What are logos and why are they important? For small businesses, a strong logo is like a solid handshake. Oftentimes, your logo is one of the first impressions a potential customer gets of your brand in the form of visual advertising. Nobody appreciates a weak handshake, just as no one is impressed by a mediocre logo. As a small business, it is important that your first impression is not only good but represents you as a company and helps your future clients get a feel for you as a potential business partner.
WHY ARE STRONG LOGOS SO IMPORTANT FOR SMALL BUSINESSES?
If you have a fuzzy, outdated, or generic logo, it gives off the impression that quality isn’t all that important to your business. If you have a memorable, professional, and unique logo, your small business seems, well, memorable, professional, and unique. Think about all your favorite logos or even just the ones that you see every day. While driving to work, count how many logos you encounter. At every business, billboard, and more, there are logos. While walking through isles in a grocery store, look at all the logos that are presented to you. What do these logos do well? What do they do poorly? What do you like about them and what do you dislike? All of this is important to consider as you enter the path of making your own logo. Logos are a way to inform viewers about the company without taking up too much of the viewers’ time. Customers can look at a logo and, at that moment, be able to create a split-second decision on if they would be interested in doing further business or learning more about this company. Because of that, it is important that your logo represents your company well and is also a good logo.
Because your logo is a reflection of your small business, it’s oh-so-important to ensure that you invest the time into making it the best it can be. First, check out our article on the most important things to know about designing a logo. Then, think about what logo type is right for your small business. Thankfully, because of the many resources available to business owners such as yourself, you do not have to let your own logo creating abilities determine what logo you are able to have. So, dream as large as you can. Think up the very best logo for your company and go with it.
WHAT ARE THE THREE LOGO TYPES?
Though you can break down logos into many categories, most agree that there are three main logo types. There are three types of logos, because, in the visual realm, there are only three ways that humans communicate. Those ways are through images, words, and both. In today’s age, all types of logos speak visually. On visual advertisements from billboards, to receipts, to business cards, to t-shirts, logos types are visual. Perhaps someday in the future, different types of logos could be represented in ways other than visually, but for now, logos will remain visual and in their three main forms which can be found below.
Typographic logos are quite different from iconic/symbolic logos. Also called logotypes, the typographic logo takes the company name and makes it one-of-a-kind with a unique font and other design choices. The Disney logo is a perfect example of a typographic logo. It uses an easily distinguishable font (did you know it’s based on Walt Disney’s own handwriting?) and turns a name into something iconic Other examples of this type of logo are Google and IBM. This logo type is highly recommended for small businesses. You can remind customers and potential customers of your brand name while still incorporating different design elements. While it may seem easy to just have a name representing your whole business or group, it is not always a walk in the park. The logo styles of typographic logos are not just your name in Times New Romans or Arial fonts. Just like in the examples listed above, the name is the logo. Disney’s name is whimsical and enduring. Google is colorful and approachable. IBM is balanced and technical. Your logo needs to represent you as a business especially if your business’s name is your logo.
Iconic logos/symbolic logos are just what they sound like. They’re simple icons or logos that represent your business. They can be literal or abstract representations. For example, the Nike Swoosh is an abstract iconic logo. This logo doesn’t include the company name or information about their products, but it’s universally recognized anyway. Other examples of these logo types, logos of Apple, Twitter, and the Olympics. All their symbols are recognizable all on their own without the company’s name beside them. Viewers know and recognize that a bunch of colored rings intertwined to represent the Olympics. All these logos are examples of good types of logo design. While iconic logos can be powerful, they’re typically not the best choice for small businesses. That’s because it takes a great deal of money and effort into making an iconic logo recognizable for a large audience.
Combination logos use both icons and typography. They’re the most common type of logo since they incorporate the best of both worlds. There are many different logotype examples of this kind, from Adidas to McDonald’s to MasterCard and beyond, the sheer volume of combination logos shows just how flexible this logo type can be. A great benefit of combination logos is that they are very versatile. McDonald’s does not always have their golden arches with their company name and vice versa. The image and text do not always have to appear together. On a business card, you could have the symbol on one side and the company name on the other. The symbol and text work together hand in hand to create your image. You do not have to create the first impression from your image and your words all alone. Together they are stronger and have a combined effort to show the viewer what you want them to see. This logo type is also perfect for small businesses since you can remind people of your brand name while incorporating a meaningful symbol that takes your design to the next level.
READY TO START YOUR SMALL BUSINESS LOGO?
Good news. With our logo design tool, small businesses can create iconic, typographic, or combination logos in a matter of minutes. While you have the flexibility to create any type, our logo maker is automatically set up to help you create a combination logo. With three easy steps, anyone can have the iconic logo that they desire, and you can receive your logo as fast as you can make it. Just add your company name, then select from many options of images. We have dozens of categories with hundreds of images altogether throughout. The categories make it easy to find an image that will represent your company. After that, you get to edit whatever you would like. The program allows you to change colors, rotate, drop shadows, and more to edit your logo. You have full control of our editing program, and it is easy to use with very minimal learning involved. Once you have created your ideal image and name, you get to choose from many package options. The affordable options allow you to have access to more than just your logo images. Vector files, social media covers, and high-resolution photos are also options at your fingertips when you use GraphicSprings. Our logo maker is affordable, simple, and makes it easy for anyone to craft a professional small business logo.
Rashana Ahluwalia is a writer at GraphicSprings, specializing in branding, marketing, and entrepreneurship. With a passion for creative expression, her articles provide valuable insights for businesses striving to stand out.