As a business owner, the logo design or re-design process requires that you are in touch with your brand, target audience, and vision for the future. That’s what’s in a logo. In order to have a successful logo design process, you need to pull up a chair for your brand and your brand needs to sit at the head of the table. First, let's make sure we understand what is meant by a brand. Advertising pioneer Ogilvy described it as “the intangible sum of a product’s attributes.” In other words, it is a perception and a sum of qualities that is symbolized by your logo.
Business is a tough business for any size business. And branding is crucial to success – smaller business need to look like bigger businesses and household names spend a great deal of time and money to insure broad success (they focus on their brand story, make mood boards, and having discovery committees and many other meetings before the logo is even attempted). For smaller businesses – the logo is single most important branding decision you will make – it sets the tone for all your other collateral and let’s be honest – unlike a global corporation, you can’t afford to absorb 400 rounds of revisions per the FedEx logo. The more intelligent you are about the entire logo design process, the more it is reflected in the outcome.
When beginning the logo design process, you as the business owner along with the design team, will focus on Brand Tone. Brand Tone is the critical focal point for the process. Brand Tone is defined as the visual attributes of your logo that will translate to the intended perception of your brand. An extreme example would be let’s say a tall handwritten font hand-drawn looking icon for a multi-million dollar shipping company. That’s the wrong tone, right? The tone does not match what the brand stands for – so you need to be able to interpret your typography and icon to listen for an on-target brand tone.
What qualities should your logo have to create the appropriate brand tone? Bright colors, pastels, black or white, geometric, smooth, sharp, angled, curved, common typography, uncommon typography, clever typography, heavy, thin, elegant, fierce, happy, wavy, trustworthy, approachable, funky, alternative, conservative, bright on dark or dark on bright and on and on.
Every choice you make regarding the logo’s attributes reflects on your brand's mission.
Once the design process has begun and you've given the team a few rounds to really get find the brand tone in the grass roots.
Start evaluating your logo for specific criteria:
- Does the logo reflect your mission statement?
- Does your logo have a conversation with your intended target market?
- Can it hold its own against your competition?
A good logo design will capture your unique business personality, your unique brand – so you definitely need to make sure that your brand has unique qualities to begin with. The designer or design team will create separation and distinction from your competition and speak directly to your target audience through appropriate use of Brand Tone.
From the logo designer's perspective, the logo is the single most important part of your branding that you will develop. True enough, your marketing materials and websites will go through many changes, but your logo should remain stable—the anchor and springboard of all of your branding.
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