Refining Your Logo
How to Create Your Fashion Company by Jeff Staple
So, you’ve got a brand, a DNA. The Mission Statement and the slogan is the verbal representation of the brand. The logo is the visual representation.
Your logo is like the flag for your brand. How can this object further tell the story of your brand and add to its recognition within the mind of the consumer?
Staple breaks it down into three parts: philosophical, technical, and legal. Originally, Staple only had a wordmark. A wordmark is basically your own custom font. It says your name in a unique way that you can own, so that when people see it, they think of your brand. That’s the success of a great workdmark or logo. An icon is a singular image. From a production standpoint, Staple found it useful to have an icon where you don’t have to spell out your brand name all the time. With the myriad applications you can use for your logo, you need to have an icon and logo properties that can work on big billboards and small Instagram pictures. His pigeon logo caught wind because everyone thought he did a pigeon for their city, since pigeons are everywhere. There’s an aspiration to being ‘in’ on what the pigeon means (i.e., city living). When Ralph Lauren created the polo horse logo, he aspired to be part of high society (he’s originally from Brooklyn). Obviously, many other people did as well.
After you’ve philosophically created your logo, you should technically create a style guide. A logo needs guidelines. A brand style guideline says this is the font, colours, logo mark to use. You can’t stretch it, you can’t shrink it, you can’t tilt it, you can’t put a drop shadow on it unless I approve it. It makes your brand consistency so much stronger. Having the public see different versions of your logo is a tell-tale sign that your company is still amateur. If you’re not a designer, you should work with someone who can help you design your logo.
Own your logo with the public/consumer. You could always change something 10 percent and own it, but do you even want to go there? Do you want the confusion? What is the point of having a red alligator with two tails? Would you want people to ask, “Is this a Lacoste thing?” You’re new in the game, you don’t want to have that up-hill battle.
Own your logo with the government. There are certain lawyers that specialize in trademark and copyright. They will search to see if anyone else is using your logo for that particular category. They will then submit your logo to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. If all goes well, you’ll be authorized to be the only company allowed to use that logo. Get it first in the country you’re operating in. Second, get it in the countries that you plan on doing business in. Third, get it in the country where you’re making your product. After that, depending on your future projections, if you’re in it for the long-term, you should look into investing in trademarking it globally.
The trademark doesn’t prevent people from suing each other, it just helps you when you go to court to support your argument.
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