But I know that you don’t subscribe to the mediocre crop of designers and you are keen on designing logos that will stand out from the crowd and brand the business effectively. To help in your quest for becoming an epic logo designer, here are certain tips and ideas you can use to ensure that you don’t create logos that suck.

Create readable logos

The first annoying thing you will see with most logos today is that they are never readable or at least you have to strain in order to mark out what is written or drawn in them. The primary reason for this is poor choice of fonts. Most of the current designers are eager to try out the latest fonts, some of which have never been tested in various mediums. In as much as you are allowed to take advantage of your creative freedom to try different components in design, your choice of font should be spot on so that your designs are readable. Remember, an effective logo should grab attention and the moment it can’t be read, it losses this important aspect.

The logo must be scalable

Many are the times when you see a beautiful logo on the company website, but when they send to you a printed mail, the logo looks so boring and different because it has been printed in a small size. The problem here is that the logo was not designed to be scalable. An effective logo must be scalable enough so that it doesn’t lose its properties irrespective of the display size. Ideally, the logo should retain all its design components when printed in small marketing materials such as pens or business cards or when displayed on large prints such as posters or billboards.

Get the colors right

Color choice is another area where most logo designers get it all wrong. Apart from making the logo visually appealing, the choice of color should also be aimed at evoking the right emotional responses from the target audience. Colors should thus be used effectively to communicate ideas as well as convey trust to the target audience. This calls for having a good understanding of the color psychology in design so that you know when to use which colors during the logo design process. Additionally, a beautiful logo is not the one with all the colors of the rainbow. Remember, the world is edging towards minimalism in design and it is not the number of colors used, but rather the effectiveness of the colors in the design.

Be careful about adopting trends

It may be tempting to base your design ideas on a certain fad in the industry that almost everyone has adapted to. But this is very dangerous since trends come and go. If you design the logo to adapt to a certain trend, the logo will cease to have its appeal once the trend is over. A great logo is one with the ability to withstand the test of time and remain effective for many more years to come. You should therefore aim at coming up with timeless designs that don’t follow fads or trends. This is why corporate giants like coca cola, Apple, Google, Nike, McDonalds and many have managed to create strong brands because their logos are timeless and not based on any given trend.

Use Negative Space

The use of negative space in design is a nice trick for creating beautiful and timeless logos laden with hidden meaning or symbols. The industry standard for logos with negative space is the FedEx logo. It conveys a powerful hidden message about the company’s desire to move forward and also make fast and quick deliveries.

Be yourself

Another despicable thing being witnessed in the logo design industry is plagiarism of logo ideas. Designers are in a hurry to make a quick buck and so the best they can do is to browse logos and copy the designs at the expense of utilizing their skills to come up with original designs. The only way to become a proficient logo designer is to always strive to create original designs. There are so many places and so many things which can be used for inspirations and it is just sad that designers refuse to think and resort to copying.

Check out these logos in just one color!

The post Cool Logo Ideas – Tips for Creating Logos That Don’t Suck appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

Logo design is a skill and profession just like any other career out there. Every designer aspires to use their skills to grow as professionals and also as a source of income. The choice to give away logo for free or offer free logo design services is thus a prerogative of the service provider, in which case, it should never happen. The following are some of the reasons to discourage all graphic designers from giving away logos for free-:

It takes work to design a logo

Even though there are plenty of free logo design tools that can be used to create good looking logos within minutes, it takes more than tools for the creation of stellar logos. A considerable amount of time is expended in planning on how to create a versatile logo that will attract the attention of the target audience. And since time is money, giving away logo for free is just like giving away money or throwing your valuable time to the drains. You should therefore never think about free logo design.

You went to school to become a professional graphic designer

It is true that there are self-taught graphic designers, but this is just an exception and not the rule. Most of the professional designers attended some training or schooling to learn how to design professional logos. Such training definitely cost some money, commitment, and time. Hence, there is no logical reason to undergo all that only to come and give free logo designs. You shall have wasted your time and undermined the sacrifices you made to become a graphics designer.

The equipment and software used don’t come for free

The tools of the trade in logo design are not available for free. You need a computer and various software to make professional logos. You will have to spend money to acquire all these. Even if you rely on free tools from the Internet, you will still need resources to access the internet connection, and these will cost you money. Why, therefore, should you think about free logo design services?

Designing a professional logo is not a child’s play

The process of designing a professional logo takes time and a great deal of creative imagination. You need to think about the colors, fonts, target audience, images, etc. then bring them together to form a design. It is a skill that is continuously improved, and not everyone can comprehend and learn how to make professional logos. Footballers, athletes, doctors, Engineers are all paid for their skills, why should a graphic designer give away a logo for free?

You need to be paid for your experience

Perhaps you can give away a logo for free when you are still an amateur trying to attract clients and get their feet wet with graphics design. But for the seasoned professional, you have spent thousands of hours practicing and mastering your craft until now you can be called a professionals. It not that you started to design logos yesterday so that you give free logo designs. If every professional is paid for their experience, why is a graphics designer specializing in logos not compensated commensurately?

Success in your business will build on the logo

The logo is one of the most powerful marketing arsenals any business can have. Every success you get will be due to effective branding and marketing, of which the logo will play an instrumental role. Due to this, does it make any sense to offer logo design when it has the potential to take the business or the organization to greater heights of success?

Your logo will be there for many years

As the business grows, so does the brand, hence the logo. It implies that your logo will not be in use for just a short period, unless you are thinking of rebranding too soon. It will be there for as long as the business is in operation, continuing to sell your brand to all that sees it. Due to this, offering logo design services will be unfair since it will be beneficial to the business for many more years to come, yet you give it away from nothing.

However, there are certain cases when a designer might be tempted to offer free logo design services. For instance, when you are new in the market, and you are trying to build your portfolio, you can use free logo design as a low hanging fruit to win first customers and build your portfolio. Additionally, you can give free logo design services as an incentive to clients who purchase other graphic design services from you. Also, you can give away a logo for free is you decide to give back to the society by designing a professional logo to help a charity in furthering their course. However, you should never give away a logo for free.

Use this previous article to learn more about protecting the work you produce!

The post Should You Ever Give Away a Logo For Free? appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

During your career as a designer, there will be certain times when clients will show less appreciation for the work you have done to them. In some instances, some clients will reject your work and even ask that you give them refunds. As a professional designer, these are normal occurrences, having in mind that design is a very subjective matter, where two people will always see the same thing differently.

What matters is your ability to win over the dejected client, and make them see and understand your vision so that they can approve your designs. This should not be a very difficult task if you have been in the industry for a while, but for the very new in design, here is what you should do when a client is not convinced with your design:

Confidence is important

In the face of rejection by a client, you must keep you head high with the full confidence knowing you are the professional and you’ve got things under control. Any sign of lack of confidence will only cement your client’s fears about your incompetence, and it will be very difficult to win them over again.

In all your explanation to the client, maintain your sharpness, speak with a strong but gentle voice, and make the client believe that you indeed know what you are talking about and that they are in safe hands when dealing with you. If you can prove to the client that you are confident, they will have faith in you and be convinced that you have what it takes to do the job.

Explain your thought process

A client is likely to disagree with your piece of work if they don’t understand how you did what you did. To overcome this, all you need to do is to explain to them your thought process in simple terms. You don’t have to go deep into the technicalities of the design to achieve this. The best approach is to refer to the project brief, and then tell the client what you did according to their initial requirements.

When you do this, you will be throwing the ball back to their court by showing them that you did exactly what they asked you to do. For instance, if they are worried about your choice of fonts and colors, refer them back to their target audience then justify your use of the various fonts and colors in the design.

Give them examples to back your arguments

The other way of convincing a client and making them believe in your design is to show them some of your past works that were applauded by other clients. If it is a design concept you can’t agree on, look for other great designs that used the same concept to show them that you are really on the right track, and there is no cause for alarm.

This will make you appear more legitimate and as someone who understands what he is doing. If they can have past references in this manner, it will be easy for them to trust you and accept your designs.

Give assurance and guarantees

Client rejections are likely to ensue whenever your skills and expertise is in doubt by the client. To overturn this, all you have to do is to prove that you are indeed a professional with the capability of producing a good design. You do this by giving them assurance that you will use all your skills, experience and expertise to do whatever it takes to deliver a great product. Also, open up to them and tell them that you will offer revisions until they are fully satisfied with the design. When they are assured of the services they will be getting from you, their chances of rejecting your design will be very low.

Offer them options – theirs and yours

In instances when you encounter very rigid clients who want you to implement their designs to the tee even if you know very well that it won’t be the correct thing to do, simply give in but offer them two options. Design what they want using their skewed concept then design your own, taking into account all the professional consideration they refused to take in, then show them both designs. In this case, they will feel in control and at the same you shall have shown them your vision, and it will be easier for them to adopt you design once they see their flaws.

Learn how to pick your battles wisely

You should remember that you will not always win such battles with clients. Know that you are being paid to do what the client wants. Offer your professional opinions diligently and respectfully and try as much as possible to please the client. But also know when to take a step back and let the clients have their way.

Keep our top tips for satisfying tough clients in mind to guide you further! 

The post What to Do When a Client Is Not Happy With Your Design appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

Long lasting relationships with clients is the fuel your business needs to ensure longevity. By providing real-world value to their issues and meeting their demands prompting, effectively and affordably, you will have the keys to their hearts, not just making them repeat clients, but raving fans for your brand that will also be interested in seeing you grow so that they can continue to associate with your business. Here are some tips whic explains how to maintain clients

If forging lasting relationship with clients were something easy, then all business would now be enjoying the joy that comes with having huge base of loyal clients. Unfortunately, this is not the case as lots of business still struggle to attract customers, let alone enjoy good relationship with the few they already have. But this is not to allude that any business cannot have the ability to form such admirable bond with their clients.

All you have to realize is that it takes concerted effort, a significant amount of time and an ingenuity of tact to get your customers on your side. Presented here are a few tips to help you create a lasting relationship with your clients, irrespective of the business or the number of years you have been in operation.

Have proper and effective communication channels

Clients expect you to keep them informed at all times, and there is no such thing like over communicating. It is through communication that you give assurances to your clients, respond to their concerns, clear their doubts and make them trust you and your products. You, therefore, have to ensure that you have effective lines of communication that clients can use at any time they need to get in touch. Without this, having a lasting relationship with clients will remain a mirage.

Your goods or services must be of good quality

Ultimately, all the client is interested in is quality goods or services from you. This is the first thing you have to provide them with. Every other thing is a side show, and you won’t manage to forge lasting relationship with clients if your goods and services are not of superior quality.

Always be a useful resource

Clients need nothing from you other than what you have to offer to meet their various needs. The more value you can give to them, the more useful they will find you and consequently, you will not struggle to form a lasting relationship with clients.

You must be honest at all times

You will never have lasting relationship with clients unless there is honesty between both parties, especially starting with you. You should be truthful to the client at all times and never be tempted to lie so as to manipulate a sale or gain advantage of any kind. If you try to do this, and the client realizes you will not only lose them but also dent the image of your business if the details of your dishonesty see the light of the day.

It is imperative to meet deadlines

Clients appreciate timely delivery of services and also goods. It gives them value for their time and money hence, if you are interested in creating lasting relationship with clients, then you will have every reason to respect all the agreed deadlines.

Reward loyal people

People feel good when they are appreciated, and you show them that they mean something more to you. When you reward a client, you are telling them that it is not just about their money and your services alone, but you value the fact that they have chosen to work with you. The result will be a strong, lasting relationship with them.

World class customer experience

You should treat your customers like real people and not just numbers you need to grow your business. It is imperative that you become very polite and humble, always showing tender care and affection when interacting with them. Treat them the way you would like to be treated with you deal with other businesses.

Offer stable pricing structures

Having fluctuating prices for your goods and services is the fastest way to close shop. You need to have a stable pricing structure that is dependable enough for the customers to rely on if you want to create a lasting relationship with clients.

Positive body language

Communication is 20% verbal and 80% body language. You must thus be cognizant of your body language whenever you are communicating with the clients. Show them confidence and most importantly that you care. If they feel that you are speaking without any interest, they will also not have any interest to do business with you and you won’t manage to build that lasting relationship with clients.

Learn to say thank you

Apart from offering rewards to loyal clients, learn to thank them whenever you are done serving them or after you complete their projects. Simply say “Thank you” or send them a Thank You note thanking them for choosing to work with you. Without sounding desperate, tell them that it was an honor for you to serve them and you are ready for their next task.

Use these tips and you will find how easy it is to have lasting relationships with people in your business.

The post How To Maintain Clients appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

If you protect your logo it will summarize your business’s beliefs, cultures, values and quality without the need of any further explanation. The logo is the face of your business to the entire world in the sense that whenever anyone sees it; it will act as an immediate reference to your business. The design itself, as depicted by the fonts, the unique graphical perspective as well as the colors is a statement of your brand and as such, you ought to acquire exclusivity in its adoption and use.

However, if your logo becomes so successful and it manages to acquire a fanatic following for a user base, it risks being mimicked, copied or knocked off by unscrupulous businesse entities for promoting their poor quality products. If you had not taken the necessary steps to protect your logo against such unethical business practices, you wouldn’t just lose a huge chunk of your business to the competition, but also, you risk tarnishing the image of your company. This is because the knockoffs will be of poor quality and the consumers may not tell that they are imitations of your products and all the blame will fall back on you. It is therefore of utmost importance to protect your logo so as to preserve your company image and brand.

Presented here is a series of steps to help you take the appropriate measures to shield your logo against being used without your permission by any third parties.

Logo Search and Assessment

The first thing you need to do when you want to protect your logo is to determine if there is already a business using a logo, symbol or words that can be used to identify your company or your brand. If there is no such logo, symbols or words already in use, then you are free to go ahead with the rest of the process. However, you must also assess the logo and be sure that the images, symbols, and words used directly identify your business or brand.

Trademark Search

In trademark search, you want to do a thorough search with the relevant bodies to confirm that no other company has registered anything similar to what you intend to obtain a trademark for. There are certain instances when your phrases or wording may reflect those used by another company, in which case you will be compelled to revise such phrases since you will be infringing on the trademark rights of those businesses. In the United States, you can use the Trademark Electronic Search System as well as the Design Search Code Manual to find out if various components of your logo are already in use by other parties. This step is very crucial when you want to protect your logo because you can get rights when your logo is unique in all aspects.

Hire a trademark attorney

At this stage, it would be prudent to decide whether you will need the services of a trademark attorney for the rest of the remaining process when you want to protect your logo. This is especially crucial if you found that are other businesses using design components like the ones you use for your logo and need legal counsel on how you can navigate around it without necessarily losing the core of your design and marketing message. If you hire an attorney at this point, they will be in touch with the patents office until the whole process of acquiring a trademark for your logo is complete.

Trademark Application

The next step to protect your logo is to apply for a trademark. This can be done online using the Electronic Trademark Application System and is the most preferred methods of applying for a trademark when you want to protect your logo. Alternatively, you can also use the US Patents and Trademark’s Office to apply manually. It is a slightly tedious process, and you may get confused unless you enlist the services of a trademark attorney.

Trademark Monitoring

After you submit the application to protect your logo successfully, there will be a long waiting spell that can last for up to six months. But during this time, you will be presented with a trademark serial number tied specifically to your trademark. Additionally, you can monitor the application process and exactly which stage you are at when you apply to protect your logo. You can monitor the process by using USPTO’s trademark application monitoring tool.

Final Verdict

Eventually, you will receive a verdict on your application to protect your logo. This can be an approval or a denial of the application. If the application is successful, you shall have acquired all the trademark rights to your logo, and you will thus have the ability to protect your logo against use by any other party and consequently preserving the image of your company.

For more information on trademarking your logo check out our previous post!

The post Steps To Protect Your Logo and Preserving Your Image appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

Environmental Companies are environmental organizations who advocate for processes that doesn’t cause harmful effects to the local and the global environments. They are agents of conservation. Since logos are vital branding tools, such establishments usually tend to adopt the creation of green company logos to be in tandem with their operations and help spread their messages in environment. So what exactly qualifies a logo to be called “Environmental”?

Environmental company logos exhibit certain features that are not just indicative of the company’s operations but are uniquely different from the types of logos in use by other organization. In most cases, such logos use earth-centric colors such as sky blue or light green and they are also fond of using eco-friendly graphics such as recycling symbol, a planet, the sun, etc., to create an overall impression of ecological and conservation awareness.

Here is a list of the top companies that have done an excellent job in coming up with appropriate green company logos to brand and help them further their noble conservation courses:

Green Business Alliance

The Green Business Alliance is a company whose dedication is to assist other businesses in adopting green practices so that they can become even greener. Due to this, they have a logo that is predominantly green, with several symbols reminiscent of the environment including a tree, a swamp and of course water. The logo does a perfect job of communicating the company’s goal that it needs to remain true to the environmental at all times.

Carbon Fund Organization

Carbon Fund is a not-for-profit organization deep into saving the world from the devastating effects of carbon to the environment. Hence, it is no wonder that it has a ecological company logo. The organization primarily offers carbon offset as a way of discouraging people and businesses from releasing this harmful gas to the atmosphere.

The logo features a circle to imply both completion and inclusion. It has a bright yellow sun rising from the horizon to indicate a new beginning. The bright colors, on the other hand, are to create a sense of youth and optimism.

Whole Foods Market

Whole Food Market may not be entirely dedicated to saving the environment from getting damaged, but it advocates for fair trade and organic living, which are still within the concept of living green. Their ecological company logo comprises of only two colors – Green and White. The logo doesn’t feature any complicated design but rather the words “Whole Food Market”, with a little bit of tweaking on the fonts.

For instance, the letter “O” in WHOLE has been ingeniously designed to look like a fruit, full with leaves on the top. The logo does a good job in communicating the company’s dedication to promoting green living and it is congruent with the values of the company.

Ausra

A good number of the environmental companies dedicate their activities to promoting the use of ethanol gas or simply carbon-free energy that won’t have any ill effects on the already fragile environment. Ausra is one such company, and it has an excellent environmental company logo to tell the world about its ideals. The logo in itself has no colors that represent environmental doing, but rather, it is a depiction of an orange sun giving out its bright rays.

Remember, solar energy is considered to be one of the cleanest energies in the world since it causes no pollution and so its use in this environmental company logo is timely and appropriate. Ausra is a solar energy giant dealing in the production of solar energy and production related equipment.

Cool Earth Solar

Cool Earth Solar also makes it to our list of green companies with great ecological company logos. The logo is a 3D depiction of the earth, with the letters C and E written in lowercase around it. The predominant color of this green company logo is blue with its several shades to create an overall cool and calm effect, just like the name of the company suggests. The font used to write the name below the images blends well with the picture and directs a lot of emphasis on the planet, where it is needed.

Green Options

Green Options is another company with a simple but gorgeous environmental company logo. The focus of the website is to bring people and businesses concerned with the environmental-friendly movement together. It is like a networking forum for all the concerned parties in the green movement. As expected, the logo is green with a circle with an arrow at one end to imply inclusion. The “G” in green has also been written in an ingenious way to allude to recycling, a critical aspect of every green movement.

Planet Green

You will be surprised at the simplicity of the environmental company logo of Planet Green. It is a simple logo with the word “planet green” written in black and a circle to their right all on a white background. It is this kind of simplicity that makes it one of the great logos of ecological companies.

Check out some of the top Sports logos now! 

All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. AppMaven LLC or LogoMaven is not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned on this post. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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Having a strategy for brand expansion is absolutely crucial for any company. From the perspective of the designer it’s extremely important to create logos that can help your clients to build on their brand strategy and to expand for the future. The rules for branding have evolved considerably in today’s digital age especially with the help of content marketing, social media and mobile optimization. Any brand strategy needs to change in order to compete in today’s digital world. As a result, creating a successful brand has become more challenging than ever before. Here are some of the top tips for creating an effective brand strategy for your clients with a strong logo and with even stronger branding materials.

Creating relatable concepts:

Any brand needs to be highly relatable today and creating a brand that’s a little bit too trendy or complicated can only work to turn a company’s shareholders and consumers against them. For a rebranding effort or for a start up company it’s very important that consumers know exactly what to expect out of the brand strategy. By losing strategic focus or by trying something that’s too out there, it’s possible that a branding strategy may not produce a return on investment.

Creating a relatable concept for brand means being deliberate with the identity of a brand. Branding in the future rollout of new branding materials needs to be calculated and straightforward. The idea of reinventing new branding strategies does work but it’s a risky concept. Ultimately the goal for any new brand or rebranding effort means creating relatable concepts that their target market will expect rather than something that will catch them off guard. Establishing trust with a market is important and knocking them off their feet often doesn’t produce the same effect as a brand that they will feel has been with them for years.

Continuous innovation and calculated execution:

Creating a single logo for a company isn’t enough to consider it fully branded. In order for a company to have a fully established brand it’s very important that they are constantly innovating their branding strategy. Many companies often fall short when it comes to implementing new branding strategies as well as improving new products and introducing marketing materials that will keep up with the demands of new markets as they emerge. An excellent example of companies that were unable to continuously innovate and execute new branding strategies as they were required would be Blockbuster, Volvo, Blackberry and more.

With the rapid rollout of new advertising and branding strategies in today’s digital marketplace introducing new packaging, logo and marketing materials requires near-perfect execution to capture the maximum return on investment. Establishing an early reputation for excellence and continuing to elevate a branding strategy through innovation is what is needed to stay relevant and to capture a target market.

Leaving a legacy:

In every element of your branding you should consider how it potentially serves other people and serves your target market. When a designer creates a logo they should be creating it with the thought in mind they could be part of a company’s legacy. This added responsibility will help to make sure that all of the marketing materials produced as part of a brand strategy are not only to develop the brand as a whole but to produce materials that will live on as a legacy for the company. When we look at some of the top branding through the years we can see how their strategy evolved but how the core components still remain the same. The Coca-Cola logo for example still bears many of the same elements from its original branding and marketing material from its inception.

When we think of the impact that branding has on a company as well as others we can start to think of the feelings that marketing materials stir up when we see them. A branding strategy is not only about increasing sales and improving the recognition of a company but leaving awake throughout history of how the company came to be. Every new change in branding can be a reflection of the time and a small footprint of the people that built that brand to the place it is today.

Inspiration:

Above all a brand needs to influence somebody’s state of mind and inspire them to learn more about a company. Branding can communicate hope as well as influence someone to respond to a brand message. The impact of a brand influence can resonate especially if branding is able to adapt over time to speak to different generations.

The average consumer today expects to be inspired by marketing materials and is not easily swayed with so much information available at their fingertips. Content marketing and execution needs to be heavily choreographed in order to inspire and this is why inspiration is such a big part of adapting a brand strategy.

Keep these top elements in mind when you are working towards the future of your brand.

Learn about how over delivering in your company can maximize your brand by following the link!

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