Here is a good logo that supports what my 'flippant' answer was going to be:
Wait and survey your EXISTING customers regarding the EXISTING
logo...does it tell the story of your business?
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DTI/is_9_31/ai_107524483
Change of face: tactics: is your logo losing its luster? Then maybe
it's time to transform it with a new look - Marketing
Kim T. Gordon
YOUR LOGO IS A VISUAL REPRESENTAtion of everything your company stands
for. Has it become dated or taken a hack seat to other images that
represent your company's identity? When you survey customers and
examine the competition, is there con fusion about what you do? A good
logo should communicate something about the nature of your business,
product or service. So if this vital component is out of step with
your message and customers, it's time to bring it up-to-date.
There are three kinds of logos. Font-based logos consist primarily of
a type treatment. The logos of IBM, Microsoft and Sony, for instance,
use type treatments with a twist that makes them distinctive. There
are logos that literally illustrate what a company does, such as when
a house-painting company uses an illustration of a brush in its logo.
And then there are abstract graphic symbols--such as Nike's
"swoosh"--that become linked to a company's brand.
"Such a symbol is meaningless until your company can communicate to
consumers what its underlying associations are," says Americus Reed
II, a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton
School, who has conducted research on the triggers that lead consumers
to identify with and become loyal to a brand. Building that mental
bridge rakes time and money. The Nike swoosh has no inherent meaning
outside of what's been created over the years through savvy marketing
efforts that have transformed the logo into an "identity cue" for an
athletic lifestyle.
Growing businesses can rarely afford the millions of dollars and years
of effort required to create these associations, so a logo that
clearly illustrates what your company stands for or does may be a
better choice. Even a type treatment of your company's name may be too
generic, says Placitas, New Mexico, logo designer Gary Priester,
principal of gwpriester.com, the Web arm of design firm The Black
Point Group. Priester believes customers should be able to tell what
you do just by looking at your logo.
Time for a Makeover
Here are three tips to help you create a logo that forges a link
between your customers and your company identity:
1. FOCUS ON YOUR MESSAGE. Chances are, your core message has evolved
over time. Decide what you want to communicate about your company
today. Does it have a distinct personality--serious or lighthearted?
What makes it unique in relation to your competition? What's the
nature of your current target audience? These elements should play an
important role in the overall redesign.
2. MAKE IT CLEAN AND FUNCTIONAL. Must your revised logo work as well
on a business card as on the side of a truck? A good logo should be
scalable, easy to reproduce, memorable and distinctive. When updating
a black-and-white logo, select colors that match your image and
audience. And choose cautiously if you decide to change your logo
colors. "Red is aggressive; blue and green are more passive," says
Priester, who takes cues from the product or service and the target
audience when deciding what the colors should be.
3. AVOID TRENDY LOOKS. If you radically redesign a well-known logo,
you run the risk of confusing customers--or worse, alienating them.
One option is to make gradual logo changes. According to Priester,
Quaker Oats modified the Quaker on its package over a in-year period
to avoid undermining customer confidence. But don't expect to make
multiple logo changes. Instead, choose a logo that will stay current
for 10 to 20 years, perhaps longer. That's the mark of a good design.
In fact, when Priester designs a logo, he expects never to see the
client again. |
