Creating a Winning Logo


Creating a logo to get you noticed.

When you're branding a company with a name, a colour scheme and a logo the logo is often not given enough care and attention. It should follow the chosen colour scheme and reflect the business that your company is in. Too often, particularly on the WWW logos are seen as a way to show off the design talents of the author. To create a free logo I have created this easy to follow step by step guide.

Planning

Your logo should reflect the company it represents. Create a list of all the services or products the company supplies and try to find some common ground.

Sit down and choose the colours you will be using. This is best achieved by studying the corporate colours and maybe adding a few more shades of these colours. You should aim for a maximum of 12 but ideally you will want only one or two colours. Avoid very dark colours unless it is relevant to your company. If you send out a letter on headed notepaper to a client you will want your logo to jump off the desk at them to remind them who you are.

Remember that your design may have to be very small (a business card) or very large (the side of a van) so whatever you come up with must be scaleable. Try imagining your logo as a tiny image and then as a large image. If your using lettering will it must be readable at a very small size. Will the font appear correctly in a user browser on the internet?

Consider every place your logo might appear and work out what you will need to design for. A company that deals with older people does not to be bright and modern, something a little more sedate would be more appropriate.

Until you know the answers to all the questions above don't move on to the next section.

Creating

Keep it simple. Look at any major company in the world and see how simple their logos are. Nothing fancy for the experts so why should you have a fancy design?

Look at what the competion are doing. DO NOT COPY somebody else's work. Sometimes I get me best inspiration from studying other people ideas and coming up with a really original one based on a concept they have used. As long as it's not a copy of somebody else's work your not infringing copyright.

A tip for doing this is to use Googles Image Search. Type in some key word and select the image search with the word logo. For example if you were selling cars search for "cars + logo". You will be presented with a selection of rival logos for other sites.

Use this to see what works and what does not. You will be drawn to the good designs and you will recognise what represents a company that sells cars. This search brings up the Alpha Romeo logo in the first few entries. This logo is slightly more complicated than you will want but works perfectly for a company producing cars.

Now start sketching some designs on paper. Keep all of the designs you make to hand as you never know when you might decide that the picture you drew before could be the one. When you have an idea don't over develop it. You should aim to have at least 15 to 20 rough ideas before choosing 2 or 3 to work on further.

Developing

When you have chosen your two or three best ideas ask some friends what they think. Use your friends and family to test your logo. Everybody loves to give their opinion on everything so use that to your own advantage. Listen to what people have to say about your designs and you may learn something. Little things that you have not seen can be very obvious to someone that has never seen it before. Take a note of all the comments and go back to the drawing board. Look over what was said about every design and then, based on your own feelings and the comments you have collected, decide which idea you are going to develop more.

Create a slightly more refined drawing, or if you have some computer skills, make up an approximate design using a graphics program (don't worry if you can't do this as the next step will take care of that anyway.)

Unless you're either a graphic designer or a printer, employ a professional to finish the work to a high standard. Your logo will appear on every bit of literature your company will ever produce and if it does not look professional then you don't look professional. You will have saved a lot of money by developing the logo yourself so it is now time to ask a professional to finish the work.

Well done. You have just created an effective and attractive logo for your company. Be proud of your work and display it everywhere.

About The Author

Philip Gillespie is a profesional website designer and graphic artist.


More Resources

Custom LED Display
Custom LED Display, as the name specifies, facilitate control anything with any message that you can think of, from hours of operation to daily specials. These are used by almost all industries like factory, banks, airports, universities, libraries, and many others.
Super Secret Tip For Using PPC Search Engine Advertising Successfully
It's not about traffic; it's about generating leads.That's right.
Creditability In Advertising
I recently saw an ad taped to my mailbox, mind you, my mailbox is shared by many residents of my area. The postal real estate is typically reserved for flyers of lost dogs, cats, small children, etc.
Electronic Reader Board
Electronic reader boards are the most efficient way to convey the information. Therefore these nowadays are widely accepted all over the world.
Wheres Me Pot of Gold and Lucky Charms?
We already know this from our history books. If you want to make money today, you must first look back in time to the first time in history that a large portion of our country all tried to get rich at the same time in the same place.
Advertising For The Long Haul and Not the Short Term Gains
New Age Media Concepts issues its first article of many that will focus on the advertising and marketing industry. "If a young man tells his date she's intelligent, looks lovely, and is a great conversationalist, he's saying the right things to the right person and that's marketing.
Moving Message Board
Moving message boards are used in the areas where continuous announcements, or other information are need to be displayed in to either indoor or outdoor. Used most widely in churches, schools, airports, other transport stations, banks, production and administration department of organization as marquee information billboards.
How Well Do Postcards Work?
The humble little postcard has been getting a lot of attention in the marketing world. Along with this heightened interest comes some very good questions, such as.
The TV Shoot, The Spoiled Brat, And A Painful Lesson
It was two days before our shoot. I was in the office with the client going over the story boards and filling him in on all the details for his latest television campaign.
Media Planning: Smart Choices for Your Success
Media Planning for SmartiesYou say you're ready to advertise. How are you going to choose whether to place your ad in the local newspaper or a national magazine? Why not do a radio spot or place a banner ad on a related company's website? Understanding the benefits and pitfalls of these different forms of media will help you get the most out of your advertising budget.
Advertising Basics for Beginners
So many of us who have decided to do business online have no background in marketing or advertising. It can be so frustrating without any kind of guide.
Advertising 101
Advertising has truly become a part of all of our lives as consumers, as business owners, as parents, as concerned citizens. We simply cannot escape from its presence no matter how hard we try.
What Does Your Business Card Say?
Business cards are the most underutilized andmisunderstood marketing tool in business. Manypeople spend the bucks for cards and don't make aneffort to get them into the hands of those who canhire them or buy from them.
Getting the Most Out of Your Networking Group
Here is my personal list of things to do at your networking group:(1) Bring your business cards. Sound simple? Well, I regularly meet people at networking groups who have forgotten their cards or their cards are at the printers.
CD Business Cards- Why Use Them?
CD Business cards are the electronic version of the now outdated paper business or social card. They are the smaller squared version of the CD-R family.
50 Surefire Business Card Tips
Business cards are one of the most powerful and inexpensive marketing tools you can use. Here are 50 surefire tips to make the most out of your business cards:Your business card must communicate more than just your contact information.
Radio Interview 101
Different Types of Station ContactReaching radio hosts (for the purpose of trying to get booked foran interview) can take on various forms, depending on the typeof station the show is done at. What's best? All of them at thesame time, of course.
Secrets to Profitable Mail Order Products
The most profitable mail order products are simple 3-to-5 page informational reports such as this one. Once you've got your act together, these 3-page reports can be produced for $10 per hundred or less, and sold for at least $200 per hundred.
Too Much Build-Up: Over-Zealous Ad Copy Can Break The Sale
How many times has this happened to you?A friend recommends a film that just came out: "You've GOT to see this movie! It's SO (funny, scary, suspenseful, etc.).
In Advertising Bigger isn't Always Better
If you have been following the recent advertising news you will notice that more and more major advertisers are looking to smaller ad agencies to handle their campaigns.Is it because they feel bad? Is it because they are cheaper? Or is it because they see the level of creative talent of smaller agencies?Lets take a quick look at why this is happening and how this is good for the consumers and the advertisers.

More Advertising Information:

Related Articles

6 Ways To Get More Sales From Your Advertisement
To bring great sales success, a great advertising technique is not the only parameter. You must know what it is that your customers are actually buying.
The $500.00 A Month Plan
One way to make extra money or start a business of your own is by placing advertising which will pay a good profit. Selling printed information by mail can br financially rewarding.
Yellow Pages Ads - Buying Secrets
Yellow Pages Ads - Buying SecretsOK- let's agree that many businesses can benefit greatly from Yellow Pages advertising. Let's also agree that few businesses enjoy paying for this "necessary evil".
LED video Displays
LED video displays give you the power to communicate, to motivate, and to entertain. Led video displays are seen to be sited for outdoor advertising, in casinos, for events like sporting events in stadium and arena, for staging and mobile display etc.
Dont Be a Secret Agent
This tactic of the game was hard for me to master and at first I failed many times. I carried my business cards only in my briefcase, because I thought they were only used in business.
Vinyl Banners for the Right Occasion
The sinage marketplace is competitive! Consequently, some companies are going to focus on price and neglect quality. To complicate the situation, companies that produce stock vinyl banner material offer a bevy of different materials based on weights/thickness, color, reflective properties, ink absorption properties, etc.
Is there anything new under the sun? Heres how to find out if your bright idea is unique.
"There's nothing new under the sun" is probably the one phrase no inventor wants to hear, seldom believes, and is always trying to prove wrong. However, moving too quickly to prototype stage and first disclosure can turn out to be costly for the inventor who doesn't take the time to find out if his or her invention is already patented.
Boost Headline Believability With Specifics
Don't use vague generalities in your headlines. Be as specific as possible.
Worn Out Brochure Design Is Keeping Small Business Owners Down
I got another one of those calls the other day..
If You Want To Get More Customers, Heres 10 Powerful Stories To Improve Your Ads
Remember, as a child lying in bed and listening to stories. Remember how engaged you were.
Print Your Marketing Postcards For A Penny, Address Them For Free, and Automate the Whole Process
This article will show you how to cut your printing costs to a penny and have your postcards addressed for free without doing it all yourself, reducing the time you invest in your mailing to almost nothing.So, you have a list of hot prospects in hand; you need a way to get your marketing message in front of them with the hope that a reasonable percentage will call you.
The Benefits of Specific Advertising
The great Claude Hopkins (Author of Scientific Advertising) once said, "Platitudes and generalities roll off the human understanding like water from a duck. They leave no impression whatever.
Heard A Good Radio Ad Lately? Neither Have We
To many ad agencies, radio is considered advertising's ugly stepchild. It's not sexy like television and is treated as a necessary evil with little effort put into it.
Media Savvy - Media Skills For Rural Women
The ability to lead, persuade and influence are integral skills for effective leaders. The capability of telling a story that inspires, motivates and informs is an essential part of this process.
100 Excellent Words and 70 Action Getting Phrases for Ad Writing
100 Excellent Words Absolutely. Amazing.
Advertising - Does it Matter?
When advertising, you need to sell your opportunity, your products and yourself. What sets you apart from everyone else? Maybe you produce a newsletter with a specific content where there is a demand from a particular group of people, or you promote your own special product that no one have not yet seen.
What Makes A Winning Online Ad?
Most people who have been involved with sales & marketing for any length of time have heard the axiom, "Sell them what they want. Then sell them what they need".
How To Get Big Sponsorship Money for Your Band, Tour, Event or Production
Touring is a bands greatest opportunity for success. But, touring can be very expensive.
Advertising Your Holistic Business
The most basic answer is the same answer as to the question, how does advertising work? Advertising works through repetition, and Holistic Hometown offers you that repetition.What all successful companies know is that advertising it a process.
4 Ways to Double the Power of Your Business Cards
Sure, everyone needs business cards. But why not make your business card do double or triple the work of an average business card.