Your Logo? It's Not That Important.
Logos can be challenging. I’m not talking about the logo creation process; I’m talking about the ownership part. To ease the situation, I’m going to share with you four facts of logo ownership.
1. Your logo should be recognized, not adored.
One person – only one – needs to adore your logo. And that’s you, its owner. Everyone else in the world needs to recognize it. You cannot create a logo that will please everyone; not even all your faithful customers or business associates will admire your logo. That’s fine. A logo is not a popularity contest. And it’s certainly not a design contest. Check out this article about the functionality of logo design.
Your logo, like your face, needs to be recognized. As you go about the world showing your face, over time people will know that your face – like your logo – represents something of value beyond just prettiness. You can’t expect people to find you compellingly beautiful or handsome. But you should hope your face - like your logo - delivers an appealing message of trust and professionalism.
2. Use your logo consistently, unaltered, for a long time.
Stella Artois beer, 650 years. Twinings tea, 130 years. Peugeot. Johnson & Johnson. Heinz. These logos have been in place for centuries. Decades at least. I’ve used mine for nearly 11. I made a minor change to my visible brand name recently – HansenHouse Communication became HansenHouse Content – but my logo stayed the same.
Photo by Alejandro Barba at Unsplash.com
How about you and your company? Are you considering a logo change? If so, ask yourself these questions:
Do people recognize your logo? Think about the Starbucks logo, that crown-wearing mermaid with flowing hair. You don’t have to like it; you do need to recognize it while driving through town in a pre-coffee fog searching for a familiar spot. (There is an interesting story about the Starbucks Siren logo design; check that out)
Does your logo work everywhere? Like on ball caps and posters and business cards and your Instagram profile and that little space called a favicon (look it up)? This is the purely functional part of the discussion. If you have a type-based logo that is horizontal, you will need a square or circular representation of that logo. The Google “G” for example. Test your logo everywhere and make it work.
Is your logo uniquely you? Difficult to answer, perhaps, but you know what I mean, right? Do you like its color and shape and appearance on all those things mentioned above? You need to live with this logo. You will look at it more than anyone else.
Quiz complete. If you answered “No” to any one of those questions, then and only then can you consider changing your logo. Otherwise, be like Stella Artois and leave it alone for 650 years. Seriously, don’t change it.
3. Your logo is important, but it’s not that important.
Your logo is a communication device, not a design piece. Communication is important, but we’re not talkin’ fine art here. I recently read an article on Forbes.com about the importance of a logo, and it made me LOL. “The right logo says everything without saying a word. It connotes feelings of honor, trust, pride, excellence and integrity. It conveys a series of virtues and a set of values without pages of copy and a team of copywriters. … A brand logo is exclamatory. (It may even be an actual exclamation point.)”
Maybe it’s that last line and my dislike of exclamation points. They can be particularly bad in logos – I give you Yahoo! and Yum! and, perhaps worst of all, Jeb!
That kind of talk about logos makes business owners fear them. Yes, my logo does give me a sense of pride, integrity, accomplishment. But only because it communicates to me a history of my business and the work I’ve enjoyed. My logo cannot communicate that to someone else unless they’ve worked with me or if they know someone who has. I don’t expect my logo to do any of the work I do. The logo might help me earn tomorrow’s work, but probably not. I have to do that.
4. Enjoy your logo and get back to work.
You should like your logo. If creating one for the first time – on your own or with a designer – take the time and do it right. Look closely again at Fact #2 here. Create a logo you can use everywhere and live with forever. Make it unique and proudly display it. Don’t let people copy it or modify it for their uses. It needs to consistently communicate.
It does not, however, do the work. You do that. Stitch a logo on your cap, put that cap on a shelf behind you, and get to work. Give your logo something to communicate.