Branding a business can be pretty tricky; you want to create an effective brand identity that speaks to your audience, upholds your mission statement, and withstands the test of time. And there are several essential components of branding.
A strong logo is just one fundamental part of a brand identity. Other must-haves include a memorable name, a defined target audience, a marketing strategy, and an optimized website. You’ll need all these to build your brand, and you must devote enough attention to detail when creating each component.
But, when it comes to creating an effective logo, you must consider a few fundamental principles, as every effective logo out there shares these common characteristics. Whether you are using a free online logo maker and download tool or relying on a graphic designer, you must incorporate these elements.
Simple and Easy to Identify
Walmart, Pepsi, Toyota, Starbucks, Target, and Nike mentions only a few brands that have created the most famous logos in history. That said, when evaluating these logos, it’s easy to tell that they all have remarkable simplicity in common.
Most of the iconic logos out there use solid design principles, which typically results in silhouette imagery. This type of imagery is generally scalable, versatile, and easy to identify.
Effortless to Remember
There are some brand logos out there that everyone can identify with ease because they’re so easy to remember. This is a direct result of the imagery’s simplicity; it’s easier to remember an image if it’s not too intricate and detailed.
Timeless and Versatile
Timeless designs can be adjusted slightly over time to conform to modern trends without losing their original essence. For example, Coca-Cola has modified its logo over time, although the modifications are so slight that they don’t negatively impact brand consistency.
All the most famous logos across history are undeniably timeless.
This is also a probable result of the simplicity these images showcase; simple designs can withstand the test of time while intricate designs quickly become outdated.
Resonates with Your Mission
When creating a logo that resonates with your startups’ mission statement, you should use color psychology to choose colors that will best sell your brand.
What’s more, your brand mission should also resonate strongly with your products or services. For example, Toms Shoes created a brand mission model that promised to donate one pair of shoes for every pair sold. Because the audience engaged strongly with the idea of assisting poverty-stricken communities, Toms shoes gained massive popularity thanks to this particular element of their brand.
While creating an effective logo and brand is essential for all startups, you must also maintain brand consistency over time. And to do this, you must keep the same brand content and use branding guidelines. Brand consistency can increase your number of brand-loyal buyers, as your audience grows to view your brand as a reliable option, creating your logo and defining your brand identity is only the start of your journey as a brand.