Table Of Contents
Think that your logo is your brand. Nope. Reality is the most visual element of your brand, and the logo is just one piece of the puzzle. Suppose your business isn’t using a comprehensive branding strategy and a cohesive design system to develop your brand. In that case, chances are you’re not presenting yourself in a way that properly reflects who you are and what you do. That’s not just bad for business—it’s embarrassing.
Logo-less companies can still be strong brands. But branding isn’t easy. A company needs to be authentic in every word, image, and touchpoint it communicates with its customers, building trust over time.
Branding goes far beyond the logo and colors when a company wants to build a lasting relationship with its customers. Read to learn more.
Your logo is just a snapshot of a more significant scene.
Your logo might be the first impression people have of your brand; it is, after all, the graphic that adorns your business cards and website. But a logo is just that—a snapshot—and if a cohesive design system does not back it up, you’re missing out on a more significant opportunity to communicate the best version of your company.
A great logo can’t function in isolation; it needs to be part of a more extensive design system that includes an entire library of fonts, colors, spacing guidelines, and other elements. The logo can’t do everything on its own—it needs help from the rest of the design system to tell your story, communicate what you do, and convey your company’s personality.
For example, when you see Coca-Cola’s signature red-and-white striped can, you immediately know what product you’re looking at. But if you saw someone drinking a Coke out of a glass bottle with the same distinctive stripes, it would still be identifiable as Coke—and you’d probably wonder why someone would bother drinking it from a bottle instead of from a container that keeps it colder longer. It’s because Coca-Cola has a pretty strict visual identity—the can will always be red and white, and it will always have that iconic label. Visuals surrounding the packaging are just as important as the packaging to maintain that identity.
What can your logo do?
The logo is the first thing people see when they visit your website, and it’s often what they remember the most. That’s why you should choose a logo that reflects your brand identity.
Here are three things your logo can do:
- Communicate your brand identity
Your logo should reflect your brand identity—who you are, what you do, and how you do it. It should be simple, memorable, unique, and flexible enough to work across different mediums and applications. - Present a consistent image to customers
Your logo is the face of your company—it represents you in the marketplace. It helps form customer perceptions about your business. Consistent use of your logo helps customers recognize and identify with your brand when they see it on signage, advertisements, packaging, or product literature. Your consistent presentation builds customer loyalty while helping them distinguish between similar products or services offered by different companies competing in the same market space.
What your logo can’t do
A good logo can help you stand out from the competition, but a bad one can make it difficult for clients to remember you and get them to buy from you.
Here are five things your logo can’t do:
- It can’t tell the whole story
- It can’t be everything to everyone
- It can’t be generic
- It can’t make people feel something.
- It can’t communicate your brand values.
Your logo doesn’t need to be bigger.
The size of your logo is essential and will help define your brand. But many people don’t realize that size doesn’t just matter when it comes to logos. When it comes to marketing, size matters everywhere—from the font size on your website to the font size on your business card.
A logo should be big enough to see from across the room. It should be large enough for people to recognize it from a distance and remember you when they think about your brand later. And it should be visible in your web banner or on your business cards, which means that, yes, technically speaking, it should be slightly larger than the other text around it so that people don’t have to squint to read it properly or strain their eyes.
But your logo doesn’t necessarily need to be bigger than everything else to do its job correctly. All it needs to do is stand out; whether that means being larger than other elements on the page or not is up to you and your design aesthetic as long as it gets noticed when people look at your website.
It’s okay if your logo is “boring.”
A logo can be “boring,” which is a good thing. A boring logo is simple and clean, making it easy to read and remember. A simple and clean logo also suggests you take pride in your work.
A boring logo can signify professionalism, but only if done well. You don’t want your boring logo so plain that it looks like another business has copied your design. If this happens, then there will be no reason for anyone to remember your brand or come back again.
Your logo is not for you; it’s for your audience.
It’s easy to get caught up in the different designs of a logo, but in the end, it should be designed with your audience in mind. Even if your logo is cool, it isn’t doing its job if it doesn’t adequately communicate what you do or who you are. A lot of time and energy goes into branding.
The word “branding” has become synonymous with “logo,” and people are willing to spend a lot of money on them. But let’s be honest about this. Your logo is not for you. It exists to help others understand who you are and what your business does so they can choose to work with you (or not).
Make a lasting impression with us!
We hope that the information in this article will help you to understand how your logo fits into the larger picture of branding your business. Logos and brands have a symbiotic relationship. You need your logo to create brand recognition, but you also need a strong brand identity for your logo to take off. Your logo is not your brand. But when used correctly, it can be a powerful tool for building that ultimate brand identity. Contact us today for more strategies!
