If you’re just starting your new business, you may be tempted to skip the cost of branding design and go straight to a website. If you are, please stop and consider the below points.
Logos can be typographical like Sara Macgregor's logo here and Scot Nayler's
If your website is developed without a distinct logo, you're essentially entrusting the logo design to the web designer by default. This situation can impose a significant, uncompensated workload on the designer, especially if executed properly. There have been instances where clients opted to use mere text as their logo. However, those who recognize the crucial role of brand consistency might find themselves inadvertently committed to this text-based logo for all future applications. This arrangement not only potentially undermines your brand's identity but also fails to compensate the web designer for their unintentional role in creating a logo, despite only being contracted for the website's development.
In the above example for Sara Macgregor, the design went through eleven iterations before it was approved. Did you notice the & in the strapline underneath? That came from a typeface Sara chose herself, giving it that personal feel, and just a touch of style that may go unnoticed but adds to the overall impression. Likewise for the placing of the words for Scott Nayer’s logo.
Building a website without any idea of the brand identity really feels like a scattergun approach, no clear design direction is an awful feeling from my experience and these days I refuse to build websites if they don’t have a logo to start with. Which I can create for you or you can get one designed elsewhere, just make sure you don’t get a free one from an online generator, there can be copyright issues and your logo may end up identical to a close competitor, I’ve seen that happen twice now.
A website designer can spend hours and days designing a website and making major design changes later is time consuming and could get expensive for the customer. Changes later can be temporarily detrimental to your brand, people may think they’re on the wrong side of the visual change dramatically. So, getting this as close to perfect first time, will save money and more likely lead to better sales from your website.
If you have your branding sorted first, it sets the tone for everything you do online and in print. Make sure your designer provides print-ready versions that can be enlarged without blurring.
Getting a logo that you're completely happy with means you stand a chance of building a consistent awareness of what you do and where you are. As you get more well known people will see your logo and remember your reputation and values. Having something that’s poor quality or doesn't communicate what you do well will do the opposite.
If you’re tempted to design your own, have a read of Abbie Thoms’s book For the Love of Logos, a guide to designing your own and the things you should consider.
Or consider us for your logo design, here’s some examples here
