Make my logo great!
Can you make our logo better?
Yes, we can!
However this might not be the journey you’re imagining. You might quickly end up answering questions like how do you feel about your company, why do you feel a logo change is necessary, and how did you come to that decision in the first place?
But wait, I simply need a logo update. Not an audit.
True. You don’t need a complete brand audit to design a logo, but you can’t start a logo design without considering what is going around your brand. So before the process gets derailed entirely and leaves both sides frustrated, you should take a small step back, understand what role it plays in the whole branding universe, and what rules should a logo abide by. You need to understand the rules of branding — emotional and behavioral reaction to a set of values represented by your brand.
Rules of branding vs. the rules of a good logo.
Come to think of it, the rules of branding are surprisingly similar to the rules of dating and it’s mainly because of the similarity of business and dating. If you look around, on every corner you will find brands that act in a manner which seems to match character types straight from a dating guide.
Needy brands believe that shouting “me, me, me” all the time is the way to cut through the advertising noise they are part of. Not only does this create an image of insecurity but most of all it induces a feeling the brand might be like that one date you had in the past. Seems great for the first 20 minutes till you realise it will talk over you. Not a good choice if you feel you want to be an important part of that customer-brand relationship.
Larger than life. Brands that generally seem too real to be true. This doesn’t necessarily imply the brand is faking it or straightforward lying, this simply means their main selling point crosses the boundaries of values relevant to what you’re looking for. That 0.7 second print out will make your life great… but wait, didn’t you just say you need a home printer? How much that 0.7 second be an impact on your life? Really? By being larger than life, the brand is more likely to become detached from what life really is.
The above two are a mere examples that can be easily associated with a person most of us have met or dated. But what is worst, those traits are not necessarily bad if managed appropriately. In the end, customers are still most likely to end up with choices they can relate to and feel comfortable with, brands that feel natural for them. So it is more important to understand how customers react to the brand and what motivates them to be in its frame of reference.
Now let’s get back to that great logo. Let’s say you have it worked out, you know your company inside out from the communication standpoint. How to translate that onto your company logo?
This is not what our company is about!
When Bloomberg Politics asked a bunch of tipsy celebrities to comment on the new Hilary logo, Steve Guttenberg said “This is not, what our president is about!” and that was one of the most spot on remarks among the witty slurs of that interview.
A logo should not tell a story nor carry a message. Logo alone is nothing but a stylistic reference, visual positioning, parallel to the brand. A comprehensible symbol/pattern/idea, one can quickly recall and distinguish from other symbols revolving in a specified brand ecosystem, that’s great. This finds confirmation when looking at the list of Most Valuable Brands by Forbes, and logos behind them.
This chart even further proves that logo can only contain or deliver a story if it’s part of a greater brand aura surrounding it. So ditch the whole make “my logo great” and calibrate your business attention to “make my brand great”. Create room for your customers, allow them to be needy, larger than life or whatever your customers want to be and they will fly your logo like a banner and therefore make it great.
Not the other way round.
One last thing.
There is another deal of advice worth sharing on quality logo design, but that’s for another post next week.
