Entrepreneur- Sales & Marketing - February 2000
Before you start designing a business card or picking
colors for your letterhead, you need a logo. Featuring your company name
and embellished with a little color and perhaps a few graphic touches here
and there, your logo is the most important design element because it is the
basis for all your other materials: stationery, packaging, promotional materials
and signage.
ÒThrough the use of color and graphics, your logo
should reflect the overall image you want your company to convey,Ó says Richard
Gerstman, founder of Gerstman + Meyers, a brand identity and marketing consulting
firm. ÒIt should give people a feel for what your company is all about.Ó For
example, say your product is an organic facial cream youÕll be marketing
to health-conscious consumers. Your logo should represent your productÕs
best benefitsÑbeing all-natural and environmentally sound. Creating a simple,
no-nonsense logo using earth tones and a plain typeface will give the impression
of a product that is Òback to basics,Ó which is exactly what you want to
achieve. Take that same product and give it a slick, high-tech look with
neon colors, however, and people wonÕt associate your logo with the down-to-earth
product youÕre selling.
Logos come in two basic forms: abstract symbols (like
the apple in Apple Computer) or logotypes, a stylized rendition of your companyÕs
name. You can also use a combination of both. Alan Siegel, chairman and CEO
of Siegel & Gale, a design firm specializing in corporate identity, warns
that promoting an abstract symbol can prove very costly for a small business
on a budget. In addition, he says, such logos are harder to remember. ÒA
logotype or word mark is much easier to recall,Ó Siegel says. If you do use
an abstract symbol, Siegel advises, always use it in connection with your
business name.
Trying to create a logo on your own may seem like the
best way to avoid the high costs of going to a professional design firm,
which will charge anywhere from $4,000 to $15,000 for a logo alone. However,
be aware that there are thousands of independent designers around who charge
much less. According to Stan Evenson, founder of Evenson Design Group, entrepreneurs
on a tight budget should shop around for a designer. ÒThere are a lot of
[freelance] designers who charge rates ranging from $15 to $150 per hour,
based on their experience,Ó he says.
But donÕt hire someone just because of their bargain
price. Find a designer whoÕs familiar with your field . . . and with your
competition. If the cost still seems exorbitant, Evenson says, Òremember
that a good logo should last at least 10 years. If you look at the amortization
of that cost over a 10-year period, it doesnÕt seem so bad.Ó
Even if you have a good eye for color and a sense of
what you want your logo to look like, you should still consult a professional
designer. Why? They know whether or not a logo design will transfer easily
into print or onto a sign, while you might come up with a beautiful design
that canÕt be transferred or would cost too much money to be printed. Your
logo is the foundation for all your promotional materials, so this is one
area where spending a little more now really pays off later.
Excerpted from Start Your Own Business: The Only Start-Up
Book You'll Ever Need, by Rieva Lesonsky and the Staff of Entrepreneur Magazine, © 1998
Entrepreneur Press
Corporate
Identity Design 
