HP Small Business Community Wiki - Recently Updated Pages

1) Looks matter
Starting a business takes time and money, and logo design often falls victim to both. Doing your logo yourself, picking a template out of a book, or having someone design something quick because you need business cards is not going to result in something that looks professional and represents your business well in the long run. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money or time to do it right the first time. In fact, a lot of businesses find they need to redesign it down the road anyway (and after they have spent a lot of money putting it on signage, letterhead, t-shirts, etc) to elevate their brand and portray a more professional image.

2) Design for your customers, not for yourself
The logo design process can be fun and exciting – for an entrepreneur it can be pivotal because you are developing the face of your business. Remember, however, that the logo is for your customers, not for you. Even if your taste is colorful and vibrant, if you are selling interior design to an upper crust clientele it’s critical your logo look refined and elegant. Know your customers or target market and think about what kind of design will appeal to them.

3) Research your competition and set yourself apart
One of the biggest mistakes we see customers make with their logos is to look at their competition and repeat the same old pattern. They assume the logo must be working for their competitors, so why look much different? Not setting yourself apart from your competition is a big mistake. What encourages someone to use you if you look just like the other guy? Know who you compete with and develop a design that will set you apart and give people a reason to think differently about your business.

4) Refrain from trying to do too much
It can be tempting to throw every possible thing into your logo but it’s a big no-no. Adding "LLC" or "Inc" to the end of your logo doesn’t make you look any more credible and just adds unnecessary text. Including a website, phone number, address or other contact information also muddies the logo and makes it hard for the customer to focus on the brand image you’re trying so hard to build.

5) Use the right colors, fonts and shape
Colors have meanings. Fonts portray much more than a shape of a letter. A logo in green script tells a very different story than one in red bold letters. Knowing which colors and fonts to use goes along with knowing your customers and departing from your competition. If you’re selling to engineers, using the trendy font that the neighborhood bistro uses is a bad idea (but it’s commonly done). And a logo that is too long is hard to put on signage, while a logo that is four colors is not going to represent well in black and white. Think about all of the ways you’re going to use your logo and plan accordingly with colors, fonts and shape.

Now that we've gone over some basics, take a look at the following examples of recent logos that Logoworks has redesigned:

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