Professional Advertising
Seriously Effective Print Advertising
Professional Advertising
Seriously Effective Print Advertising
Logos That Work A logo is an image that
represents your company. It can be an illustration, a symbol, a name, or
a combination of these. It works to project your desired company image.
Why
Have A Logo? The human brain more readily
recalls an image than just words. Logos are about instant recognition.
At a glance, your customer has found you. The brain triggers the
relevant information about your company instantly. Symbols are much
better and faster for recognition than words. This is especially effective
when branding a product. The logo becomes the product in the consumers
mind. Your logo can represent everything positive [or negative] about
your company.
Keep
It Simple You are going to want to use
your logo on every document your company produces - all the marketing
materials, billings, e-mails, letters, etc. You want to keep this in
mind when you choose your logo. In order to accurately and
clearly reproduce your logo in so many different places and in so many
different sizes, you want to keep it simple. A simpler logo can be
reduced, re-colored, enlarged, appear on the Internet, or be printed on
your business card as needed.
Be Original You probably don’t want to
use clip art for your logo. The work should be unique, with no potential
of copyright infringement. And you don’t want your logo to be confused
with somebody else’s. The cost of a confused customer is way too high.
Text Logos Specialized fonts are used in text logos. A slanted font will represent movement and speed. A script font represents elegance and sophistication. A comic font is good for representing children. A thicker font shows power. A reversed font can represent modern art. Remember,
words really are images, and presented in the right way, the written
name of your company can give the same instant recognition as an
illustration or symbol can.
Symbolic Logos Purely symbolic logos can
represent your company, but remember that they are abstract. Because of
this, they are open to interpretation by the customer. A symbol is not
as clear as text, and it can be misunderstood. It will also take many
more client impressions to get them to remember your logo. But companies do choose to use symbols as logos. Before people could commonly read, businesses used pictures instead of words to advertise their services. If such an image is appropriate, you might consider it. However,
a generic image will not give you the unique representation that text or
text in combination with a symbol will. And ultimately, that unique
representation is what you are after.
Text and Symbols
Combined Combining the benefits of both
text and symbols may be the most powerful way to use a logo. You get
instant recognition of your name and what you do. Lean toward clarity of
message in your logo. If the common person can glance at it and know
what business you are in, and what kind of company you are, then you are
on the right track.
Using Color Please read The Elements of Advertising
Design, and especially the section on color.
Simply, different colors represent different things in different
industries. People react to color, and you want to make sure it’s the
reaction you want. The right colors will add strength and clarity to
your logo. The wrong color will turn customers away.
Ask
For Help As always, we strongly
recommend that you hire a professional graphic designer, and ask a
marketing professional to help plan and review the work. It’s a cheap investment for
something that will represent your organization to the whole world.
Please contact
Professional Advertising
for additional assistance.
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