is important in contemporary web design because it aids the reader in understanding the content provided and provides a means to break up the structure of the website.
White space is the distance between elements. Although it doesn’t have to be white, the background colour of the web page will show through around the elements of the design. For example, the area above and below the paragraphs as elements of white space.
White space helps optimise the design and allows your content to stand out. It also also help create structure to your content, allowing the visitor to clearly see which elements are visually linked and which aren’t.
For example, the sidebar is separate from the main body content which white space between them to denote a natural boundary of the two elements.
It also provides the reader with something to “rest” their eyes when reading elements of the web page.
When used carefully, it can really make the all-important Call to Action stand out.
There is research to suggest that white space is important in building trust, and makes it more appealing to customers and buyers.
Before you delve into getting your logo designed, it is important to look at the use of colour in your design. Not only does the colour(s) chosen have to be attractive and work with the design, the meanings of the colour have to be considered as well.
Below is a selection of colours and their associated meanings:
Positive meanings of blue:
Negative meanings of blue:
Positive meaning of red:
Negative meaning of red:
Positive meaning of green:
Negative meaning of green:
Positive meaning of purple:
Negative meaning of purple:
Positive meaning of orange:
Negative meaning of orange:
Positive meaning of white:
Negative meaning of white:
Positive meaning of black:
Negative meaning of black:
Positive meaning of gold:
Negative meaning of gold:
Positive meaning of silver:
Negative meaning of silver:
Positive meaning of brown:
Negative meaning of brown:
Positive meaning of magenta:
Negative meaning of magenta:
Positive meaning of pink:
Negative meaning of pink:
Positive meaning of turquoise:
Negative meaning of turquoise:
Positive meaning of indigo:
Negative meaning of indigo:
Getting your first sale or customer through the door of your website and converting them to a credible lead can be difficult for brand new businesses, although here are a few tips to bear in mind.
You may need to hold fire on ordering some business cards until your site is effectively launched – otherwise anyone going on your website after speaking to you may not be impressed with a holding page.
Ask friends and family you can trust to give you an objective and useful opinion on your website and get them to give you advice on your website concepts. Just be aware that waiting until the website is build and “finished” and then going back and changing everything with your web designer is a recipe for bruised egos and burning any goodwill you have accumulated in forming a working relationship. They may even charge you for their time so you have been warned!
Be sure to ask your business coach or partner as their input may shed some light on why your site is under performing. It may be a glaring omission or as subtle as changing a few colours.
Even if you are not getting traffic, it is important to continue plugging away at your website to not only boost the value of their website to potential visitors but to offer anyone who does visit your website something of value.
This also signals to search engines that your website is still live and fresh.
If you are clamoring for work, avoid the temptation of lowering your rates or prices just to get a sale – this will have a couple of unforeseen consequences which may not manifest later on.
For example, if that clients that refers your work to another, they may expect the same rates – therefore you may be undercutting your own business.
However, you can always over deliver – promise your client additional free extras, then your customer will no doubt discuss your service with others.
Keep an eye on the competition – and see what they are up to? Have they cut back on advertising spend during certain months of the year? This may be an indication that they are knowingly reducing their overheads as they are experiencing a low period themselves.
All business have to adapt and you have to do so as well to survive. Have they started blogging recently? Are they promoting a new line of products? Keeping abreast of developments with your competition can help you know what your competing against and this will help you define your own niche and refine your unique selling point.
For example, if your rivals are offering rock bottom prices – then you can probably place your prices a little higher and pitch to the higher end clients as you offer premium customer service.
Of course there are many more tips out there so why not share your own ideas in the comments?
