The days of being able to build a successful brand without a strong logo are over. In today’s competitive, visually driven market, your logo is a critical part of your brand strategy. It should be the foundation of your brand, not an afterthought.

A memorable logo is key to your company’s success.
Your logo is your introduction to the market. If it is not memorable, you are not memorable. Your logo may the only piece of information people have about you and your only chance to grab your customers’ attention. With the visual barrage that assaults consumers daily, a well-designed, memorable logo gives you a distinct advantage. Even if people do not read all of your marketing materials, you can at least stand out and be remembered with a unique logo.

As you grow your business and build brand recognition, a memorable logo will make your marketing job much easier. Since your logo is the starting point for all of your marketing materials, it can be used as a basis for designing an overall professional look. The strength of your logo will drive the strength and cohesion of all your branding materials and therefore also add to your overall brand recognition.

What makes a logo memorable?
A memorable logo is scalable, simple, unique and tells a story. Since communication is the goal of all good design, your logo is your chance to craft a message that is distinctly yours – to distill your brand down to its essence. If you use industry clichés or a “copycat” design strategy, your logo will disappear into the rest of the crowd.

A general rule is that if you cannot draw a rough recreation of your logo after looking at it for only a few seconds, then you need to simplify. Consumers will spend a couple of seconds at most looking at it, so make it simple and easy to remember within that period of time.

In order for you to get the maximum value from your logo, it must also be scalable. You will want to put it on every piece of marketing you have, from small ads and business cards to shirts to billboards, and it must work at every size you need. The more materials you can use
your logo on, by definition the more memorable it will be.

Kristen Friend is the art director at the graphic design company, Luckynine Design studio. As an established graphic, web site, and logo design company, Luckynine has worked with companies of all sizes. To learn more, visit Luckyninedesign.com.