The sole purpose of a logo is the purposes of brand recognition for the consumer You’re going to want to start building brand recognition. In doing so, you will want to advertise your company using your logo. Also, you’ll want to keep the idea or shape and feel of the logo consistent throughout the life of the company. By radically changing the design of the logo, you may end up confusing the consumer.

There are many places to use your logo so that consumers can find you. One obvious choice is to use the logo on your webpage. Webpage marketing is the most common way to market your company. A well designed logo will go a long way in driving sales and business to your company. A lot of web designers will build a website around the look and feel of your logo. So therefore it is important to design a custom logo that will work for you.

In trying to market to individuals, you’ll want to have the same design on your business card to hand to other people. As you run across potential clients and vendors, you business card says a lot about your company. Usually the business cards will have your name, phone numbers and website information. The logo on your business card is the first impression the customer will get about your company so business card design is very important.

The logo is an important tool in marketing your company. You will want to use it to the fullest extent.

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When designing a logo, you’re going to want something that is very unique to your company.  This logo will be the centerpiece of your branding scheme.  Therefore you should invest something into getting the best possible logo that you can for your investment.  Therefore, in designing a logo, the best thing to do is to get help.  It is not recommended that you use clip art.  Clip art is a collection of pictures and symbols that are for sale in cheap software bundles.  Most of the images found in clip art are very simple and rudimentary in shape.  There is nothing custom about them.  Most of the images are in black and white or very simple color tones.  The use of clip art would be a big mistake in designing your brand.  The reason for this is that somebody else could use the same clip art image in their logo as well.  The chances are slim but it’s still there.  The result of designing a logo from clip art will be a plain, unappealing and simple logo.  You’ll want to stand out and the use of clip art will make it very difficult to do so.

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If you’re ready to start branding your company, the first thing that you’re going to need is a logo.  A logo is a great way to give your company some identity.  It shows up everywhere from business cards to websites.  There are many places to turn to for getting a logo.

The worst thing you can do is to try and attempt to design your own logo. This probably isn’t a good idea because these kits are loaded with clip art and you’re going to want to avoid using clip art. Using clip art screams amateur.  It really is easy to spot the use of clip art from something done by a professional.  If cost is an issue, this may be the only option.

How do you choose between the ton of professional logo design companies out there on the internet. How do you know if the company you choose is the right one.  First of all, you’re going to have to evaluate your budget. If you’re on a tight budget, you can try and hire some design students to help you out with a logo.  However the best bet is to have a company design an entire branding scheme for you.  You will need to know what you need in terms of designing your brand. Do you need more than just a logo? Do you need any marketing advice etc… If you just need a logo there are companies that specialize in just making logos. Some charge more than others. Most companies that design logos will have samples on their websites. You may want to find out who did the design work for some of the corporate logos out there that appeal to you. Also, one other indication of a company’s skill is how they try to get information out of you in order to design your logo. The more customer service that they provide in this aspect, the chances are better for you getting a better logo.

In any case, you should do some research on logo companies. Many companies offer different services so you will need to compare apples to apples. However, their logo samples should be the biggest factor in deciding on who to go with. Once you decide on a company and you get the results that you wanted, you’ll see that the use of a professional was probably the best decision after all.

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As we get more and more technologically advanced, so has other aspects of our lives.  Company logos are no different.  They seem to evolve overtime as well. Companies such as Xerox, IBM, Motorola, Apple, AT&T and others have have given their logos new life by adding some modern aspects to its logo.

Designers have said that a good logo should not need to be updated as a strong logo should stand the test of time. Although the above companies have updated their logos, they’ve done so by making some minor cosmetic changes to the logo. Some of the logo’s that have undergone drastic changes did in fact have drab and outdated logo and needed to be modernized.

Other reason for changing or updating a logo is that your company has expanded it business practices. If your logo design was too specific to the nature of your business and as your business changes, your logo may need to be updated to reflect the changes. You may need to have your logo say more about the company if in fact it does provide more services.

Lastly, one obvious reason to change your logo is if your company changes its name. You may want to redesign your logo to reflect the business practices of a merged company and or the new name of the company. You generally don’t want to change the name of the company because consumers might get confused but if it is necessary, you’ll want to have consumers know the new company name.

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If you look at some of the most recognizable and famous company names in the world, they share one thing in common. They tend to have company names that are either one or two words.  Take a look at some of the biggest names out there. Of the Forbes list of the top 10 biggest US companies, only one of them has 3 words in the company name. They are in order, WalMart, Exxon Mobil, General Motors, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, General Electric, Ford Motor, Citigroup, Bank of America, America International Group.

In developing a logo for a company that has a simple one or two word will be easier than to incorporate a very long name into a logo. In fact, you can design a logo and not even know what they do.  For instance, Apple Inc, they did drop the “computer” portion of name. You wouldn’t know that it was a computer company. Same with Pepsi, you wouldn’t know it was a soft drink company. Get the idea? With names that are shorter and easy to remember, its easier to develop and design a logo. Logo companies out there rely on creativity from their customers to design a nice logo. Can you imagine trying to form a logo for “Joe Smith Automotive and Service Repair Center”? Logo companies such as Logo Bang and Logo Loft can create great logos for people who have creativity company names.

In summary, in forming a company name, keep things simple and easy to remember. If you can get a customer to remember the name of your company, they will find your company later when they’re ready to starting handing over their hard earned money.

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Every year, artists are coming up with new and inventive ways to create logos.  This year is no different.  Logo Lounge has a rundown of some of the trends that appeared in logo design in 2007.  One of the most prominent design trends of late has been eco friendly logo designs.  These designs promote eco friendly companies that do business to clean up the environment or something associated with clean economics.  Also coming into more popularity are logo designs with some sort of 3D aspects.  These designs tend to give the logo more depth to the 2D image.

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Now there are a lot of software out there that says you can design your own logo.  However, the money you spend on this software may be a waste of money.  Most of the design features on this type of software usually incorporates some sort of clip art that you can move around and add fonts etc.  There is really nothing that is custom about this and the design you generate from this software usually looks like it was made from clip art.

In order to get a really great looking logo, you’ll need to hire a professional designer.  One who can gather information about your company and design something that has features unique to the company.  The designer can also use effects such as shading, 3D, and other tools to really make your logo stand out from the other companies who don’t use professionals.  All of the big companies usually hire professionals to design their logos and or marketing.

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Business cards are evolving into something that isn’t just about stating what the individual’s name and contact information.  These cards are a design work of art.  They express as much about the company as the individual on the card.  Some examples of what business cards are evolving into are at this site.  As you can see the designs aren’t just about white pieces of paper anymore.  The unique designs incorporate hours of design work to bring these cards into reality.   These cards however are not cheap.  You can design your own cards and get them printed on regular paper for about $20 for 500 however these designs will cost much more to get printed.

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In designing a logo, the best thing that you could possibly do is to keep the look of the logo relatively simple.  If the logo gets too complicated and distracting, it makes it harder for the end user to remember the logo and to associate the logo to your product.   The best thing to do is to use specific colors and don’t try to use too many different colors.   You may want to keep shapes and features simple as well.  Some examples of some of the most recognizable logos in the world have this same characteristics in it.

McDonalds‘ is just an arch of the first letter in the company name.  Microsoft is just a font of the company name.  Nike is a graphic depicting their representation of a swoosh.  Apple computer is a logo of an apple with a bite out of it.  As you can see, the logos are very simple, not a lot of color combinations, etc..  It may be best to keep your logo with this “simplicity is the key” mind set in designing your logo.

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There are important principles that you should try to follow whenever you’re graphic designing.  You should try and include as many of the principles as possible whenever you can. Following all the guidelines will not always ensure a good design but it may help to steer you in the right direction.

The Principles of Design

Balance – Make sure everything looks well balanced, if you have a big object near the center of an image it may be best to balance it with either another heavy object just opposite or even a small object a little further away from the center of the piece.

Repetition or Rhythm – Repitition or rhythm creates the illusion of texture or patterns, there are different ways to express repetition or patterns, you can do it by repeating the same object over and over, which is regular repetition. You can have a flowing rythm which has more movement, the objects may not be identical in a flowing rhythm. A progressive rythm is a flow of steps, so over lapping objects could create this type of repetition.

Unity – You should be sure that the desgin looks like it goes together, though the elements included in the design can have their own feel, all in all they should fit together well.

Proportion – Along with balance it’s necessary to have a good proportion when speaking of the elements of design, if you’re laying something out you want to be sure that things are proportioned for their importance to the overall design.

Dominance - What in your design means the most, where is your focal point, that is where dominance comes in, the main element of your design should dominate, though not be overbearing.

All those principles should mean something, but overall your eye is probably the best tool, if you don’t’ follow one of those rules and your design still looks good, it’s probably a good design.

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