It might seem like a simple task to create a logo for your business, but what many business owners find is that a DIY logo design just doesn’t cut the mustard!  Problems arise with designing your own logo because many do not understand what role a business logo plays when it comes to creating brand awareness and promotion.

Your logo is more than just a simple graphic attached to your stationery.  It could be described as the ‘face’ of your business, the means by which customers will recognize your products or services and the means by which they will judge you.  Logos are a key part of creating brand awareness amongst customers, helping them to identify you from the competition.  It also plays an important role in customers’ decision making processes when it comes to buying any product or service.

A good logo therefore needs to convey to customers who you are, what you are and what you have to offer.  It needs to project to them a sense of quality and reliability to help them form trust in your business.  You could say your logo can make or break your business, however a good logo needs to be backed up by quality products or services and excellent customer care.

So why don’t DIY logo designs meet with these requirements?

To begin with there is a tendency for DIY designers to produce designs which are very similar to those of bigger brands or their competitors.  Any logo design needs to be original.  They also lack the tools necessary to design a quality logo.  Of course you could use any desk top publishing software but you will only end up with a design filled with cheap looking logo clip art and poor layout.

There is also a certain amount of psychology that goes into a logo design.  Different colors and images are known to generate different reactions from people.  The color red for instance will stimulate appetite whilst blue gives a sense of community and belonging.  It is a good idea to incorporate colors which will stimulate the desired response in your customers and understand how they will affect your design.  Color is a very important aspect of logo design because it can affect the way in which a logo is displayed on different forms of media and can change the legibility of a design.

The layout and scalability of a logo also needs careful consideration.  When a logo is reproduced in print it should still be legible no matter what the size, but more than this a design needs to be balanced to make it easier to read and understand.  And finally the choice of fonts needs to be carefully considered.  With literally thousands of fonts to choose from it is easy to be seduced, but complicated fonts can become illegible when reproduced small whilst script style fonts can be difficult to read whatever size they are!

The importance of a logo and the role it plays within a business is often less understood amongst business owners just starting out.  Its importance in creating brand awareness and generating trust amongst consumers shouldn’t be underestimated which is why it is important to have your logo design created by a professional design company.  If you get your logo wrong at the outset it can affect the success of your business from the moment you begin trading and changing a logo after you have launched can cost you more time and money.

Article written by Georgina Clatworthy, a freelance writer producing articles on topics including business, marketing and branding. Although I am not afilliated with Logo Mojo I can recommend them for effective and professional logo design services.