Brand building is defined as “the process by which a company creates or improves customers’ knowledge and opinions of a brand.” It creates a relationship between your business and its consumers. It establishes trust, and it entices people to buy from you. Building your brand is more than just choosing a name, colors, fonts, writing a slogan, and designing a logo. It is defining your brand’s identity, deciding who you are, and what you stand for.
How will you present your brand visually? Think colors, font, and logo design. A logo is a symbol created to help customers identify a brand. Design a logo that matches your brand’s identity. A few rules of thumb of logo design are the logo must be appropriate for the business concept, it needs to be memorable, and it should be simple. Design a logo that matches your brand’s identity. A logo is a symbol created to help customers identify a brand. Good logo design is an art as well as a science. If your budget allows, I recommend hiring a professional to work with your brand vision to create a logo. If you are going to forge ahead and design your logo, there are a few tried and true standards in the design industry.
DO’S & DON’TS OF LOGO DESIGN:
DO’S
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Do keep it clean, creative, and simple. Let your logo speak for itself. Let it tell people what your brand is and what it does.
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Do create a one-of-a-kind logo to set your business/brand apart from the competition. Be distinct. Be different.
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Do choose the right font for your brand. Avoid chaos and limit the number of fonts to two. It is ok to play around with lowercase and capital letters. Be mindful of legibility. Is it legible when small? Does it compliment the fonts you have chosen for your website? Logos should be easy to read.
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Do consider scalability. What will your logo look like in different sizes? Does your logo look good from a distance? Will it be legible and attention-grabbing on a business card?
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Do have color variations of your to make sure it stands out on any background. This will assist in eliminating printing limitations. Make sure it works in full color, black & white, in a knock out option, and as a single color print (such as one color embroidery).
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Do use contrast in your favor. Select a background color that allows your text or icon to pop. Think about the visibility of your design.
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Do explore conceptual designs and metaphors. Essentially a logo is a simplified icon that captures the identity of your brand. It does not need to be a literal image depicting what your business does.
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Do think about colors. Do you have a brand color palette? Here is the perfect place to use it. Consider the emotions tied to colors.
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Do make sure your design is balanced. Maybe this is aligning the elements to the center. It might be making sure the icon is properly sized in proportion to the text.
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Do be consistent. Choose your logo and stick to it. While your marketing strategy might change your logo shouldn’t. You may have multiple variations of your logo to fit different sizes/orientations. Make sure they are cohesive and retain the look of your branding.
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Do ask for opinions. Do include your target customers in your opinion group. Show them multiple logo designs and be open to suggestions for improvement.
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Do make sure you have your logo saved in multiple formats including vector (.ai/.eps/.svg) and raster (.jpg/.png) for all of your variations.
DON’TS
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Don’t make your logo overly complicated or too detailed. A complex logo will lose scalability. Do not try to force a bunch of information into a tiny space. Don’t use drop shadows. It can create visibility problems or make your logo look messy.
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Don’t use clip art. It’s essentially free, which means someone else might be using the same thing for their design. Consider having a professional create your logo. It is an investment in your brand. Think of all the places your logo will be visible!
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Don’t use unnecessary wording. A logo should be an icon for your business. If you do add a tagline to your logo, make sure it is balanced. The tagline should be secondary. Or simplify it and save the words for your slogan.
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Don’t crowd your logo. Allow breathing room in your design. Pay attention to spacing, composition, and negative space. Use them to your advantage.
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Don’t forget about your target audience. Will your logo look appealing to your customer base? What is your ideal customer attracted to? Your logo should appeal to the tastes of your potential clients.
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Don’t copy or imitate an existing logo. You want to stand out, not stand behind. Plus, it's plagiarism. Your logo should be unique and represent you, not something you pulled off of Pinterest.
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Don’t follow trends. They are constantly changing and evolving. If your logo is trendy it might be outdated in a blink.
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Don’t forget--your logo should make you happy. Keep your target market in mind when designing your logo, but you need to be happy with it as well.
Interview with Karla Merritt Gates
For a little more insight into the challenges of branding and logo design, I reached out to Karla Merritt Gates, graphic designer and visual strategist. Karla is also a small business owner and a founding member of creativeMERRITT, a creative design and business development team. You see her work (including logos) at creativemerritt.com
As a designer, creative director, and business owner what tips can you pass along to entrepreneurs who are building their brands and creating their “look”?
Be calm. Don’t overthink it in the beginning. You may not even understand what a “brand look” is, and that’s ok. Developing a brand look or personality takes time. Just as you have to learn and understand payroll and processes — branding, marketing and advertising are learned skills. Try not to be overly intimidated by the creative process. There is no secret code that you're missing; again, it takes time. Start by reaching out to someone you trust that owns a company and ask them how they handle their branding and marketing. If you do decide to hire a creative professional, and they make you feel intimidated in any way — find another one asap. A creative director or graphic designer should be a partnership not a dictatorship. Never feel guilty if you don’t mesh well with a marketing professional — the professional’s job is to educate and mentor you in creating success for your business.
Visualize your business as a person: What kind of person would they be? What kind of style would they have? How would they talk or interact with others... that is the basis of your brand. Think back to the first time you thought of the idea that is now your business and build on those initial thoughts. As your business grows and evolves, so does your brand identity.
Be curious. Take note of things that are visually interesting to you, as well as, other businesses that you think are visually appealing. You can learn a lot of what not to do by paying close attention to the world around you. Pick up business cards, mailers or anything that is an advertisement for someone else’s business, then think of yourself and how would you handle your message, your colors, your images, your logo. Begin to formulate your own advertisement as you consider your preferences and your planned target audience.
Be consistent: Pick 2 colors and stick with them in all instances. Repeat the same colors on everything you print, mail or email. Never change your colors until you know for sure you should — if you're unsure — don't. A simple repeated color palette can take you a long way as your business grows. The idea is that potential customers, over time, will see your name and associate it with your colors and graphics. The colors you choose should clearly represent the nature of your business. A quick google of the meaning of colors will help you understand basic color theory. If you are still unsure, stick with black. You can always add a secondary color as your business grows. Fonts should be treated the same way. Avoid complicated or hard to read fonts for your logo and branding. Choose a simple font and stick with it. Looking at business cards can be a great way to understand how your logo should work. If you shrink your logo to fit on a 2" card, you will see that “simple” is the best way to go.
Is there anything you wish you had known before you started your business?
Not really. I was older when I went out on my own, so I had plenty of time to learn and plan. However, a better understanding of paying taxes for a self-owned business would have been helpful.
That’s where this blog and subsequent book come into the picture. Along with the Big Bad Business Series, I hope to bring business knowledge to those starting and growing their business. Self-employment taxes will be covered in an upcoming blog. If there are any other business related questions you have please email me at