A test to start with…Can you spot the arrow in the FED EX logo? Took me a while but once I spotted it I thought what a great logo!

Your logo is the starting point for your business. It tells a story about you. It portrays what kind of person/business you want to be. It speaks to potential clients and stays in their memory recall. There are five little secrets to a logo’s success. I’m going to share these with you today!

1. Simplicity

The first element of a great logo is simplicity. A good way to think about simplicity is how many moving pieces are there in the logo. Or to put this more simply, how many parts are there to the logo? I’ll give you an example…the old Apple logo was rainbow-colored (a bit over done in my opinion) while the current one is rendered in solid black or simple greyscale. This new simplicity makes the logo easy to look at, which customers appreciate.

2. Branding

Your logo will communicate things to consumers about your brand, so you need to ensure that its design fits your business message. I’m going to refer to the Apple logo again. Apple used rainbow colors in their original logo as rainbows had a certain association with being free and easygoing. This had to change if Apple were going to take on tech giants such as Microsoft. To compete they rebranded their logo to the one you see now,  Apples current position as one of the most valuable corporations in the world calls for the sleek, futuristic logo it has now.

At the same time, Apple’s logo still seems lighter and friendlier  than tech organisations such as IBM’s, which is more dark and forboding. It seems that Apple are saying “We are technology, we’re easy-to-use technology.” I think If you’re starting up a new company, you should put some serious thought into your brand’s key characteristics and how you want to convey them in your logo.This can be done through colour/font and perhaps graphic image.

3. Memorable

A memorable logo helps for customers to recall, which leads to repeat customers and word of mouth. Simplicity is essential but a little something different or unexpected into your logo can make it stand out.

4. Remarkable

A lot of this is to do with the business name you choose. Try and be unique and stand out in your name so its memorable. In turn this uniqueness will translate into the logo design and customers will remark on your design.

5. Test your logo

So important! Ask your friends/family/colleagues their opinion. Get feedback. Don’t rely on your own judgement.