Small businesses face a bigger challenge than others, considering the amount of competition they need to contend with regularly. There are far more smaller businesses than big ones in today’s market.
If you own a small business that you’re trying to grow, you need to seize every opportunity to stand out and get noticed.
As far as logos are concerned, yours should be bolder, more distinct and easy to recognize.
For any business, big or small, the logo is an integral part of its branding. It will be everywhere. On your products, your ads, your website, and even your blog.
Your branding should be just right for your target market and your business logo should fit that branding to a T. Your logo is usually the first thing that your customers notice. Your logo is usually the first thing that your customers notice. Consciously or not, the impression they get from it, negative or positive, will have a huge impact on how they view your business from that point forward. Sometimes, just getting it wrong or right in this area can be a decisive factor in a company’s success or failure.
Which brings us to this question:
How do you make the best logo for a small business?
Put it on paper
I get it. It’s the digital age and stuff. At first, going analog can sound a little too retro. But still, sketching your ideas on paper will help give you a clear sense of what your design will look like in digital form.
Be thorough when researching
Any endeavor you make with serious intentions requires copious amounts of research before you even begin. With blogging, for example, you start by looking for stuff like the complete beginner’s guide to getting a great logo for your blog. Same goes for creating any product or providing services, or everything else you’re new to.
Unless you’ve spent years creating designs, start by pooling online and offline resources, such as making boardson Pinterest and looking into what other businesses in your niche include in their logo designs. When digitizing your logo, it is best to use top-rated, highly recommended design tools like Adobe Illustrator for logo design or (if you’re not familiar) use an online logo maker like BrandCrowd.
If you don’t have time to learn the latest design software to create your own logo, then work with a professional logo designer. Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune.
Outsource or ‘Crowdsource’ your design project to professional designers online
Sample of logo submissions from Omega Digital’s project
On the other hand, you can also choose to lie back and hand it over to the experts. DesignCrowd offers customized logos made to your exact specifications from a crowd of 600,000 designers. All you need to do is launch a project, provide a brief description of what you want your logo to look like, set your budget and start receiving designs from designers around the world in hours not weeks! Collaborate with DesignCrowd’s team of professional designers from Sydney to San Francisco who will bring your creative vision to life. By providing clear and constructive feedback, you and DesignCrowd can arrive at the best possible logo for your business in no time!
Focus on merging your design with your branding
Again, your logo is integral to your brand. It will be visible anywhere your company or business appears. That’s why it is of important that your logo design properly represents the goals and visions your business stands for.
Consider using your company/business name
The possibilities are endless when it comes to creating artistic logo designs. However, for small businesses, the biggest challenge is to first get your name out there and get noticed.
One of the most common mistakes graphic designers make is focusing too much on the artistic elements and neglecting typography and fonts. DesignCrowd’s briefing process will walk you through the the most common logotypes, from combination to wordmarks, to help you find a design style you’ll love.
Textless logos may work for big, established enterprises that have been around for years or decades. For small startups though, it may do more harm than good.
Design-wise, the fastest way you can get attention is to include the name of your business, company or main product in your logo.
Use texts and symbols that will help people easily associate the logo with you and your branding.
Find the balance between ‘minimalist’ and ‘memorable’
Don’t play it safe and go for a bland middle of the road design. You don’t want your logo to be too small and boring but unique and memorable. Minimalism grounds other logo trends by focusing on simplicity. Think of brands such as Google and Airbnb that have moved towards minimal designs in the last few years.
Think less is more, but also think distinct and eye-catching.
Stick to your logo
Making a logo can be a long, drawn out process if you decide to do it yourself. In that case, after the final touches have been made and your logo is finally complete, put your faith in it.
Stop yourself from making any further changes. Otherwise, you’ll just end up wasting more of your time and resources.
Conclusion
These tips were made under the assumption that you have already taken the time to learn the basics of logo design and have somehow established your own design process.
If not, it would probably be a better idea to outsource your logo design, in the same way we’d advise you to outsource your web design. First impressions matter and a professional logo and branded collateral will help you win over new customers.
All things considered, although your logo is important, what ultimately matters is how you provide your products or services to your customers.
Written by Kevin Ocasio on Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Kevin is a full-time digital marketer and business coach. As a retired marine, he devotes his time helping business owners succeed online.