How to Create the Perfect Logo for Your Postcard Business
Posted on February 20, 2018 by Logo Design Tips and Tricks
Designing a logo is deceptively difficult. You need more than just a cool name or object to grab attention. In fact, you don’t exactly want to be too flashy with your logo, it can have the opposite effect.
As a postcard business, your logo needs to be memorable and pleasant on the eyes. The perfect logo encompasses many key design aspects while complimenting the brand. As such, 72% of marketers agree, branded content is more effective than advertising in a magazine.
We’ll show you how to take your postcard business to the next level with a strong logo design.
Target Your Target Audience
Your logo needs to represent all the characteristics of your target demographic.
Are they young? Blue collar? Conservative? Sports fans?
These traits must somehow be present in your postcard business logo.
Take the logo for Disney, for instance. While there are plenty of adults who enjoy their movies, children are their target demographic. The logo reflects fun, magic, and creativity. These traits cannot be reflected in a basic comic sans or script font.
For your logo to be successful, it needs to capture your branding as well as the attention of your most valued customers. Subtlety goes a long way when you’re talking about a logo that you want to be remembered for, hopefully, the life of the company.
A Perfect Logo, Big or Small
A great design translates well on nearly any canvass, big or small. It needs to be recognizable on the postcards of your postcard business, as well as the billboards on the side of the highway. This demonstrates the versatility and clarity of a logo’s design.
The perfect logo can convey two ideas or messages at the same time without losing any of it when shrunk down to a postcard. How does one achieve that level of fidelity? Well, you might be surprised to hear that the simpler the design, the easier it becomes.
While logos with a lot of detail, shadowing, or special effects may look great on a website or poster, it’s unlikely that same logo can be used on a postcard or business card. You’ll see a lot of small businesses make this mistake. They will hand you a business card with their logo in a muddy mess because:
- They shrank a JPEG
- Their logo was not made to be so small
Try to aim for a logo that works great in a monochromatic scheme as well as a 16-bit web graphic.
Be a Leader, Not a Follower
Playing things safe is a tempting path to take when designing a logo for your postcard business. Keep things conservative, simple, and corporate makes sense. The problem is that you’ll just blend in with all the other competitors if you don’t take any risks.
Set the bar above expectations by avoiding trends and creating your own unique look. Personality shines through and sticks with the customer for a much longer time.
Master Color Theory
Choosing the incorrect color scheme could turn a strong logo into an unappealing and forgettable one. It’s not just about being bright and bold, it’s about finding a balance. A muted color scheme could provide a level of trust and sophistication, or it could blend in with the background and be missed.
Each color on the color wheel pairs with certain moods and emotions, it’s important to take these into consideration when branding.
There is a lot of psychology behind colors and logo design. Read some basic color theory to help you understand how to apply it to your postcard business.
Smart Negative and White Space
Negative space is often overlooked when designing logos for a postcard business.
Space needs to be accounted for if you want a smart and cohesive image. Poor use of white space leads to off-centered logos and lack of eye-catching properties. Good use of negative space tricks the brain into seeing more detail than what is there, thereby drawing the customer’s eyes in longer.
Logos should always be designed with the expectation that they will be placed on a white background at some point. Whether that be a banner, postcard, polo shirt, or a coaster. Strong logos excel at blending with white spaces.
Take Your Time
Craft your logo carefully, make sure it matches your branding. Look for ways to curate your brand and incorporate elements in the logo that reflect that. If you rush and create a logo just for the sake of something new, you might lose your identity.
This goes hand-in-hand with creating trends, not following them. If your competitor just went through a rebranding phase and created a new logo, wait before you decide to match it. If you’ve been with the same logo for over a decade, then that’s different.
Just be conscious of carrying over elements of your brand to your next logo design. Refresh is always better than a rebrand, unless you’re trying to leave behind a tarnished image.
Test and Adjust on Feedback
No matter how amazing your logo design may look to you and your designer, you must find out how it will be received. Of course, you could just throw it out there and get reactions if you prefer to live dangerously. For any postcard business that isn’t swimming in cash, there must be a test run or focus group studies.
Without any survey data, you would either be in the dark as to the impact of your logo design or witness a decrease in sales before going back the drawing board. Not a smart use of the budget, to say the least.
Protect Your Logo
Before you upload that logo to Send Photo Postcards Online, you must remember to go through the proper channels to protect your work. Register it as a trademark to prevent thieves from appropriating your brand.
Considering how small you are as a business starting out, it will be difficult, if not impossible to defend yourself from a larger entity stealing your idea if you don’t copywrite it.
If you live in America, you should look into how to copywrite or trademark your logo. If you delay on protecting your logo, you may become a victim of what are known as “copywrite trolls” which lay in wait to steal other’s work and then in-turn sue your business for infringement.
Avoid Cheesy Cliches
If your postcard business has “world” or “globe” in the name, don’t design a logo with a world or globe as the focal point. This is just taking the easy way out of designing something fresh. You want people to remember your logo and immediately associate it with your brand.
Yes, we know there are some major brands that aren’t following this rule of thumb (we’re looking at you, Burger King and Target). They can afford to have boring, uninspired logos.
Consider a Text-Only Logo
Using an object or image represent your brand can be tough to design from scratch. It can cost a lot to brainstorm and refine a visual-based logo that fits your business perfectly on a postcard. Going text-only may remedy this problem, you’ll just need to focus on creating an amazing font.
Notice that we said “create” an amazing font? That’s because most standard fonts are inadequate and can’t stand on their own as a logo. Instead, use a font you like as a base, then try to design and modify it until its personality matches your branding.
Shape Versus Text
For startups, we need a bit of perspective here. If you’re an unknown brand, take this opportunity to use wordplay by shaping your logo around your text. If your logo just reads like an address label, it will be forgotten. If, however, your logo looks like something you would put on your car bumper, then it will stand out tremendously.
You don’t have to go fancy or ornate as a postcard business, you can play around and have fun with your brand. Just do it within reason and use the above design principles while you’re at it.
Start Designing Your Postcard Business Now!
We hope this guide has helped you get an idea of how you want to design a logo for your business. There’s no real winning formula for logo design because it is a form of artistic expression. You cannot predict how people will react until it’s out there.
With that said, don’t let your good ideas go to waste, we have a great multi-featured logo maker that you can try right now. Even if you have no experience using graphic design tools or photo editors, our online logo maker is for everyone.
An easy-to-follow tutorial shows you all the basic functions, then you can intuitively get your logo ideas down. Whether you plan on doing all the designing yourself or hiring someone to finish the job, our powerful logo maker is a great place to start.
7 Tips For Creating An Awesome Online Business Logo Design
Posted on December 30, 2017 by Logo Design Tips and Tricks
Online brand positioning has a direct effect on a business’s exposure, and thus, a direct effect on revenue. Creating a brand people remember all starts with a good logo.
However, coming up with and designing a memorable one isn’t easy. There’s an art behind it.
Furthermore, it’s essential to create something that properly represents your business and that you’re proud of. You don’t want to put something out there quickly only to realize six months down the road that it’s not effective.
Given the number of advertisements we see every day, it’s more important than ever to establish something unique. This seems like an impossible task, but there are techniques that will help you out.
Before you begin the design process, consider the following 7 tips for creating a quality online business logo design.
1. Stand Out From the Crowd
Just about every major business has a logo. Although it’s increasingly difficult to be original with so much company branding out there, you should always attempt to stand out in your industry.
It’s important to take a look at what your competition is doing with their logos. Which logos do you think work? Which ones don’t?
Looking at the competition gives you an idea of what kind of creative level you should strive for. Keep in mind this doesn’t mean you should imitate. In fact, you want to do what nobody else is doing.
Remember, in order for a logo to be successful, it needs to be appropriate for its industry. Think about what you do and what imagery it triggers. Then, find a unique take on that imagery.
2. Understand Your Audience
You’re branding to a specific audience, so you must know exactly who that audience is. This goes further than just simple demographics. What does your audience care about and why do they need your product?
Create a customer profile by asking yourself some questions and taking notes. What are your target audience’s interests? What are their spending habits and what other products and services are they interested in?
These things may seem trivial, but if you know your audience, you’ll create an online business logo design more likely to catch their attention.
Think of it this way. A bakery wouldn’t create a logo that’s more fitting for a nightclub. Doing so would confuse people, so know your audience intimately before you start designing.
3. Consider Your Colors
Color choice is a crucial decision and has a huge effect on a consumer’s perception. Every color creates a feeling in our minds, so you need to consider a few things when choosing yours.
Extremely bright colors are good for catching the eye, but if overused can overwhelm a potential customer. More muted and subtle tones achieve a certain level of sophistication. They can also go unnoticed.
Think about the philosophy behind your product or service. What do you represent? Then, think about the following colors and how humans perceive them.
- Orange – happiness, enthusiasm, creativity
- Red – energy, power, love
- Green – growth, fertility, money
- Blue – stability, wisdom, truth
- White – purity, cleanliness, safety
These are just the basics. Look for more exhaustive information on color before getting started.
4. Simplicity
The last thing you want from your online business logo design is for someone to have to try to dissect it. You also shouldn’t try to get too much information across at once.
Keep in mind that your logo will need to display well across a number of devices such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones. A web company like RdyToGO web design incorporates responsive design for this reason.
You also want to try to design something that will look good against different backgrounds. Keeping it simple is the best approach.
Simplicity goes a long way when trying to achieve something memorable. In an instant, your logo should tell someone who you are and give them an idea of what you do.
5. Think About Your Typography
We may not realize it, but the typography of a logo does a lot to our perception of a brand. Your business name is central to your logo, so you need to pick a font style that’s both interesting and represents who you are.
There are seemingly countless font styles out there. It’s easy to portray yourself as classy and sophisticated with a cursive typeface. Or, be bold and to the point with block letters.
The most important thing to consider here is that your brand name needs to be unique and also easy to read. Online consumers are impatient. If a font style is hard to read or turns them off, they’ll go to a competitor.
6. Negative Space
Sometimes it’s what’s not there that makes a logo great. Negative space is the area in a logo that’s not being used. In addition to creating a very clean look, negative space creates a sense of motion and immediacy.
It also helps call attention to the actual brand name or imagery. A few great examples are the NBC and FedEx logos. By using white space, they actually achieve a more impactful response.
Negative space is also great for creating a very minimal look, which is popular right now. This goes back to remaining modern and relevant with your branding.
Years ago, online logos resembled billboards or storefront signs. Today, however, your online business logo design needs to be fresh and up-to-date with modern trends.
7. A Good Balance
It’s been found that the shape of a logo impacts the way consumers react to it. Circular shapes evoke feelings of softness and comfort while angular shapes induce harsh or hard feelings.
Aside from shapes, it’s important your logo has a good balance. If too much emphasis is put on one side of your logo, it could be off-putting to a consumer.
Instead, try to achieve a consistent balance across the entire design. It’s fine to have a prominent element to one side as long as it’s balanced out by something else.
Start Creating Your Online Business Logo Design
Taking the tips above into consideration will drastically improve your end result. Remember, a logo isn’t just an image, it’s your business identity. It’s important you create something that speaks to consumers about who you really are.
For more information on creating quality logos, check out our tutorial today.
How to Design an Amazing Logo for an Adult Services Company
Posted on December 18, 2017 by Logo Design Tips and Tricks
How can you make your adult services company stand out from its competitors?
In this industry, the competition can be stiff. You need a quick way to show customers you’re the best source for what they’re looking for.
One way to bring more customers to your adult services company is to have an amazing logo.
In this industry, visuals are everything, yet logos often get overlooked. A great, sexy logo can tell customers exactly what they need to know about your business at first glance, such as that you’re a trustworthy or fun resource.
Ready to start designing an amazing logo for adult services? Read on to find out how!
1. Consider Color
Color is one of the first things people notice about a logo, and it’s one of the most important.
Every color says something. For an adult services company, consider using a color that’s traditionally associated with excitement in your logo, like red. However, this color is common in the industry, so you might also consider trying a different color that’s less expected.
Many logos incorporate multiple colors, which can be great. Just make sure that the logo will still look good in black-and-white, in case it needs to be viewed in grayscale by a customer at some point.
2. Use Double Entendres
Adult services can be a playful industry, and there’s no better way to create an amazing logo then to use a double entendre.
Try a logo that evokes a certain image that isn’t really there. For example, a peach can give an impression of certain sexy body parts, without actually being a scandalous logo at all.
Customers love a company that knows how to have fun. A double entendre logo doesn’t need to be elaborate to be effective – try to find something that people can “get” right away.
3. Be Completely Unique
Check out the competition and avoid having a logo that looks just like theirs. You’ll want to avoid industry cliches (unless you use them intentionally) and create a logo that’s entirely your own.
This helps customers remember exactly who you are, instead of confusing your company with another one. Logo trends will come and go, so don’t jump on board with the trend everyone else is using.
4. Say it With Lettering
Lettering always gives a certain impression.
Consider a logo in Comic Sans. This is probably the last font you would want to use for an adult services company – it looks unprofessional and even child-like.
Then, consider a logo in Times New Roman. It would look very professional, even stiff and formal. Also not what you want for an adult services company.
The best fonts will strike the right note for your customers. A swirly cursive script conveys romance, while a classic lettering style can give a sense of sophistication.
Of course, lettering isn’t always necessary for a logo, but it can be an important part of an amazing logo if you use it strategically.
To learn more about how text can give a certain impression, check out this post about how fonts come across in email.
5. Try Something Simple
Simple logos can be the easiest to remember. If you want a logo that will really stick with your customers, go the way of Apple or Nike with a simple, single-color image that is easy to reproduce.
Simple logos can also stand up over time better than some elaborate ones. Trends in color and design will come and go. The more basic your logo is, the easier it will be to keep it relevant for years to come.
6. Use Beautiful Symmetry
Many people are drawn to the symmetry of other people: it’s a huge factor in attraction.
You can use this to your advantage by creating an amazing logo that uses symmetry and balance to attract customers.
Use consistent, balanced proportions to make a visually pleasing logo. It doesn’t have to be perfectly symmetrical from side to side, but it should be balanced.
7. Try Negative Space
A logo with a hidden “secret” will excite your customers and get them interested in your company. Negative space is a great way to add a subtly hidden message to your logo.
The FedEx logo is famous for using negative space to create an arrow. This is a great choice for a shipping company since it implies speed and movement.
What kinds of things could you create using negative space for an adult services company? Get creative with it – you can give all kinds of naughty impressions using this technique.
8. Imply Action
Customers don’t usually seek out an adult services company because they want a boring, passive time. They’re looking for action and excitement – your logo should show that you can give that to them.
Of course, action won’t work for all logos. Some are more abstract or only have the name of your business in the perfect font – and that’s fine.
However, if your logo depicts something like a person or animal – something that could be pictured in action or still – consider going with an image that implies action.
Maybe you decide a leopard is the perfect animal for your adult services logo. Do you show the leopard laying down, or leaping into the air?
The latter is more likely to get attention from your customers.
9. Have a Great Story
If you can have a great story or meaning behind your logo, that gives you another great way to draw customers into your business.
No one wants to hear that a business chose a logo just because it looked cool or seemed like it would be effective – even though that’s often what happens.
Instead, if you choose a logo that has a deeper meaning, such as an ancient symbol with sexy connotations, you’ll have an interesting story that tells your customers you really know your stuff.
Where Can You Design an Amazing Logo?
Once you have the inspiration for an amazing logo, it’s time to do the design work.
You don’t need an elaborate setup to make a great logo for your adult services business. In fact, you can do logo design from the comfort of your own home.
Ready to get started? Visit our online logo maker today – it’s easy!
How to Create an Amazing Chimney Services Logo
Posted on December 06, 2017 by Logo Design Tips and Tricks
People become extremely attached to their favorite logos.
This is why so many Uber customers voiced their displeasure when the transportation giant changed its logo. The old logo was a representation of the relationship the customers had with the brand.
You want people to develop the same level of attachment to your chimney services logo. But it’s hard to stand out in an industry where many logos look similar.
Let’s look at how you can make an amazing logo for your chimney services company!
Choose the Color Scheme
The colors you pick for you logo tell people what they can expect from your business. They affect how your target audience perceives your brand personality.
For example, Harley Davidson wouldn’t be as popular with rugged bikers if its logo was raspberry pink and Honolulu blue. But the color combo works very well for a brand like Baskin Robbins.
Thankfully, there are many colors you can use for a chimney services logo.
Blue can help you build an amazing logo. For one, it’s it the world’s favorite color. But people also associate it with reliability and professionalism.
Orange is another excellent choice for this industry. It signals sociability and affordability. Plus, it’s an energetic color that evokes feelings of happiness.
Use the color wheel to find complementary colors for your brand. However, try to avoid including more than three colors in your logo design. While Google, eBay, and NBC can pull it off, using four or more colors tends to give off more of an easy-going, fun vibe.
Select the Graphics
When beginning your design, look for inspiration from other chimney services logos. Take a few elements of successful designs, but avoid copying them outright.
In this industry, many logos feature a chimney, for obvious reasons. But simply placing a picture of a chimney next to a bland text won’t cut it. You need to put your own unique spin on the concept.
For starters, look at this example, which cleverly uses a ladder in place of the letter i. This is an excellent strategy as long as the readability of the logo doesn’t suffer.
If you’re still unsure how to approach your design, Click for More logo inspiration. Chimney Liner Pro does a great job of incorporating the ascender on the letter h into their graphic. It’s a very simple yet elegant design that delivers a clear message to the viewer.
You can choose to mix your graphic with the text, like the examples mentioned above. However, you can also place the graphic to the left or right of the text, or even above or below.
Pick a Font
Most chimney services companies use similar symbols in their logos. So what will really differentiate you from others is the written portion of your logo. You want the name of your business to stand out.
Choose a font that compliments your graphics. But no matter how good a font seems to you, make sure it’s readable.
ADAM.CG Pro is a very professional-looking font that pairs well with most graphics. It’s also easy to read from a distance.
Another great all-around font you can consider is Florencesans. It’s versatile and clean, and it suits the industry.
You can always include more than one font in the same logo. Just make sure that the two fonts aren’t similar, as this can be distracting. Try pairing serifs with sans serifs.
Finally, consider other aspects of your font as well. Switch between lowercase and uppercase to find something that looks eye-catching. Also, feel free to play around with the scaling of your font by condensing it or stretching it out.
Make it Versatile
One of the keys to an amazing logo is adaptability. For example, no matter how much you resize or change the color of the Apple logo, most people can recognize it.
An adaptable logo is simple, not chaotic. The more you have going on in your logo, the harder it will be to adapt it to different formats. You want your logo to look good whether it’s on a billboard, truck, Facebook profile, or t-shirt.
Never make a logo that’s too detailed. When you shrink your design down to use it on a business card, for example, a small bird in the distance can end up looking like a speck.
Also, don’t rely on colors to create a memorable logo either. In some cases, you might need to use a monochrome version of your design. So make sure it looks good in black and white before adding color to it.
Try Using Negative Space
If you look hard enough, you can see an arrow in the negative space between the letters E and X in the FedEx logo. You’ll also find a subtle peacock beak among the feathers in the NBC logo.
These two brands both use negative space to make their logos more distinctive. When done properly, negative space can take your amazing logo design to the next level.
To use negative space, start by placing your graphic on a white background. Think about how you can cut parts of it out to create a second shape that’s relevant to chimney services. You can also overlap new shapes or place white text over your graphic.
If you have a basic wordmark or lettermark logo, you can find shapes in the negative space of your letters. For instance, you can use the triangle found in the negative space of the letter V to add graphics.
Start Building Your Own Amazing Logo
Avoid trends as much as possible, because they come and go. Also, don’t copy the logos of other chimney services companies in your area. Your goal should be a unique, amazing logo that will be the face of your business for a decade or more.
Design the graphic before deciding the font. This way, you can scroll through the entire list of fonts and see which ones fit best with your graphic.
Are you ready to start designing? Use our free online logo maker tool to create an eye-catching logo for your chimney services business!