Your logo doesn’t have to unintentionally depict a lewd act to be turning your customers off. Here are six common mistakes businesses make when choosing a logo and how to avoid them.

1. You Let Your Sister in Law Design Your Logo

Not the sister in law that has a degree in graphics design and up to the minute Illustrator skills, but rather, the one that did her own header for her Blogspot blog using Photoshop Elements and is sure she could do a really awesome one for you, too. With sparkle effects!

When it feels like you are hemorrhaging money in starting a business, it can be incredibly tempting to save a bit of cash by either trying to design your own logo, letting an eager amateur take a stab at it or farming it out to the lowest bidder.

Don’t.

Your logo sends an important message about your professionalism and credibility and should never be skimped on.

2. Busy, Busy, Busy

Sure, your intricate logo with all the scrolls and the bevels and the flowers and the multiple fancy fonts and shadow effects might be a work of art, but who has the time to puzzle out the name of your company and what you do?

People are able to best retain those images that are strong, clear and simple.

If you are married to the idea of a logo that makes Lady Di’s wedding gown weep for a lack of frills, you could always get it tattooed somewhere on your body, live with it for a year. Then, if you still love it, get ink it on the other side because it sure doesn’t need to be your logo.

3. You Didn’t Know What a Vector Graphic Was

This shouldn’t be a problem if you hire a professional logo designer, but to be on the safe side, make sure to ask if they will be using vector graphics software to design your logo. This will ensure that your logo can be reproduced to look the same in many different sizes, make it easier to edit should changes be required later, and make it more convenient to use in other forms of media.

A logo designed using raster graphics (bitmap) might serve well for the time being, but chances are you will appreciate the flexibility of using vector graphics somewhere down the line.

4. Your Logo Designer is an Artiste

And now the logo for your home skilled nursing care service is a very stark, very edgy, very hip masterpiece of design that confuses and distresses your customers. Of course, designers need to bring their own creativity to the table, but a good commercial designer will consider your target market and the nature of your business to come up with a logo that is stylish and works for you.

Before you hire a designer, interview them to get a sense of how well they will work with you and take a look at their portfolio to see if they can design for a wide range of businesses.

5. It’s Just Like Everyone Else’s

Ooh, ooh, ooh, here’s a clip art picture of a puzzle missing one piece! I can be that missing piece for my clients! Presto logo!

It can be challenging, but as much as possible, try to avoid having a logo that looks the same as almost everyone else in your industry, using clip art or relying on cliché images.

You want your logo to set your apart from the crowd, not leave you firmly in the middle.

Warning: You need to be extremely careful about using a logo that rips off another company’s logo. Always be sure you have a license to use stock or clip art images. Otherwise you could be setting yourself up for a very expensive problem.

6. You Totally Ignore Convention

Because you’re a rebel, you decided on a baby doll pink logo with bubble letters for your tax law firm. Although it will probably win over both of the people looking for a effervescent, free spirit to represent them in tax court, it’s likely that most people will mistake it for an ad for Legally Blonde 3 and look elsewhere.

Creativity and the unexpected are awesome things, but you have to make it easy for people to understand what your logo is about in the fraction of a second they will glance at it and that means respecting the associations people make with various colors and design elements.

Red is passionate, pink is feminine, green is earth friendly. Helvetica is neutral, gothic is heavy, papyrus means you want people to shoot you.

When done right, a logo is a distinctive way to establish your credibility as a business by looking sharp and professional, a way to stand out in a crowd of competitors and an easy way for your customers to remember and recognize you in the future.

A poorly designed logo makes you invisible or worse, loudly screams your lack of credibility to the world.

Yet having a business card isn’t enough, you need a card that will be kept, helping people to remember who you are and what you do, then allowing them get in touch with you when the need arises.

Keep it Simple

To be most effective, your card should have a simple design that is easy to memorize. Sure, this may seem obvious, yet in an effort to be different many people end up missing the mark entirely.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoXaRORian4

This guy and his business card may both be memorable, but not in a good way. And it’s highly unlikely his card is kept for any reason other than comedy.

Remember, Convenience First

Most people who take your business card will want to slip it in a compartment in their wallet/pocketbook or a special container designed specifically for business cards. If your card isn’t the standard size and doesn’t fit, it’s likely to get tossed or lost.

You want your card easily kept. This means it must naturally fit in with whatever system is most often used.

If you’re going to have an exception, you must make it exceptional.

Recently a repairman came to my home to fix my broken dryer. His business card was a bit larger than the standard; laminated, with a magnet on the back. This worked because not only do many people keep that sort of information on their refrigerators, but also because he was giving it to customers in their home, where he could hand it to them and they could immediately stick it on a fridge or freezer door.

Quality Matters

You will want to use high quality card stock and have your cards professionally printed. No need for titanium laser cut cards, but by using quality stock your card will stay in good shape, rather than suffering the crumples and creases in transport or worse, having the ink rub off, rendering your contact details impossible to read.

Although it’s tempting to save money by using at home card printing kits, the perforated edges will be obvious to anyone you hand the card to. Don’t trip over dollars to pick up a few pennies – it’s worth it to spend a bit more and make a lasting first impression with a card that will stand up to typical wear and tear.

Be Memorable

Business cards are useless unless they provide an easy way for people to remember who you are, what you do and how to get in touch. If you have a logo or trademark, include it on your business card along with any taglines or unique selling propositions you use to sell your services.

Don’t be wordy or include extraneous information, you can add a URL to your website that can lead to a page with the details. Include a variety of ways to contact you. At the minimum you should have name, phone number and email address (avoid using Yahoo, Hotmail or AOL addresses, as they tend to look unprofessional).

You can also include separate numbers for land line or cellphone, fax, your business address, website url and if appropriate, accounts for social media.

If you are active on several sites and have an extreme number of ways to contact you, whittle it down to just the primary ones. You don’t want to overwhelm people and leave them wondering which of your six numbers to call.

Remember, the only thing worse than a business card that is tossed is one that lives in a box in the bottom of your file cabinet. Always carry several of your cards with you, you’ll never know when it will be handy to have one to hand out.

Business cards are relatively cheap, so it never pays to be stingy. Keep them in a holder in your wallet, briefcase or purse that will keep them clean and uncreased.

A well thought out business card is an invaluable networking tool, take the time to make sure it’s the best it can be to help you turn those first meetings into lasting contacts.

Though there are many benefits to registering a trademark, registration can be an expensive and time-consuming process. In the worst cases, your business name may not even be eligible for a trademark, making the process a waste of both time and resources.

If you have a small, local business, limited to a single fixed area, with no plans for expansion, you might be perfectly fine skipping the trademark process, though it is always wise to seek the advice of an attorney to be sure.

A trademark, according to the US Trademark and Patent Office, is…

“…any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods.”

In short, a trademark is a brand name.

Like copyrights, you don’t have to officially apply for a registered trademark to benefit from the basic protection afforded by the law, though registering does make it much easier to prove you are the rightful holder in the event that disputes materialize.

Part of the application process is conducting a search to make sure no one else has registered the exact same (or uncomfortably similar) trademark, this can help keep you from making the mistake of printing materials that you will need to change later.

This expensive mistake is avoidable. Make sure you safeguard your time and money by doing your due diligence ahead of time.

Receiving federal registration on your trademark will give nationwide notice that you are the owner, and the proof will be included in the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS).

This will provide proof that you are the owner of the trademark and can serve as a basis to get your trademark registered in other countries as well. Additionally, you will be able to file the registration with the US Customs Service to prevent foreign made counterfeit goods bearing your trademark from being imported.

You are not required to have an attorney to file an application for a trademark. There are, however, many benefits to consulting a trademark attorney. A trademark attorney will be able to advise you before you begin, whether there might be some reason your trademark is ineligible for registration. A trademark attorney will also have the experience and resources to conduct thorough searches that will turn up anyone else using the same or similar trademark, either properly registered or by common law rights.

Common law rights means that the first person who has used the trademark in commerce is the trademark holder, as it’s not necessary to officially register a trademark to own it.

A major benefit to having a trademark is that it allows consumers to easily identify your business and associate it with the quality of goods and services you provide. For that reason, it is essential that you protect your trademark and avoid confusing or alienating your customers should they encounter others using your trademark.

It is easier to defend your right to your trademark when others infringe upon it if you have appropriately registered it with the proper federal offices. You can find out more about the process of registering your trademark, including links to applications and search resources at the USPTO website.

This article is not meant to serve as legal advice in any way. If you have specific questions or concerns, please consult an attorney who can offer you counsel based on your particular situation and jurisdiction.

Sure, you’ve heard that having a strong brand is crucial in today’s business market and that your business might be lost without it, but how do you effectively build brand recognition? More importantly, how do you ensure your potential customers trust your brand above the competition, providing them with the solutions they need to be successful?

These five essential steps will help to build recognition with your brand and trust within your market:

1. Provide a Clear message

Who are you and what service or product do you provide? What makes you more than just an echo and sets you apart from the crowd?

If customers aren’t able to quickly determine who you are and what you can do for them, there is no reason for them to remember you.

Consumers are bombarded with information, constantly and from every direction. If you expect your message to stick it must be clear, concise and directly address their needs with a simple, effective solution.

2. Establish Credibility

Your potential customers are subconsciously searching for cues that your brand is trustworthy and reliable from the second they first see you. Without these clues, it will be far easier to dismiss your business.

Some characters of credibility, longevity for example, will take time to establish. Yet there are many things you can do right from the start that will send potential customers the right message.

Pay attention to details, even the smallest ones matter.

Do you have a logo that presents a strong, professional image?

Do you double check to make sure your copy and correspondence are well-written and free from errors?

Are your marketing materials properly aimed directly at the values of your target audience?

Pay attention to these credibility cues and your potential pool of customers will both spread farther and run deeper.

3. Make a Connection

People are most loyal to brands when they feel a connection. The best way to establish these connections is to identify and then quickly meet your customer’s needs in a way that makes them feel personally valued.

This shows them that you both want and are willing to listen to their feedback. Pay attention to what your customers are saying and you will find ways to exceed their expectations. Go beyond providing a simple product or service; position yourself as the brand that fulfills your market’s need for belonging, status, excitement, security etc.

Provide that and you will forge a connection between you and your customers that keeps the register ringing and PayPal dinging.

4. Consistency is Key

Change is good, yet your customers have an existing set of expectations about who you are and what you deliver. It can be confusing and off-putting if your message yo-yos around.

If people see your brand as being conservative, solid and mainstream, then what will they think if your next marketing campaign suddenly features sex, extreme games and rebellion?

Once you have established a connection with your customers, it’s important to honor that bond, while continuing to deliver the experience they expect when doing business with you.

Of course, you might decide that it’s in your best interest to reposition your brand and make a radical change, but these decisions should never be made lightly and is is always best to conduct a thorough evaluation of the risks and benefits prior to making such a shift.

5. Reward Your Customers

A loyal customer is immeasurably valuable to your business and it’s important to recognize and reward them whenever possible. Show your customers that you appreciate their continued support and they will continue to support you in turn.

There are many ways to reward customers, from offering special discounts or points that can be redeemed for goods and services to a simple thank you in the mail.

Some of the best ways won’t even cost much at all.

You could spotlight loyal customers in your monthly newsletter, or remember to send them a note or card on their birthday or other special occasion. Just remember, it is always less expensive and more profitable to keep a customer than it is to make a new one.

Building brand recognition and trust takes time and effort, yet it reaps long term benefits. Though it is highly profitable to have a solid base of loyal customers, feeling a connection and commitment to those customers is infinitely rewarding in both dollars and sense.

But your clients, prospective clients, friends, colleagues, employees etc. do not know about your logo and they have hardly seen it. Is this good as well? Ofcourse NOT!

If you got a logo designed, then you must have had an objective, as to what purpose the logo design will serve for you. So, now that the logo is ready, it is time to use it effectively, to ensure that your brand awareness objective is met.

You must ensure that your logo is being viewed on a regular basis. Your brand identity has to be developed – actually hammered in people’s mind.

How do you do this?

Very simple. Start using the logo.

• Use it on your Business Card, Letterhead and Envelopes.
• Use it in your Posters, Flyers, Brochures.
• Use it on employee T-Shirts.
• Use it in your Email Signatures.
• Use it as your Forum Avataars.
• Use it in your Newspaper, Yellow Pages and other Advertisements.
• Use it in your Outdoor Advertising like hoardings etc.
• Use it as your Mobile Wallpaper.
• Use it in your Company Presentations.
• Use it as the Wallpaper of your company workstations.
• Use it on the Corporate Gifts that you present to your clients or employees.
• Use it on the Mouse Pads that you use in your Office.
• Use it on your Company Vehicles.

and the list goes on…

There are SO MANY ways to make your logo visible all around. Let the world see it. This will surely help you in your overall branding and generate instant recall for better credibility, thereby boosting your sales and profits.

Hang on! Did I hear you say “All this is nice but I don’t have a logo yet”? What are you waiting for? Just click over to the Logo Design Team website and get yourself a dazzling new logo. It is simpler and cheaper than you thought.

Fact: While a graphic does enhance the visual appeal of the logo, your logo can look quite elegant and have an instant recall even if does not have the graphic. Some nice strokes or a different-than-usual font can make your logo stand out among a sea of graphical logos.

What’s more – you are not tied up to a particular product or service and can make your brand name popular. This is specially useful for the consumer goods industries like electronics and fashion.

Take a look at the following logos and tell us about your views on a text based logo vs. a graphics based logo.

These text based logo designs have instant recall and look quite elegant.

Which other text based logos have appealed to you? Please post a comment about those too.

Are they doing so? Insist!

But first let us understand, what difference does it make.

The raster format is a rough equivalent of “this point here should be black, this should be a shade of green, the next point will be dark green and like”. However the vector files talks in terms of shapes like lines and curves. So how does it matter?

The raster file formats do not allow you to enlarge graphics for printing purposes. When you hire a logo design firm, they will deliver your graphics in an electronic format. Many logo design companies will take your money, produce a logo and send it to you in a raster format. That might seem fine as you integrate the design into your website and throughout your online business.

However, when you decide to bring your logo into the “real world,” you will be very upset. Your raster logo design might look fine on a web page, but you will never be able to effectively bring it to life offline, as in a big poster. If you try to pump it up to the necessary resolution, the result will be distorted beyond recognition. It will be unusable.

Vector file formats are different. You can enlarge a vector graphic to any size without showing any distortion whatsoever. In other words, it will convert perfectly for printing or any other use.

Many of the “other logo design companies and freelancers” supply their customers with files in a raster format. That might be a byproduct of laziness, an indication of an unwillingness to go the “extra mile,” or evidence that they don’t really understand how important a great logo design really is to a business’ overall well-being.

Others will hold out the possibility of getting the vector format files for an additional fee, almost like a form of logo blackmail.

We don’t play games.

We send vectors. We send them to all of our logo design clients – even our Budget Package includes delivery of the vectors. When we complete your amazing logo design, you will receive it so you can use it however you’d like. You may have planned to use your logo design on the web, but we are not just selling cheap “web logos.” We go deeper. Our original logo design artistry is the kind of material you can (and will want to) put anywhere and everywhere.

Why settle for second best when you are talking about the very symbol of your enterprise? You deserve the best from top to bottom. The best designers, the best team, the best experience, the best artwork and, yes, the best file format.

Your finished logo design will be ready to copyright, trademark and use as you see fit-both online and offline. We make sure of that by supplying vector graphics with all of our packages.

Don’t accept mere rasters. Demand vectors!

Here is a thought-provoking image. Do you find anything alarming here? Who copied whom? Did somebody just get inspired by someone else or went a step further?

Or is this just a coincidence? Share your thoughts…

Do you think these logos are too similar?

Colours are powerful! They can influence opinion in less time than it takes to blink an eye. They create a sublimal effect. And one should have a very good understanding of the colour psychology to create great logos for one’s clients.

A logo is the most repeated and frequently displayed symbol of your business. It’s on your letterhead, your website, business cards, products and more. It’s your “brand” and it’s an inseparable part of your business identity. In fact, your logo is you.

Does your logo create a bonding with the clients or turns them off? Using colour psychology to your advantage isn’t easy. You can look at a simple chart that lists common colours and explains what they tend to represent. Here are some colours and their significance:

• BLACK: Mystery, secrecy, tradition.
• BLUE: Power, calmness, success, trustworthiness.
• BROWN: Earth and nature, simplicity, seriousness.
• GREEN: Harmony, health and healing, nature and animals, money.
• ORANGE: Affordability, fun, youth, creativity, celebration.
• PURPLE: Fantasy and dreams, justice, royalty.
• RED: Excitement, action, adventure, love, passion, food.
• WHITE: Simplicity, cleanliness, innocence.
• YELLOW: Cheerfulness, playfulness, curiosity, amusement.

However this only scratches the surface of what impact colours can have. We go beyond those simple colour connections. We combine that information and with knowledge of negative colour connotations. We also understand how people react to different combinations of colours. We can create the right colour scheme and merge the messages of colour psychology with great design skills.

If you are in the market for a rocking logo designed and create a memorable identity, consult with us and watch us use the science of colour psychology to your advantage!

It can indicate a direction, growth, movement, success, sharpness, drive, effort, motion, development, emergence, increment, profit, accuracy depending on how you use it.

Arrows are quite popular props in logo design and we have compiled some logos from leading companies that include an arrow or an arrowhead.

It is amazing to see the variety in which such a simple thing can be used in a logo. In some it is very eminent and in others it has been used in a subtle manner. You can easily locate the arrow in some of these designs, while you might take a few seconds to notice the arrow in some others (for example where is the arrow in the Fedex logo?). Enjoy!

Logos with arrows and arrowheads

Feel free to add a comment with other logos that you find involving use of an arrow in the design.