What a logo says about your business

A logo does the talking for you; it’s your salesperson in the room when you’re not there, it’s your badge of honour, your declaration that you run a successful brand. A logo can ‘say’ these things correctly for you as long as it is crafted carefully based upon your ambition for the business. Ambition setting is a really important factor in this process and can dictate how your logo says anything about your business. From a typeface to a symbol, the elements and shapes need to be addressing how the business wants to develop or be a truthful representation of what you do now. So, ambition setting goes a little bit like this, ask yourself the 5 key questions before embarking on a new logo design and look at your current logo to see if it’s ‘saying’ what you need it to. Ask yourself, Why are we doing this? Who are we doing this for? How are we different? What is our personality and finally what does our brand do? With these questions answered we, as brand designers can make a start on the logo design. Let’s look at the variables you need to think about when you are in the process of a possible new logo.

  • Does the symbol have a meaning? Symbolism has a greater power over someone’s decision-making process in this day and age than maybe you realise. If your symbol has meaning and a truth to it you create a relationship between you and your customer. Also with this in mind, if your logo isn’t designed well or isn’t correctly communicating what your offering or service is, then, unfortunately, you could be attracting the wrong customer or even putting people off. Meaning is formed with a symbol and can be traced back to ancient times when people used symbols for entire words to communicate with each other, tapestries were written with symbols, the hieroglyphics, the cave paintings, all symbols mean something. You may have a random logo that does okay, but most of the time you will see successful brands with well constructed and strategic logos that usually tell a tale. Our logo for example (the forward slash) represents the definition of Kaizen, (continuous improvement) which we see as a form of evolution, forward slash = forward thinking. Now, what were we thinking when choosing a forward slash to symbolise evolution? Well, if you have ever seen Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, there is a scene, which involves 2 rival prehistoric man-monkey gangs, amidst a raucous encounter a monolith appears and one of the monkeys touch the monolith and begin using tools, sticks as weapons, evolving them as the triumphant man-monkey tribe. All once again symbolism for evolution, and of course without this great reference we always refer to ‘forward slash – moving forward – evolving.’
  • Does your typeface convey the correct tone? Have a think about typography for a minute, look around your workplace or home at products or even books and how typography plays a part in the communication. We see bubbly, bold typefaces on children’s products, we see sophisticated serif styles on coffees and teas, we see clean, legible typefaces used on laptops, computer brands. This is all to do with how type creates an emotional connection the same way a symbol can. Achieving logo Valhalla is the perfect balance between the two – a typeface that represents what you are doing as a business and a logo that sums it up, simply. Simplicity is key because if a customer is confused about your brand message they will simply go elsewhere.

Think your business logo needs a refresh? Perhaps it doesn’t convey the tone you think it should? Feel free to call us on 028 9507 2007, email the designers on studio@kaizenbrandevolution.com and book an appointment. Take the next step to evolving your brand today.