What is a logo and why is it essential for small businesses
The logo is an image, a corporate sign of a company, or a registered trademark that is exclusively associated with a brand. To create it, you can use a symbiosis of letters, words, and images that have a specific meaning and an easily perceptible meaning.
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When starting your own business under more competitive conditions, it is essential to identify your product or service. This will allow you to:
- Create an effective advertising campaign.
- Increase profits through the growth of potential clients, moving towards the real section.
- Organize an internal marketing team.
The answer to the question " How to make a logo for a small business ?" It should be included in the top 10 tasks of any boss. Creating a unique, memorable, and exciting brand will help you stand out from your competitors.
In order for the logo to effectively fulfill its tasks, it must be:
- Simple, so that even after glancing at an image, an associative row is built in the potential customer's brain;
- Universal, which will facilitate making changes without losing contact with the sources;
- Correspond to the topic of the business, allowing customers to understand what the company is doing immediately.
How Much Money Can a Small Business Spend on Creating a Logo?
Thanks to a series of recent studies by "Logaster," it was revealed how much small businesses are willing to pay to create a brand. About 1,117 respondents participated in the survey. They were representatives of small companies and people who were starting their own business. The following data were obtained.
- 27% are willing to pay less than $ 30.
- 25% agree to pay around $ 31-100.
- 21% - $ 100-500.
- 4% will not regret paying $ 500 to $ 1,000.
- 5% will pay more than $ 1000.
Also, 18% of those surveyed are unwilling to pay a dollar and decide to do everything independently. Such a small business logo can be drawn separately, or you can use online services, among which "Logaster" stands out.
Types of Logos
The variety of logos is so great that it is quite difficult for an ordinary person to understand this problem. To simplify and systematize all the information available, the American journalist Hilda Morones has developed a logo classification. There are seven types of brands.
1. Words
Such logos accurately and reflect the brand. They are great for companies with a spacious, memorable, and short name. For example, the Disney logo, SONY, Coca-Cola, Facebook are great choices.
2. Abbreviations
If the names are long enough, difficult to remember and build a quick associative series, then it is better to use capital letters: NFL (National Football League), BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke), HP (Hewlett-Packard).
3. Commemorative Signs, Symbols
They are best suited for large companies with a long history. In a small business, they can be misinterpreted by buyers. Some examples are the singing bluebird (Twitter), the bitten apple (APPLE), the green Android robot. They are so well-known and famous that the user recognizes at a glance the company logo in front of him.
4. Characters from Fairy Tales, Talismans
They are relatively common logos with their own "traps." The image is memorable. The most important thing is to select it in accordance with the associative series that leads to your company. The successful logos are Mr. Proper, the Matroskin cat, Colonel Sanders, the pioneer of KFC.
5. Abstraction
It is an excellent choice for businesses in a field that is difficult to imagine using familiar characters and images. This category often includes abstract geometric shapes. For example, the most famous is the Google Chrome unit, the Pepsi tricolor circle. The silhouettes chosen for such a logo should not directly indicate the company's field of activity. They are suitable for entering the international market.
6. The Combination of Text and Graphics Elements
This is the most popular option chosen by most businesses. Such logos often go a long way of transformation, during which they lose or acquire individual elements. For example, NIKE, whose name is connected to the legendary "brand," or Adidas, stands out as a striking example, where the three stripes of different sizes are added to the inscription.
7. Emblems
The best form is stamps, emblems, symbols, within which words, letters, and abbreviations can be placed. It is a very controversial logo since its creation requires a precise drawing of all the elements and a high degree of detail. But there are excellent options in this niche: Starbucks, Harley-Davidson.
You can make any logo. The main thing is that the corporate sign obtained reflects what customers can get in your company.
What to Consider When Creating a Logo for a Small Business?
Now it is clear that logo development is quite a creative process, but at the same time, a complex and responsible process. To make this easier, here are tips to help you create a small business logo. They can be obtained based on a series of studies and marketing standards. Consider the most basic of them.
Choose an Icon
Any image that you want include in your corporate sign must be relevant to the company's field. For example, for a restaurant, photos of cutlery, plates, a chef's hat are the most suitable; For a hairdresser, a silhouette of a person, hairstyles, professional hairdressing tools are excellent decisions.
Source
It is another crucial detail that directly affects the visual perception and feelings that the logo will elicit. Should:
- Be readable.
- Correspond to the size of the icon itself.
- Contain a minimum number of curved lines and complex shapes.
Colour
It can be another roadblock for new entrepreneurs. It is essential to focus not on your preferences, but the statistics. After researching over 100 leading brands in the world, it was found that the following shades are most frequently chosen:
- Blue - 33%
- Red - 29%
- Black and white or black - 28%
- Gold or yellow - 13%
It is worth mentioning that all hues fall into two basic categories: cold and warm. The first is more associated with energy, the second - with calm, security. When choosing, it is essential to focus on the field of your business.
The Best Tools to Create a Logo
Well-known design companies that specialize in creating logos and corporate identity for companies offer quite expensive services. For small business representatives who are just developing their business, it is preferable to hire specialized services. They allow you to create your logo without even having specific skills to work in graphic editors. The best services are as follows.
1. «Logaster.»
It is an online generator that allows you to create a beautiful and memorable brand in a few minutes. Enter the company name, consisting of at least three characters, and click the " Create Logo " button. The generator allows you to choose the company field, the desired color scheme, the style, and the font size. In edit mode, it is easy to correct the tone, location of significant elements, and outlines.
The last step in getting your logo is to do a simple registration and download the finished product.
2. CoolText
If you want to make a text logo, this is a fantastic solution. The catalog contains includes over 100 fonts and design options for a business name. You may use the generator to make a logo in just a few minutes and have it in digital form. You will have to pay $ 60 to download the printable version for the Internet version, $ 30.
3. LogoMaker
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It is a bit similar to the previous site. To start, you must select a category, an object from the catalog, and write the text in the editor. It does not require specific skills, but the base of possible headings is quite limited. The benefit is that the Internet version does not cost anything. However, you will have to pay $ 49 for the printable version.
Conclusion
Creating a logo does not mean making an artistic masterpiece. There are specific rules and requirements. If you stick to them, you'll end up with a fantastic logo that fully matches your company, the interests of the clients, and the one that captures their attention. The main thing is to determine the goal and priorities.
Adapted and translated by The Cop Cart Staff
Sources: Uncomo