Guest Post: Dylan Mazeika

Among all the elements of a marketing strategy, none makes more of an immediate impact than your logo design. It’s the initial tool that alludes to the specifics of your product or service. In doing so, it serves the same function as a power suit, telling people your organization is smart, savvy and competitive. And establishing these three elements of your business persona is a lot easier than you might think.

By using a web-based logo maker, you can quickly and stylishly create a professional logo design that includes your company name or initials, as well as a wide range of unique graphics that correspond with your particular industry.

Here’s what you need to know to get going.

The three types of logos

Despite the thousands of potential variations within a single logo design, there are only three main types: font-based, graphics and a combination of the two.

Your line of business will often dictate which of these three you should select. For example, artists and those offering creative services may be able to get away with just an image or symbol. In contrast, those providing professional services, such as doctors, accountants or attorneys typically have to include the name of their firm within a logo to differentiate it from the hundreds of competitors that exist locally and nationally.

Tactics and considerations for logo design

With a web-based logo design, you’re freed from the time-consuming hassle of endlessly sketching logo designs with a pencil and paper. With just a few clicks of the mouse, you can easily add, delete or alter any existing elements and have the changes appear instantly. But before you sit down and begin to tinker with the design platform, it’s best to have a basic understanding of the core elements inherent in a strong design. Consider the following ‘Three C’s’ often associated with a winning logo:

• Competitive Analysis – Take a look through local newspapers and advertisements that run in mailers and similar marketing collateral to get a sense of what your competitors are doing. What have they done that you’d do differently? What could you incorporate into your logo that would highlight an aspect of your service missing from their logo design? When analyzing your competition, pay specific attention to the type of images they use (conservative versus flashy) and the style of type employed (bold and edgy or subtle and reserved).

• Clear Message – A successful logo design doesn’t exactly sell your product or service all on its own. But it does establish the tone and focus of your organization. So before using a logo maker, make sure you’ve fine-tuned your specific message and positioning. Having these in the back of your mind will not only facilitate and speed up the initial design process but also minimize the time you have to spend revising after the fact.

• Clean and Functional – The best logo design is straightforward. And the reason is simple: the more direct the design, the easier it’ll stick in the mind of your consumer. So when you begin to plan your logo, avoid overly-complicated art or trying to cram in too many words or letters. These not only take more time for the mind to process but they often don’t translate well to different mediums.  Always remember that when your logo design is created in the vector file format, you have the freedom of placing it on just about anything. And the cleanest designs are going to be as effective on a park bench as they are on a business card.

Dylan Mazeika is an online writer with a background in marketing and small business. He enjoys writing articles and guest posts on the latest business trends, and helping business owners with branding efforts through the use of a logo maker.