Starting a new business can be described at the very least as… overwhelming. With tons of start-up costs, new business owners are faced with cutting corners wherever possible; and unfortunately, many decide to skimp on their logo. Many people don’t understand how important and valuable a good logo is. It’s the first impression people get of your business, and can make your company appear large, small, fun, serious, professional or unprofessional. You’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into your business, so why would you want a generic mark that doesn’t reflect your company’s values?
The Client-Designer Relationship
As the client, you should know that your designer values your business. A lot of thought and research goes into the creation of your mark; its so much more than just slapping your company’s name on a stock illustration and calling it done in 30 minutes. A professional designer will look deep into your business plan, your company mission, your background; thoroughly researching your industry and your competition. All of this research is pertinent to creating an original and timeless identity that doesn’t need to be updated two years later once trends change. You’ll receive several options of designs and numerous revisions until you’re absolutely 100% satisfied with the one-of-a-kind design/color/typography combination they’ve created especially for you.
Bargain Designers & Logo Design Contests
There are plenty of websites popping up out there promoting logo design contests paying as little as $20 to the winner. Oodles of designers submitting numerous logos for you to choose from for $20 bucks?! Sounds great, doesn’t it? Sure, there will be tons of logos to choose from, tons of lousy logos. Another risk of using a non-professional is possible copyright infringement. It would be so easy for an amateur designer with no accountability to enter a design that isn’t their own. You would be the one that ends up being held liable for this very embarrassing mistake. A professional would never dream of copying a logo—not only is it immoral, but could get you in some costly legal trouble. Let’s consider some other ramifications and perceptions about your brand that a bad logo can create:
- Unprofessional: Maybe your logo looks great on paper, but horrible on a billboard or a car wrap- (were you provided with a vector format version?) or if the graphic quality of your logo isn’t compatible on the web, your business could be perceived as amateurish.
- Unreliable: If your logo doesn’t have a professional quality about it, people may assume the same about the quality of services your business provides.
- Brand Distortion: There is nothing worse than a logo design that communicates the wrong message. If viewers aren’t able to understand its meaning or if they interpret it as having a negative context, your brand image in their minds is distorted, and possibly even at risk of being hated.
- Costly Re-branding: If you went through the whole branding process with a poor or copied logo, (e.g. printing business cards, stationary, brochures, banners, posters, mugs—the whole shebang), when it comes time to redesign your mark, not only will you be paying again for the design cost, but will have to replace all of those promotional materials with your new and improved logo on them—a huge hit for a company that’s just trying to get started.
How Does Your Current Logo Measure Up?
So, now that we’ve covered the advantages of a professional designer, and the disadvantages of a non-professional, let’s talk about your current logo. Take a look at your current design, and answer these questions (honestly):
- Is it memorable? The simpler a logo is, the more memorable it is. Is your logo simple and creative enough that it could be remembered and recognized at a glance?
- Does it work well in black in white? What if you were printing tshirts and the budget only allowed for one color? Would your logo still be legible?
- Is it a unique design?Have you seen several other logos very similar to yours?
See any similarities with these logos? Do any of them stand out as unique?
- Is it scaleable? Is your Is your logo still recognizable even when scaled down to a tiny size? A simple logo not only allows for easy recognition, but also has the ability to shrink down to small sizes without losing any details. You don’t want any small parts that will get lost once it’s printed in a tiny format such as on your business cards.
If you answered no to any of these questions, there’s a good chance that your logo needs some work or a total re-haul all-together.
In closing, one of the first, and ultimately smartest investments you can make in your business will be a professionally created logo. You’ll be over the moon with a design that was custom built especially for your business and proud to let it be the face of your company for years to come.