When I first meet with someone who is starting their own business, and developing their business plan, they are usually aware that they need a logo, but often times they are confused between a logo, a slogan, and a brand.
Here are the basic definitions..
(courtesy of dictionary.com)
Logo
Also called logotype. a graphic representation or symbol of a company name, trademark, abbreviation, etc., often uniquely designed for ready recognition. Want a logo? Click here if you’d like to create a beautiful logo in minutes for free – no signup required.
Brand
A kind or variety of something distinguished by some distinctive characteristic. To give a brand name to: branded merchandise. To promote as a brand name.
Slogan
A phrase, or motto of any party, group, manufacturer, or person; catchword or catch phrase.
Designing a logo is usually the first step I take, by creating visual elements that represent the business mission and keeping in mind the target audience. For example, if you are a kid’s clothing store, the look may be fun, bright, and eye catching. If your business is in the tech industry your logo will look more crisp, and engineered, with bold and basic colors.
Developing and strictly following a brand style guide allows your brand to be effective. This is the guide for everything you create for your marketing materials, packaging, signage etc. Taking the colors from your logo, and fonts that match and compliment it, and use only these colors, and fonts and the sizes in relation to one another on all of the visuals you incorporate for business marketing. This creates the cohesive styling needed to create brand awareness, trust and consistency for your audience. Large corporations especially with multiple locations are a great example of why this works so well, and why it’s so important for success. Could you imagine if in every city, a chain coffee shop like Starbucks used a different shade of green or different sizes for their famous logo, even different font colors for the name on the buildings? It would not be so easy to spot or recognize right? They are a perfect example of great branding.
Your logo and brand should not change until they become outdated over 10+ years. Your slogan can change with the seasons, but you don’t want to change it too frequently. Remember it’s all about consistency.. the longer you keep one message going the more your target audience will recognize you and trust your services. Slogans are fun catch phrases you can add to your brand to compliment it and create more engagement with your audience, for example, Apple: Think Different – Skittles: Taste the Rainbow. Your slogan can help build engaging and relatable advertising.
A GREAT resource to get your own logo designed quickly and professionally is this incredible company – Looka.com – you plug in your company name, pick the symbols you want to see in your logo and within minutes you are in total control over designing your own logo that is going to be a strong starting point for your brand! You don’t have to sign up or pay unless you love and want to use the logo you create!
