The Importance of a Good Logo
This multiple part series will help you develop and create your own brand guidelines for your business. This post will cover the second main component of an effective brand guidelines: the Logo.
As the face of your company, a good logo needs to be clean and easily identifiable. Your logo represents your brand and has the potential to become one of your most valuable assets.
Early on you must decide what type of logo you’ll want for your business. Take the time to decide on the right logo for your brand that effectively communicates what it is that you do to your customers. A simple logo allows for greater flexibility when creating marketing collateral for both print and digital.
Let’s go over the two main types of logos that companies use.
What is a Logomark?
The first one is the logomark. The logomark is the visual representation of a brand in the form of a graphic or symbol. Nike, for instance, uses their “swoosh” as their logomark.
What is a Logotype?
A logotype is the stylized interpretation of a company’s name. Also known as a wordmark logo. Major companies who use a logotype for their brand include Sony and Ticketmaster.
While many companies use both a logomark and a logotype (together known as a logo lockup) for their branding, many larger companies have shifted towards using a logomark almost exclusively. Notable examples of this include Nike, who now exclusively use the “swoosh”, Twitter who has dropped their logotype in favor of the “Twitter Bird”, and Starbucks with their recent focus on using only the “siren”.
Building your Brand Guidelines
There are 4 main components you’ll want to include when creating your brand guidelines for your logo. These 4 components are logo color variations, logo clear space, logo lockups, and logomark best practices. The more information you can provide, the more helpful and valuable your brand guidelines will become. Brand cohesion is important, especially if your business continues to grow.
Your Logo Color Variations
For the most part, logo color variations are limited to black and white. Some companies have more logo color variations depending on the needs of the business. You need to be mindful of colored backgrounds and how your logo will look against them. Common backgrounds that can affect how your logo will look like include apparel, vehicles, office doors, and windows.
Logo Clear Space
To ensure maximum readability with your logo, specify the appropriate clear space around your logo. The clear space of your logo shows the areas surrounding your logo where other design materials should not overlap.
Below is our logo clear space specifications. It outlines the appropriate space between the “Star Fox” and the logotype. Clear specifications ensures brand conformity across all content we create.
Logo Lockups
As mentioned earlier, a logo lockup is the combination of both a logomark and a logotype. Always include best practices and lockups to avoid in your brand guidelines. Some companies also use internal logo lockups within the business to differentiate departments and teams. Include internal lockups if you use any.
Pairing two company logos is another form of a logo lockup. Be sure to specify how a logo lockup is to be used when partnering with other companies and businesses so that new customers don’t mistake you for somebody else.
Logomark
Your logomark is the visual icon that represents your company. At SFM, our logomark is the “Star Fox” which can stand on its own for any marketing collateral we create. Always include examples of what not to do with your logomark to avoid brand identity mishaps. While not every company uses a logomark, you should also specify how not to use your logotype for marketing collateral or on your website.
Conclusion
With the potential to become one of your most valuable assets within your business, you need to take care of your logo and retain brand cohesion across all marketing content. We’ll be covering the typeface and font section of the brand guideline next, so stay tuned! Be sure to like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for updates. You can also send us a message by going to out Contact Us page. Check out our Services page to see how we can help your business grow.
