Small Business, Big Look

What distinguishes a large, national business from a small business? Often it starts with appearances. What do we expect to see? Small businesses should take stock of what the big guys do visually.

Big companies invest in their visual brand. They choose colors that evoke a response. They create simple, graphic logos which they then plaster everywhere. They commit to their logo as if their lives depend on it, because they do. These logos get updated over the years, but rarely stray from the original concept. Big companies understand the power that images have on the memory. Small companies can look bigger by designing (or paying someone to design) a simple, quality logo that can stand the test of time, and then sticking with that logo for the long haul.

Brand consistency is another thing big companies do well. Imagine a famous brand of soda. Do you immediately see their logo color in your mind? Their shipping trucks have the same visual effect as their website, their commercials and their bottles. Small businesses can use this same technique to visually imprint themselves on the world. The logo and company colors need to be on everything, from the vehicle to the business cards to the tee shirts to the website. If you commit to navy and white, make sure EVERYTHING is navy and white. If the small business has an office or storefront, this is even more powerful. Customers will respond when everything is branded consistently.

Small businesses benefit from appearing bigger and more successful. By investing time and effort into your business brand, you will gain consumer confidence. People like to do business with companies that treat them well and make them feel smart for choosing them. Great branding is a smart thing to do and makes your company look smart. When you look smart, people will feel confident in doing business with you. When they are confident, you're business will grow. And soon you'll be one of the big businesses you modeled your branding after. Now that's smart!

Color: Does it Really Matter for Business Logos?

There have been many studies on the effect of color on emotions and attitude. Navy, burgundy and silver all evoke a sense of quality. Red and yellow excite us, while greens and light blues calm us. Your company colors help establish your image and are a vital part of what people recognize as they look at your business logo.

Choose your colors carefully, but don’t be afraid to be unique. Purple and orange have been successfully combined for donut selling, although most people would never use those colors together. Many popular combinations are opposites on the color wheel, like gold and purple, green and red, or orange and blue. Others are adjacent colors, like green and yellow or blue and red. Metallic gold or silver can often be used as a neutral color within a logo. Black is always crisp and easy to read and works with any color. Monochromatic logos can also be very effective.

Remember that your company colors will be used on your website, business cards, signs, apparel, promotional products and more. Be sure your colors project the right image for your business. Whatever you decide, stick to it. Can you imagine if Coke didn’t like red anymore?

Welcome to Logo Factory!

We've been very busy over the last few months. We moved our shop and expanded our space. Our storefront is now about three times the size it was. Our production area is much larger and we are really enjoying the fabulous visibility our new location offers.

We are also working on our social networking, with new accounts on Twitter and Facebook to make it easier to communicate with you. Please forgive my lack of skill in these areas, but I think we'll get it rolling over the next few weeks.

We also want to share longer thoughts with you here at our blog. Hopefully, the posts will be informative, entertaining, and useful to you. If I can't pull this all off, I'll hire our daughters to do it for us!

Thanks for reading!

Linda at Logo Factory