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Who Really Needs a Logo?
 Who needs a logo? In the purest sense - nobody does. Anybody can create a business without one. In theory, anyone can toil away, providing their client base with the best in service and/or products - relying on word of mouth to expand. Putting faith in the old fashioned method of knocking door-to-door. Many of you are not convinced of the value of a logo. Or the expense involved in creating one. "My business will succeed by itself" you exclaim, "I don't need no stinking logo!" Oh sure, you still need to concentrate on your business basics (a great brand will not bail out a sloppy business - we don't promise that). But a decent logo (and hopefully a great one) will help to carve out a preconception of what your business is all about, and that will HELP your business to succeed. As a logo design company, it's obviously our sales pitch to argue that a logo should be part of your overall business plan. It's also something we believe. After all, it was part of our business plan. And you're at least willing to accept that we know something about logos. And somewhere along the way - we did something right to grab your attention.
How many logos do you view a day?
Still not convinced? Look around you. It's estimated that the average person is exposed to over 200 business logo or brand marks an hour. Sound whacked? Lessee. You start off the morning with a branded coffee (even 'no-name' brands have their own logo - in one of the great marketing ironies), eat your branded cereal, shower with your branded shampoos and soaps. On the way out the door to your branded car, you dress in your logo'd clothing, and pass by untold branded stores, billboards and even bumper stickers on the way to work. If you have access to the Internet in your daily labors - your 200 per hour exposure rises exponentially. One only has to take a look at our gallery of coporate logos to see the vast number of marks and brands around.
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Logo Design and your small business. Do YOU really need a logo?
 While the article featured on this page speaks more in general terms, what about your particular case. Do YOU need a logo? Maybe. Maybe not. While this may seem somewhat odd, especially from someone who supposedly makes his living at selling graphic design services, this is perhaps the most critical step. How can you tell if you need a logo? Well, ask yourself a few questions starting with these;
1)
What are the short term, mid range and long-term goals of your company or the product/service you are developing?
2) Are you going to be competing for the attention of prospective clients and customers in a crowded marketplace?
3) Will you be entering an already thriving industry and – let’s not be coy – fighting to ‘steal’ business away from other, more established companies?
4) Do you need to get people’s attention – the “here I am, and here’s what I do” kind of attention?
If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, then you’ll probably need a logo and all that entails. Conversely, if you’re working for ‘the man’ during the day, and moonlighting to a few friends at night – say, accounting services come tax time - then you don’t one - simple as that.
Word of mouth, and casual referrals are likely to keep you more than busy enough.
Sure, you may want something ‘nifty’ to doll up your invoices, but you can probably manage that on your own - using standard business software and the supplied templates. You may even be able to crank out your own rudimentary letterhead and business cards (Avery and other paper suppliers offer pre-cut material that can be printed on your personal printer). As much as my design studio (and any other graphic design professional) would love to work with you on your new identity, it’s probably more ‘bang’ than what you need for the expectations you have, and the goals you have set. If, on the other hand, your business aspirations are to develop your business further, more investigation is probably in order.
I’d say one of the litmus tests we can employ at this juncture would be this - if you’re planning to develop some brochure designs, maybe even an advertisement in the local paper - you might need a logo. You’ll notice that’s still a ‘might’. Bulletin boards at the local supermarket are full of hand-posted ‘flyers’ – you recognize them by the multitude of tiny ‘pull off strips with hand-written phone numbers, and while these advertisements might be more noticeable with a decent brand (sorry, couldn’t help myself), they probably perform to the level that can be expected – a trickle of inquires and one or two solid leads. If that’s all that you’re after, then a full-blown identity workup is still more than what you need. However, if you’re planning to drop a few hundred on an ad that is to be featured on a newspaper page with a load of other ads, then yours better stand out (for the most part, classified ads still enjoy the ‘no logo needed’ status). Yes, your deals are better. Yes, your service is faster. Hell, you’re even a nice person. But if people don’t notice your ad, who really cares? A version of the ‘if a tree falls in the forest’ and ‘the sound of one hand clapping’ arguments.
Same goes for your website.
Think of this – you’ve been looking for a product or service on the Internet. You’ve run into sites that sell what you’re looking for, but for one reason or another, you’ve chose to look elsewhere. Oh sure, it may have been price. But haven’t there been times when you’ve backed out of a web site because the website wasn’t ‘right’? It didn’t ‘look’ as professional as the site that finally earned your business. Perhaps it ‘felt’ a little shady. Bad graphics. Spelling mistakes. And yes, it probably featured a hideous logo. Pretty nebulous stuff. You probably couldn’t put your finger on it at the time. Trouble is, if your fledgling company or service is poorly presented, neither will your potential clients. They’ll just ‘feel’ that something’s not quite right about your business. And you’ll lose the sale.
And once again, if you’re simply filing tax returns on behalf of friends and family for a few bucks on the side, none of this is an issue. If, however, you’re trying to sell you services to strangers – and have but a few seconds to convince them that you are exactly what they’re looking for, you need to think about branding your company. Because that’s what a good logotype (and related branding) is all about. Convincing strangers that you are the best (or at least very good) at what you do. Strangers you ask? Sure – let’s take another example. Let’s say your homemade chili was such a hit at family picnics you decided to sell it at the local farmer’s market for a few bucks a jar. You could probably still get by without a food logo on the jar and your booth. Captive audience, word of mouth, returning customers and a limited production capacity (how big is that crock-pot really?) combine to render a logo less than critical. If I wanted to be a stickler here, I could also argue that if the chili is good, a good branding workup will help move it through attention grabbing branding. I could also point out that if your chili is, in reality, simply mediocre – family members can be very forgiving - a good identity is practically a prerequisite. You’ll have few return clients and you’ll always be looking for new customers. It might also behoove you to have a flyer through which your word-of-mouth referrals can find you. I am,s however, trying to avoid nuance here, so I’ll stick to my original black and white point.
So, while it’s true that not every company or business needs a logo, it can similarly be argued that in some instances a decent corporate identity is absolutely critical to the longevity and growth of others. And only by taking a long, hard look at what you want to accomplish with your entrepreneurial aspirations, can you decide which applies to you.
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What a logo means...
A logo - the word is an abbreviation of the word logotype (or logogram), which is defined as 'a symbol representing a phrase, word, or idea' - has represented many things throughout the times. The swastika became the universal symbol of absolute evil (even though it had its start in Indian culture as a representation of good luck) A logo can represent the better of man - the cross has come to represent Christianity (when colored red - medical services), a crescent moon Islam (when colored red - the Islamic version of the Red Cross), a star has come to represent the Jewish faith. Logos have come to mean more mundane things as well - a red octagon means stop, little stick people mean washroom (the one with the skirt is for the ladies), arrow mean 'this way', etc., etc., etc.
The Big Boys can't be wrong, can they?
In our commercial endeavors logos have come to mean a quick meal (the McDonald's arches), sports (the Nike swoosh) soft drinks (Coca-Cola - who even brought us today's version of Santa Claus as part of their branding endeavors). Our comic book characters get logo'd (the Bat, the 'S' and the 'X'), our sports teams have logos aplenty (The San Jose Sharks set records for their first season logo'd merchandise sales - the logo was THAT cool).
Our rock legends do it too, with band logos dotting the entertainment landscape. There aren't too many people who don't recognize the unique typography of KISS or Aerosmith. Star Wars, Jaws and 007 have their own logos, as do Star Trek, Lethal Weapon and the entire Godfather series. Not to mention the flying logos of the movie companies that produce them. And there's a reason why every minute of CNN news reporting is accompanied by their simple icon at the corner of the screen. Books, cars, clothes, food, entertainment, religion and sex (yes sex - the Playboy bunny doesn't mean Easter egg bearing rodents and the Penthouse logo does not represent a key cutting service). Military branches have 'em, countries have 'em, and even space (if NASA has their way) - will have 'em.
The recognition nanosecond.
Why? Recognition folks. Recognition. In the incredibly cluttered visual space of the average consumer you have a nanosecond to grab their attention. You better make it good. If your logo is a clip art version found at the local print shop, and is also used by twenty other folks clambering for attention, what chance do you really have? Slightly, and I do mean slightly, more than someone who doesn't even have one. And yet, when it comes to creating a business model, many folks believe they don't need a corporate identity design. Or if they do, a discount 'clip-art' solution that can be found in their local print shop will suffice as their new company logo design. Or second-rate logo templates that cost $50 over the Internet. In essence, they believe that every other business, country, sports team and religion on the planet - from the smallest to the absolute largest - have got it all wrong. Maybe they do. But as a business owner myself - until the church, the USA, Microsoft, Nike and my fave rock band are proven wrong, this is one tried and true business model I am willing to follow. And follow it religiously.
Attention to the nuts and bolts...
On a surface level, the benefits are simplistic. A great logo on a well-designed letterhead or business card will stand out against a bunch that aren't. A nicely developed brochure design or flyer will stand out better than one that isn't. You want to be among the .05% of promotional material that isn't headed for the trash. Simple yes, but it's more than that. On an 'gut' level a well executed logo design gives your clients a psychological 'lift'. A well-designed logo (accompanied by an effective 'look-and-feel') gives newcomers to your business a perception of professionalism and attention to detail. You look after all the 'nuts and bolts' of your business and in turn, will look after them. Conversely, if you pay such little attention to your businesses' image - what's really going on behind the scenes? (At this point the nay-sayers will argue they're paying too much attention to their client's needs to care about a silly logo, but is anyone REALLY going to buy that? I know I wouldn't.) A professional logo design and corporate identity gives the impression that you care about your business, and in turn, care about the things your business does. You take pride in everything about your company - from how it looks, which obviously translates to how it looks after its customers. It is an overall image of strength, quality and professionalism that starts the minute your clients are exposed to your business. Often that initial exposure is a nanosecond (remember the 200 logos per hour). Don't you want to make it count?
Walking the talk...
Tied in with a really effective 'look and feel', a good logo has an instant 'ah-ha' factor with people who have seen your ads, websites or storefronts before. Hours, days or even months ago. They weren't ready to buy then, but they sure as hell are ready to buy now - and "hey - I remember this outfit." It really is that simple. Around here, we follow our sales pitch, which is also our corporate mantra, religiously. Everything we send out has our logodesign on it. From faxes, to press releases, to yes, even checks (hey - the people we pay may need our services at some time). Our web site, offices, clothing, and mouse pads - everything gets the corporate 'once-over'. Colors, type, logos and yes, even font usage. When you see our material - it is our sincerest hope that you'll know it's us. And we do everything in our power to make sure you do. If you leave this site, right now, and run into something of ours in the future, we certainly hope we've earned an 'ah-ah'. And you'll once again give us a chance to show you what we do. Does corporate logo design work? You're reading this aren't you?
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| The original TLF logo - circa 1993. This logo was scrapped in 1996 when the company was formalized and moved online. It was decided that the logo was too cold and mechanical. See here for more on our logo. |
Our trademarked logo, see here on our studio front door, was developed in 1996 to be more reflective of the kind of highly creative design work carried on at The Logo Factory design studio. |
Over the years, our logo has been reworked to be more versatile (for uses like our TLF merchandise - baseball cap shown) but two things always remain - the TLF 'House' and our funky corporate font. |
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Now that you've decided to create a new logo for your company and product, let's take a look at what makes a good identity and how to work through one of the most important corporate decisions you'll make.
Next: What makes a great logo?
You need a great logo. It's easy to work with TLF
You'll be in capable hands when you order a new project via our project submission forms. For further information on how to buy a logo or for a project that is outside the scope of options that are presented on our web site, please contact us via our website, or call us TOLL-FREE (USA & Canada) at 1.866.891.9704. Outside North America? Call us at 905.LOGO.747 (905.564.6747).
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