Your Creative Side
Nonprofits and new businesses are on the rise. It’s important to visually set your brand apart from other companies. There are many ways to do this and creating a logo is one of the first steps you should take. Assuming you already have your company name, the next step is a logo. Keep in mind there’s a science to creating a logo and it’s not something that you should have a volunteer create for you unless that volunteer is a graphic designer.
The Science Behind Color
Color sets a mood. Therefore, the color of your logo should set the mood that you want your customers or donors to feel. Color can demonstrate strength or compassion, weakness or fear. What is the message you want to convey? If you choose wisely then half your marketing job is finished. However, make a poor choice and you may regret the mistake. So what do colors mean exactly?
BLACK:
Qualities: definite, credible, strength, powerful, precise, professional, direct, accuracy
Best for: construction, corporate, oil, financial, fashion, manufacturing, cosmetics, mining, marketing, tradesmen
RED:
Qualities: hungry, exciting, urgent, dangerous, sexy, evocative, romantic, design, warm, fast
Best for: food, clothing, fashion, apparel cosmetics, sports, real estate, entertainment, healthcare, caring, emergency services, hospitality, marketing, public relations, advertising
GREEN:
Qualities: natural, organic, youth, nurturing, instructional, education, adventurous, ecological, calming, nature
Best for: medicine, science, government, recruitment, ecological-business, tourism, human resources
BLUE:
Qualities: credibility, calming, clean, focused, medical, professional, judicial, power, business like
Best for: medical, scientific, utilities, government, healthcare, high-tech, recruitment, tradesmen, legal, information technology, dental, corporate
ORANGE:
Qualities: creative, dynamic, energetic, youthfulness, expressive, child-like, fruitful, innocence, enthusiasm
Best for: recruitment, food, and drink, entertainment, education, sports, human resources, childcare
YELLOW:
Qualities: energy, drive, dynamic, encouraging, design, ideas, youth, invention, bright, positive
Best for: childcare, food and drink, entertainment, new technology, automotive, signs and banners, e-commerce
PURPLE:
Qualities: spiritual, mysterious, magical, arcane, religiousness, evocative, sensual, well being, occult, loving
Best for: body, mind and soul, astrology, tarot, aromatherapy, massage, yoga, arcane, healing, spiritual, occult
BROWN:
Qualities: earthly, nurturing, historical, safe, financial, tradition, conservative, reliable, retrospect, steady
Best for: construction, animals, mining, veterinary, finance, real estate, ecology
WHITE:
Qualities: clinical, clean, medical, clear, purity, spacious, simple, easy, fresh
Best for: medical, science, high-tech, dental
SIMPLE IS BETTER
Your primary objective is to have a MEMORABLE logo. With that said, remember that your logo does not define your business. It’s the services that you provide that give life to your logo. So follow these few rules:
- No more than three colors
- No more than two fonts
- No more than two distinct objects or shapes
Need inspiration?
Check out these two sites. You can purchase a logo design by using the search bar. State “Logo” and use the drop-down to change it to “Vector.” There you may find some inspiring ideas.
You can also use the following website to play with ideas and/or purchase a logo that you like. This is a logo maker:
You can check out a pre-made logo site like the following, which start at $29:
Finally, you can hire a professional. Or go with 99 Designs, which is a site that lets you post your project idea on their website and dozens of professional designers will submit their ideas to you. You pick the one you like. The cost is $300 to get started.
However, you decide to create your logo, make sure you put some time and thought into it. A logo is a representation of your business and it will follow you wherever you go.