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Tips to Help You Find the Right Logo

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Posted by Martin Nilsson on Feb 12, 2013 2:10:00 PM

It's a great time to be an entrepreneur. Crowdsourcing, cloud-based software and DIY business tools have lowered the barrier to entry for entrepreneurs starting businesses. My friend Martin Nilsson of Logosack is one of those people lowering the barriers. Logosack offers high-quality, affordable logo design services for entrepreneurs and small businesses. You can read more about logo design on their blog.

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Image courtesy of Dreamstime free images

For brands out there looking to make a name for themselves in the world of business, creating a winning logo design is often one of the best ways to make this happen. Just pick any popular brand out there you can think of. You’ll instantly be able to recognize this brand by their logo.

Obviously, this is the type of fate you’re hoping to ultimately share after you create your business logo. But the first step in this process is obviously to conceive of and create a winning logo type, and that involves knowing what the logo types are and how they will play with your brand.

The Three Main Logo Types

Symbol

Can you think of a logo that uses a symbol? Apple to comes to mind, with their famous bitten apple. Nike, Chevrolet, Google (Chrome), Firefox, Playboy, and even a superhero like Superman – they all use symbols as their logos. You may find these logos in combination form every now and again (more on that below), but it’s the actual image that has stood out.

Text

Now, what about a text-based logo? Well, you’ve probably thought of quite a few already, like Facebook, Kool-Aid, Coco-Cola, Subway, Dell, Virgin, and even some famous cable TV networks like CBS, NBC, Showtime and HBO. Acronyms, initialism and shorter words usually play really well with a text-based logo.

Combination Logo

A combination logo is exactly what it sounds like – a combination of words and symbolism. KFC comes to mind here, with the Colonel symbol and also the initialism. But there are many other famous combination logos out there, like Gatorade, NASA, Mercedes-Benz, Pepsi, X-Box and Starbucks, just to name a few. The combination idea is great if you want your brand’s name to stand out but also wish to take advantage of symbolism.

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4 Tips To Help You Choose Your Logo

1. Think Of Your Brand

To know which logo type is best for you, think about your brand overall. What exactly are you trying to say? With a brand like Gatorade, using a combination logo, the word isn’t enough. They wanted to convey an energy drink, so the lightning bolt was born. Focus on the message you’re trying to convey with your brand.

2. Decide If It Flows

Does it all flow together? If your brand name is rather lengthy, see if you can break it down to a catchy acronym or initialism. If the name is something that doesn’t instantly pop in one’s mind, see how it plays along with a symbol. And see if something like a straight symbol would work for you. It’s all about the flow here.

3. Create Multiple Versions

The goal here is to decide which of the three types would work best for you. Well, open up Photoshop or a similar program and begin to brainstorm different ideas. Create multiple versions of your brand’s logo using each type. An apple for Apple is rather obvious, but how did Coke come up with such a fantastic logo? In actuality, it’s just their brand name. So you never know what’s going to work for you unless you try it out.

4. Test The Results

Once you have a few versions of your logo, test them out on friends and family and perhaps even focus groups. Before you finalize your design using Logostack or another service, make sure it’s a design that has tested well and that you love.

Knowing which type of logo is going to fit your brand all depends on what your brand is trying to say, the creativity you can conjure up, and your happiness with the decision in the end.

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