Creating your business logo is an important step in becoming a legitimate business. 

If you’ve never designed a logo before, it can seem a bit daunting. How do you make one that expresses your business and builds brand loyalty?

Excellent business logo design is effective in representing you and your business. Fortunately, if you avoid certain pitfalls, it can be simple to create an effective logo.

How to Avoid Business Logo Design Mistakes

Your logo is going to show up on your website, letterhead, and paystubs. Look for a hassle-free pay stub generator to make life easier.

Here are 5 things to avoid.

Mistake 1: Choosing the Wrong Color

Colors for logos help show personality. You’ll want to choose ones that help create an emotional connection between the viewer and your company. Color creates meaning for logos.

Avoid using too many different colors, conflicting shades, and placing colors over backgrounds that make it hard to see. Stick to warm or cool tones. Don’t put them together.

Mistake 2: Picking an Inappropriate Font

Some try too hard to stand out from the pack when thinking about ideas for designs, but this can backfire.

You want to be unique, but you don’t want to be off-putting. Avoid putting two business logo fonts that don’t go together in your design.

Don’t use all capital letters with calligraphy. Keep it simple and pick a font that matches the tone of your business.

Mistake 3: Making it Similar to Others

It is important not to go so far from the norm that you leave people scratching their heads, but you’ve also got to ensure your logo doesn’t look like a rip off of another business.

Budget in the time to research other logos in your field to make sure what you’re thinking of hasn’t already been used before. It could be an innocent mistake, but it will hurt your credibility and possibly bring legal trouble if you copy another logo.

Mistake 4: Letters Overlapping

Something you should avoid is having the letters in your logo overlap or touch each other. 

You might think that it looks cool, but unless you’re only using one or two letters, it can make it very hard to read.

Mistake 5: Making Your Logo Too Complicated

You don’t want your logo to be too busy. Sometimes people have a tendency to go all out in order to stand out. You don’t have to go crazy to make an impression.

Avoid overly loud colors and hard to read fonts. Don’t try and jam in more information than people can easily absorb. A little goes a long way here. Keep it simple and easy to read.

Get Started

Keep these 5 mistakes in mind and avoid them as you’re creating a logo for your business. If you keep it simple while communicating your uniqueness, you should be in great shape to make an effective design.

Effective business logo design makes a huge difference. Get going today on making a logo that represents what makes your company stand out from the rest. 

Employee swag isn’t only a reward or something that costs your company extra. It’s a form of internal marketing, wherein you target the people who matter the most to your company.

Choosing the right one can boost the employees’ morale and in turn, their productivity. It should also promote unity; it’s a great reminder of being a part of an organization.

But, how do you know what your employees want?

Simple – you need to give them an office swag that’s both useful and practical. Avoid items that tend to become clutter. Keep on reading for some brilliant ideas.

1. Water Bottles

Water bottles are great as staples on the employees’ desks or for on-the-go hydration. One can never have too many of them as they’re useful everywhere.

Everyone can use it when jogging, in the gym, while hiking, during camping, and even on a simple trip to the grocery. It allows you to advertise your company everywhere.

2. Fitness Gear

Another item that can accompany your employees and clients to the gym or for a jog is a fitness gear.

A phone holder, for instance, that they can strap to their arms allows them to have their phone at easy reach. A yoga mat is useful, too, for when your employees would rather get active at home.

3. Ink Pens

Pens are the most owned promotional item in the United States. 89% of people own writing instruments they got from a company. This means people are more likely to store them than discard them as they do with other marketing items.

4. Reusable Straws

Yes, gifting has a marketing purpose, but it doesn’t have to be the only purpose. You can use this chance to promote a greener environment.

Gift your employees some sustainable items that are at the same time, useful. One such item is a reusable straw. They’re so cheap that you can give away sets containing straws of different sizes plus a brush for cleaning.

With these, your employees won’t have to use paper straws, which are less efficient than plastic ones. They’re pretty easy to clean, too, so no one will even complain.

Not only will this help your company look good, but it will also have an actual impact on the environment. At the same time, you encourage your employees and other people to care more for the environment.

5. Reusable Bags

While we’re on the subject of eco-friendly items, reusable bags make for a great office swag, as well. Many cities and countries are starting to ban plastic bags, leaving consumers with less durable or more expensive options. It’s the right decision, though, as a single plastic bag can take 400 to 1,000 years to break down.

Reusable bags help solve this problem for the environment and the consumers, as well. To further drive the point home, choose bags made from sustainable materials.

Your business benefits, too, with your branding printed at both sides of the bag. You’ll get more exposure as your employees use this swag in their day-to-day activities.

6. Power Banks

With people on the go, they need something that can help them stay connected to their digital lives. The average battery life of a modern mobile phone won’t let them do that, though. It’s not enough for people who are always out and about.

That’s why your employees will appreciate a portable charger. It’s not something they will hide away in a drawer to rot. Everyone will find a use for it as many other devices are rechargeable through USB.

For instance, they can use it for their other mobile accessories, like Bluetooth earphones and speakers.

7. Solar Chargers

Why not help your employees become more eco-conscious and stay connected at the same time? Solar chargers ensure one wouldn’t ever run out of battery even without a power source for days on end. It uses the power of the sun to recharge your phone, so all you need is a sunny day.

They’re a little out of the box, so they’re great at positioning your company as an innovative leader. They help people save a little on electricity, too.

8. Car Charger

In line with the idea of being both productive and mobile, car chargers also come into mind. A car charger can work with iPhones, Android phones, tablets, iPods, and all other devices you can charge via USB.

They’re useful even with a portable charger. It will allow the users to save the battery in the power bank while they’re traveling in their car.

Most models have two USB ports, so you and your passenger can use it at the same time. You can also use it to charge two of your devices.

9. Wireless Charger

Yes, we’re still on chargers because everyone needs one. Wireless chargers are steps above the usual chargers, so they’re a sure treat to anyone who receives them. They’re not the best swag idea, though, as not everybody has a compatible phone.

Some power banks double as wireless chargers, too. If you want to give something everyone can use, choose that instead.

This will ensure all your employees and clients will get to use it. Even if they don’t have a phone that has the wireless charging feature, no one gets left behind.

10. Custom T-Shirts

Let’s go back to the basics a bit; custom T-shirts aren’t ever going out of style because everybody wears one – at home, outside, as an undergarment, as sleepwear, and more.

T-shirts are great for businesses, too, as you get free ad space that everyone can see. You have a lot of options for logo placement. Use a swag management platform to make it easier for you to place your branding.

11. Hoodies and Sweatshirts

If t-shirts aren’t on brand or you prefer other clothing items, consider hoodies and sweatshirts. They help your people stay comfy in the cold office. They’re easy to take off, too, so they’re convenient when it’s hot out.

By staying warm, they can associate that feeling with the company.

12. A Hat

Another classic, a hat keeps the sun away from the user’s eyes and keeps your business in their thoughts. They keep your business in mind whenever they use the product.

Also, by placing your logo in a strategic location, you can use the hat to increase your brand awareness.

13. Custom Socks

Funky, colorful socks are on-trend nowadays. They’re appropriate even in professional settings unless your workplace has a strict black-socks-only policy.

They’re great for branding because they are nice conversation starters. They’re always noticeable, which will get the receiver talking about your brand to others.

14. Sneakers

If you have a bit more budget, give your employees some customized show swag. They’re thoughtful and greatly appreciated.

If there’s only one swag item your employees and clients won’t throw away, it’s a pair of shoes. They’ll likely wear it multiple times a week.

15. Business Card Holder

It might be hard to believe but people still have business cards. That’s because they remain effective even with the advancement in technology. This means business card holders are still an effective marketing tool.

They’re a great way to make your employees feel valued, too. High-quality holders engraved with the logo of your business promotes unity. They make the user feel like a valued representative of the company.

16. Custom Notebooks

It’s not something unique, as well, but a well-made one can still become a valuable item for anyone. A custom notebook feels special, and if you have the budget, go for the leather one. This ensures it doesn’t get stuck in a drawer somewhere.

You can also have the name of the employee and your company engraved in the cover to make it more special.

17. A Pair of Headphones

In keeping with the work-from-home theme, give your employees and clients a pair of quality headphones they can use for virtual meetings.

This is an item that people would likely buy on their own, so buying it for them will earn you brownie points. Whether you have your logo on it or not, they’re a great item to use.

If you want to keep up with the times, give Bluetooth earphones instead. Phones like the latest iPhones and Samsung devices have dropped the headphone jack. Wired headphones are useless to the owners of these devices.

Bluetooth earphones are more versatile. Your employees and clients can also use them on their computers.

18. Face Masks

Face masks are common items in other parts of the world, and now they’ve become necessities. As such, they’ve become a great company swag idea this 2020.

People look at others’ faces most of the time, and it’s only now that we get to use this area for marketing. Face masks put your branding right in front of everyone’s faces.

19. Hand Sanitizer

Face masks aren’t the only necessity when going out these days; hand sanitizers are, too. Getting sick isn’t always a death sentence, but they’re still an undesirable experience you can avoid. You can help your

What’s more, hand sanitizers have always been a popular swag; germs and viruses aren’t new, after all. They’re great as small giveaways for small events, meetings, and such.

People are always using them, so they’re a great vehicle for your logo, too. Its effectiveness as a brand awareness tool contributes to its popularity among businesses.

20. Beach Towel

Seasonal office swag items are a good idea, as well. When summertime comes, a beach towel will see some heavy use. That is if you live in states with easy access to the beach.

Beach towels are different than the usual, which is what makes them effective. On a nice day out at the beach, your employees and clients can display your promotional beach towel on the sand for everyone to see.

21. Beanies

Speaking of seasonal gifts, beanies are a reasonable and fashionable choice, too.

If you want something that people are likely to wear, choose something neutral. Don’t worry, you can still put your branding through embroidery.

However, fun beanies capture the attention of other people better.

22. Tech Gloves

Winter reintroduces the problem we’ve had ever since touchscreen phones became mainstream. We can’t use them while we’re wearing gloves.

Help your employees stay on their phones by giving them tech gloves as a swag gift. It’s a step up from the usual touchscreen gloves, which are only conductive on the fingertips. Every inch of the surface of tech gloves are conductive, so you can use your hands like normal.

It’s something everyone will appreciate because of how unique and useful it is. Put your branding and let everyone else get jealous of the wearer.

23. Umbrellas

For the rainy season, people only need one thing: an umbrella to keep them dry. People will be seeing a lot of umbrellas at this time, so make sure your company is at the forefront by having your logo printed.

Plus, you get to keep your employees dry and their moods high.

24. Self-Care Kits

Our everyday lives are stressful enough, so let your care show through a self-care swag kit. You can put an assortment of essentials, like tissues, a Chapstick, fidget spinner, and lotion. Don’t forget the pouch so they can bring the kit everywhere.

It helps boost the morale of your employees, allowing them to stay productive.

25. Themed Gift Sets

Aside from self-care kits, you can also get creative with themed kits. On holidays, for example, you can send kits containing an apron, cookie cutters, tips, and such.

Work-from-home kits are also a great idea, which can contain a mug, ground coffee, earphones, and so on. The limit is your creativity. The advantage is that everyone will have fun discovering the kit’s contents.

Keep Your Office Swag in Line with Your Culture

Whatever type of office swag you choose, don’t forget to keep it in line with your company culture. This boosts the item’s effectiveness in marketing terms.

But why stop here when there are a lot of other marketing techniques to discover? If you want to learn more advertising and marketing strategies, we’ve got you covered. Feel free to check out our posts for more guides today.

It’s not unusual to refer to a well-known and highly recognizable logo as iconic. For example, Apple, McDonald’s, and IBM all have rather iconic logos.

This can lead some to believe that logos and icons are interchangeable. That’s not the case though.

There is a difference between an icon and a logo. We’ll bring to light the distinction. 

The Logo

A logo represents a business or organization. We mentioned above the logos for Apple, IBM, and McDonald’s. When you see these logos you immediately think of these companies.

Sometimes a logo is very straightforward; such as Apple’s. There’s no guesswork behind what the logo stands for. 

Other times, a logo may be more abstract. Take the Nike “swoosh.”

This simple but unique shape conveys movement and speed. There is zero mention of the company’s name, yet everyone knows the “swoosh” stands for Nike. It’s a graphic summary of their brand.

This sort of simplicity, versatility, and timelessness makes for an extremely successful logo. 

A logo can be any shape, color, or dimension – though designers are aware of the psychology of color and shape when creating logos. A logo, rather than an icon, is what would be presented on a large banner, custom medals or drinking glasses, or a tattoo.

It’s a form of advertising, while an icon is not. But there are other differences as well.  

The Icon

Icons have, for centuries, been utilized to visually represent concepts or actions. They serve to bridge the gap between abstract and practical.

This continues to be their job today. 

In the simplest of terms, an icon is a graphical representation that summarizes an operation and relays it to the user. This is one of the ways it differs from a logo. It represents an action.

For example, the Facebook “like” icon allows a person to quickly denote their approval of a post without having to respond with words.

The Technical Element

Logo and icon design are also different from one another in that icon design is influenced by technical dimensions.

Since icons are most commonly used in apps and are a major element in UI/UX interface, they must also abide by the restrictions of the systems that will display them. While there aren’t shape requirements, if it’s used for an organization, it should fit into a square. Think of the iTunes icon.

On other occasions, an icon is used in responsive web design to help visitors navigate sites. You’re probably familiar with the three lines at the top of a website’s navigation bar. This is called a hamburger icon – since it looks vaguely like a hamburger. But it also looks like a list and it serves as a menu.

Now You Know the Difference Between Icon and Logo

It’s true that some logos use an icon to distinguish them from others. For the most part, however, the difference between icon and logo is what each represents, as well as the technical aspects.

At the end of the day, you want each to be simple, effective, and recognizable.

And for more great articles about logos and marketing, keep checking back with us!

The average clickthrough rate of a web ad is less than .5%. You might think that’s low, but display ads deliver a lot of value in brand awareness, recognition, and ROI.

Do you want to make your marketing more effective? You might be ready to launch a paid advertising campaign. That means you’ll have to work on advertising creative for your ads.

You need to know the web ad specs for each display ad network because the wrong ad size could leave your ad distorted. That’s not a good look for your company and it won’t get many clicks.

Read on to find out what the best web ad networks are, the ad specs, and how you can design effective ad campaigns.

Google Display Ads

Google’s Display Ad Network is a broad network of websites that offer you the opportunity to advertise your products. You can make sure that your ads appear on the right sites with perfect targeting.

You can use retargeting campaigns, which target people who already visited your website. This is an effective way to create top of mind awareness of your brand without spending a small fortune to do so.

You can also run a general display ad campaign that is effective and highly targeted to your audience.   

There are about 10 display ad sizes that you can use in your advertising. Check out https://www.digitallogic.co/blog/google-display-ad-sizes/. This site has all of them listed out in a graphic that’s easy to understand.

Facebook Audience Network

Facebook has its own ad network, which can help you extend your reach beyond advertising on Facebook and Instagram. You can set up your ads through the Ad manager.

Facebook ads are styled according to your objectives. You can try to increase conversions, brand awareness, sales, or app installations. Your ads would appear on mobile websites and within apps.

The Facebook Audience Network says that ad sizes should utilize a 16:9 or 9:16 aspect ratio. Your ads shouldn’t have more than 20% text.

Watch Out for Apple

Apple hasn’t been mentioned much in the ad network conversation. That’s because most people can advertise their apps in the App Store.

Apple isn’t like Facebook or Google because those two companies are highly dependent on advertising revenue for survival. Apple makes most of its money from device sales.

That’s going to change shortly. Apple is said to be expanding its ad capabilities, but it wants to do so in a way that still protects user privacy. That’s an interesting balance because digital ads rely on user data for targeting.

You’ll want to keep an eye on this development for sure.

Web Ad on Your Website

Bloggers and businesses are also using web ads on their own websites. They’ll use these ads to promote conversions on their sites. Here’s how they do it.

They have something called a lead magnet. This is usually a downloadable guide or a free email course to get you to sign up for to their list. This is usually a quick win for a potential client.

A fitness instructor may have a free weight loss course. A food blogger could offer an ebook of recipes. A business can offer case studies.

The website may have a landing page on its website that showcases the benefits of the lead magnet and how it will help someone solve a very specific problem. That’s where you would sign up.

Instead of having a random sign up form on the website, these sites will use display ads. The ads will be featured in blog posts and along the sidebar of the site. These ads are linked to the landing pages, where people go to sign up. 

The most successful sites will offer several lead magnets to appeal to different interests. The fitness instructor may have workouts and recipes on their site. They’ll have one lead magnet for recipe pages, such as a nutrition guide. The content that features workouts will have a lead magnet about building strength.

Once you’re on their list, you make it more likely that the person will buy from you eventually.

You can do the exact same thing on your website. You have to figure out what a compelling lead magnet would be to entice your audience.

When you design the online ads, use sizes that people are already familiar with, such as the standard Google display ads. You’ll also make it much easier on yourself.

Designing Ad Creative

When you design your web ads, it’s important to create an ad that will get attention on desktop and mobile devices. Decide on the colors to use in your ad. The colors should be part of your brand and provide contrast to get attention. Bright and bold colors work well here.

You also need to think about what the viewer is doing when they look at the ad. They will look at your ad for about a second. The design needs to have the right context. Context is the reason why the same ad will work great on one network but not on another.

How should you design ad creative for Facebook ads? Since the ad network doesn’t recommend that you use more than 20% text in your ads, focus on the product in use.

Let’s say that you’re advertising a pair of stylish jeans. Use a little text, but have a picture of a person who looks great in those jeans.

Making the Best Web Ad

No matter which ad network you choose, you have to make a great looking web ad that will attract attention from users. You need to design an ad that sells by demonstrating the end result of the product or defines the problem in a way that people relate to.

Then you can focus on telling that story within the ad specs and deliver an incredible ad. If you want more great design tips and tricks, head over to the blog of this site for the latest articles.