Logo

Before you start thinking about designing a business card orpicking colors for your letterhead, you need a logo. Featuring yourcompany name, embellished with a little color and perhaps a fewgraphic touches here and there, your logo is your company’s mostimportant design element because it’s the basis for all your othermarketing materials: stationery, packaging, promotional materialsand signage.

For example, say your product is an organic facial cream you’llbe marketing to health-conscious consumers. Your logo shouldrepresent your product’s best benefits–being all natural andenvironmentally sound. Creating a simple, no-nonsense logo usingearth tones and a plain typeface will give the impression of aproduct that’s “back to basics,” which is exactly what you want toachieve. Take that same product and give it a slick, high-tech lookwith neon colors, however, and people won’t associate your logowith the down-to-earth product you’re selling.

Logos come in two basic forms: abstract symbols (like the applein Apple Computer) or logotypes, a stylized rendition of yourcompany’s name. You can also use a combination of both.

Trying to create a logo on your own may seem like the best wayto avoid the high costs of going to a professional design firm,which will charge anywhere from $4,000 to $15,000 for a logo alone.However, be aware that there are thousands of independent designersaround who charge much less. Remember that a good logo should lastat least 10 years. If you look at the amortization of that costover a 10-year period, it doesn’t seem so bad.

Even if you have a good eye for color and a sense of what youwant your logo to look like, you should still consult aprofessional designer. Why? They know whether or not a logo designwill transfer easily into print or onto a sign, while you mightcome up with a beautiful design that can’t be transferred or wouldcost too much to be printed. Your logo is the foundation for allyour promotional materials, so this is one area where spending alittle more now really pays off later.