Business owners typically know their industry better than anyone else. They know what sells, they are familiar with their clientele, and they live and breathe their business every day. So wouldn’t it make sense for a business owner to put this knowledge to good use and design their company’s logo? A better plan would be for the business owner to be directly involved in the design of their logo. Here’s why:

Know what sells
Although Jake who sells hockey sticks knows a lot about the brands he carries and what his customers want, he probably has not studied marketing tactics. He may not understand which colors give off positive connotations to his customers. If he sells online and has a large market base in Japan, he may not know how the colors of his logo can affect these customers differently. When choosing a company name or adding a slogan, Jake needs to know which words are more likely to help him sell. Will he be able to create a logo which gives the right feeling to his audience, and be effective and memorable? (Not to mention, can he draw?) One can be so close to their own product that they may not be able to give the right message to their customers. But if Jake works closely with his designer to describe the feeling of winning the big game, of holding that lucky hockey stick as you shoot a goal, and all the other things he wants his customers to think about, a good designer should be able to incorporate these elements along with marketing techniques to create a logo that shouts out the right message.

Know the techie stuff
Only a logo that is designed properly will print properly. The designer needs to understand image resolution and color process. Nothing looks less professional than a fuzzy logo on a business card! Fuzzy or grainy artwork is the result of low resolution files being used for print work. For a logo to look great when printed, it should be created with a vector based artwork program. This allows the logo to be enlarged and reduced to any size and still be consistent and print clearly. A logo should be tested in shades of grey and black and white before being finalized, so you know how it will look when Xeroxed, or when a tight budget leads to one-color printing. CMYK versions of the logo will be needed for printing, and RGB versions will be needed for online and screen usage. (For more information, see also “Raster vs. Vector Artwork: The right file type for your image”.) Having one logo saved as all these different file types is when a professional comes in handy.

Know the owner
Your logo should be yours and yours alone. If you hope to save money by using clipart to design your logo, you risk infringing upon someone else’s copyright. Most clipart can not be used for commercial purposes without a fee. Some royalty fees only pay for specific uses of the artwork (for instance, istockphoto.com specifically states in their terms that the artwork on their web site may NOT be used for logo design.) A business owner should have the comfort of knowing they are doing everything by the book. And when a designer makes your logo, be sure you own the final copyright.

If you own a business and have a great logo design idea, discuss your logo idea with a professional. You may know how to change the oil in your car, but that does not mean you have the tools to do so. And those professional mechanics will give your whole car a once over when changing the oil. When you talk to a professional about your logo, they can look at it from the point of view of a marketing professional, as someone who understands color theory, and can turn your idea or their own into a professional art piece that you can use without problems for years to come. 

When someone is introduced to your business, your logo is often the first thing they see. Whether it is on a business card, brochure or website, your logo needs to give a great first impression! It becomes the visual identifier for your company, like the Nike swoosh or the red and white swirl of Coca-Cola. Your logo will transmit a feeling about your company, and the right logo delivers the right message.

There are some general types of logos. An iconic logo uses an icon, or graphical element, often related to the business field. Even if it is an abstract image, the idea behind it probably started with something connected to the business (they say the Nike SWOOSH represents the wing of the famous Greek Goddess of victory of the same name.) 

LogoType is a logo based on letters. A unique font used to spell out the company name or rearranging letter patterns can easily make up a logo. Examples of this type of logo are those of General Mills and IBM.

Mascots can also be used as logos, such as the Pillsbury Doughboy. Mascots that seem to come to life add a personal touch to your business, giving it a friendly feel.

When first determining your logo, lots of aspects need to be taken into consideration. Do you have a slogan or motto that needs to be incorporated? Is there an icon to easily represent your industry, like a house for a Real Estate agent? Also consider the colors being used. Is your logo noticeable? Is it unique? Will it reprint well in shades of grey?

When you have a finished logo, you will need copies of it in different file formats for different purposes. Anytime you have your logo printed, you will need a high resolution vector graphic. This version of your logo can be resized without losing any visual integrity. For online use - in emails and on the web - you can use a lower resolution raster version of your logo. This is art made of tiny pixels that will load quickly online but might look grainy when printed.

The examples above are great logos, but what makes them so recognizable it that they are well advertised. Remember to keep your target audience in mind when thinking about your new logo because it will appear on all of your advertising and marketing efforts.