Logo Design Samples
TaRA Consulting will help you attract and retain the interest of prospective and current customers by creating a professional image that will make you stand out from your competition.
Working closely with you, we will establish an identity that uniquely defines your business. Whether you need logo development, brochures, eflyers or business cards, we are here to help.
Developing A Business Identity
Positioning
What's in a Name?
Tag Lines and Logos
Logo Design Considerations
Marketing Your Business
Starting a Business Checklist
In this crowded marketplace, it is important to think about how customers will recognize your business and what will distinguish you from your competitors.
Positioning
The first step is to research your competitors and the impression they are creating for their products or services, how they are perceived. This research will be used to establish how your business will be positioned.
Positioning, broadly speaking, is the determination of your target audience. Will you be offering a niche product, such as low-cost jewelry for teens or high-end fine art for the distinguished collector? Or should you be targeting a mass market? More narrowly, positioning involves a consideration of the benefits of your products or services, such as ease of use, convenience, quality, etc.
What's in a Name?
Choosing a business name can be one of the most difficult decisions to make. There are three key things to consider when selecting a name.
First of all, the name should be easy to remember, easy to repeat and relate to your products or services. This is important for word-of-mouth referrals. Shorter names are usually better for this reason. Think of IBM, KFC and Chanel...these are all short.
A name should also survive the growth of your business. If you start by only offering a single service but expand later to offer other related services, the name should be broad enough to remain appropriate.
A business name will have a big impact on people's perceptions. For this reason, the name should match your business positioning and be appealing to your target customer. For example, what would you expect to eat at Splendido and how might it differ from what you expect to eat at Wendy's?
Taglines and Logos
Once positioning is established, this is used to create a logo and tagline. A logo and tagline are two of the most recognizable ways to communicate the distinctiveness of your business to consumers. These are the visual and verbal tools that will tell your customers immediately how your business is unique and how your product or service will be of benefit.
Consider these famous taglines:
“Reach out and touch someone.” AT&T
“It's everywhere you want to be.” Visa
"Because I'm worth it." L'Oreal
"The Real Thing." Coca Cola
"Let your fingers do the walking." Yellow Pages
"Just do it." Nike
Taglines reflect the positioning of your business in relation to your customer, your product, and your competitors. For example, L'Oreal's tagline leads a customer to question whether they are worth it, with the answer hopefully being "of course I am". AT&T's emotional tagline tells us that we can build relationships by using their product. And well, if not "The Real Thing" then what would we be getting from a competitor?
Logos help customers to immediately identify your business.
Consider these famous logos:
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Whether it's a text logo, symbol logo or combination logo, what these famous logos all have in common is simplicity of design. Do keep in mind that these logos did not become famous overnight. It took many years and significant marketing effort to ingrain these on our minds.
Logo Design Considerations
Logo Appearance:
The logo should be simple yet eye-catching and unique, and it may include the business name and tagline.
Logo Sizing:
A logo should always be legible, otherwise it will look unprofessional and fail to effectively communicate about your business. It is best to use a scalable vector graphic that can be re-sized well, but minimum and maximum guidelines can also be established.
Logo Color Selection:
Research in the field of colour psychology has taught us that different colours evoke different emotions, thoughts and action. For example, green is considered calming while red is exciting and provocative. Yellow is perceived as being energetic and cheerful while purple is often equated with royalty or mysticism. However, these are not hard and fast rules, as context and culture play a significant role in how a color is perceived.
Because the colour palette of a business will often be dictated by the colour of the logo, it is important to choose wisely. However, it is usually the case that additional colors will be selected for media and documentation. In fact, different business areas or product lines may each have a colour selection associated with them so as to create a sub-identity.
Logo Fonts:
Fonts can have as much of an impact on customer perception as a logo. Font usage should reflect the nature of the products or services and be consistent with business positioning.
Logo Variations:
It is usually recommended to have a black and white version of your logo to use for printed and faxed documents. You may also want to have a reverse logo for printing on dark backgrounds. Expect that changes may need to be made to accommodate a design with gradations and shaded areas. You may not feel it is a necessity now, but it is best to have this from the start so you won't be in a rush to prepare for a special event.
Putting it all Together: Marketing Your Business
Word-of-mouth is one of the best ways to market your business.
"Paul Revere's ride is perhaps the most famous historical example of a word-of-mouth epidemic. A piece of news traveled a very long distance in a very short time, mobilizing an entire region to arms." From The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell
It takes time to build a business and customer base but you can always take every opportunity to use your logo and tagline to communicate to others about your business. Consider using some common marketing methods, such as direct mail campaigns, brochures, e-newsletters and definitely have a web site.
Encourage Interactivity
In this age of mass digital communications, it is essential to have an online presence no matter what your business. Not only does a web site function as an inexpensive online advertisement but it is a great way to encourage interactivity. By recognizing our social nature, it is possible to ignite a word-of-mouth campaign. Encourage people to get involved and spread the word about your business by asking for feedback, running a contest or poll and having a blog or online discussion forum. You can build your customer base by encouraging interactivity.
Give something away
Provide a free product or service that will be seen and used by many people. If your business is a bakery, have a direct mail campaign offering some free rolls...if you are an artist, you might donate a painting to a highly publicized charity auction...if you are a photographer, consider offering a few free digital downloads...if you are a writer, you may want to contribute to other people's blogs or have an article feed on your website. Each of these is an example of how to generate significant business exposure.
Have a professional online presence
In the initial phases of business development, just as you would perform a name search prior to registering your business, you would need a check on the availability of domain names. Consideration should be made to your business positioning and similar rules apply, such as selecting a name that will be appropriate even as your business grows.
The content of your web site should be clear, concise and grammatically correct. Nothing says "unprofessional" like grammatical errors. The pages should be optimized for search engines and the content written with marketing savvy. Although you won't get good search results immediately, you should expect your traffic to increase over time.
Starting a Business Checklist
Let TaRA Consulting Services help you to:
- Position your business
- Choose a business name
- Create a logo and tag line
- Market your business
- Develop a professional web presence
Get Your Business Started by Contacting Us Now!