It’s in the Logo: Here’s How Alcohol Advertising Can Affect Consumers
Posted on December 22, 2018 by Logo Design Tips and Tricks
Alcohol sales have been quickly rising in recent years. In fact, in 2016, United States alcohol sales increased by almost 5 percent to hit $25 billion.
And some studies show a direct link between the drinks people buy and the alcohol advertising and brands they see.
What’s making alcohol advertisements and brands so effective? We’ve nailed down some key reasons for alcohol advertising successes.
The Success of Alcohol Advertising
Alcohol promotions are at an all-time high. Over the last four decades, spending for alcohol advertisements and branding has jumped 400 percent.
That money has landed in traditional ads like television, radio, and printed pieces. But it’s also been put towards things like digital advertisement and product placement in shows, movies, and events.
Those ads are helping companies build out their brands and pull in clients.
Here’s how alcohol advertising is hitting consumers.
Locking Logos in the Customer’s Mind
Alcohol companies start by building well-designed logos that catch the consumer’s eye. But in order to get that brand to stick with a consumer, they are using ads to reinforce that image.
This strategy plays off a marketing strategy called The Rule of Seven. The rule says a message needs to hit a customer seven times before they decide to interact with the product.
Connecting Logos to Messages
A brand is no good if it doesn’t have a meaning. And alcohol companies are connecting feelings and messages to their logo.
This usually means picking out values that a consumer holds or desires and linking it to the brand.
That builds loyalty. In fact, more than 60 percent of consumers say they trust a brand because they share its values.
Sharing the Stories They Choose to Tell
Telling a story is a powerful way to engage a consumer. In fact, science shows humans are drawn to stories.
Companies are using alcohol advertising to tell positive stories about their products. And they are weaving their messages into those stories. That way, the brand becomes associated with positive stories that they pick.
It also helps keep brands away from being connected to negative stories. For instance, it would be unlikely to see an alcohol commercial that answers questions about A.A.
And this technique also may be causing anti-alcohol ads to work for alcohol companies. Some studies suggest anti-alcohol ads are reinforcing positive views of drinking among heavy drinkers.
Growing out Advertising on the Ground
Alcohol brands are also putting out their messages in grass-roots forms. That means they are connecting with consumers on a local level.
This takes the form of alcohol advertising at live concerts or sporting events. Companies use holidays like Cinco de Mayo or Halloween to promote products.
This is helping alcohol companies connect with even more customers on an even deeper level.
Logos Beyond Alcohol Advertisement
Brands are using alcohol advertising to build messages and bring in new customers. And the tool they are using is a well-crafted logo.
Want to learn more about logo design and brand-making strategies? Check out our blog here for the latest news and pro tips in logo creation.
Top 6 Tips to Create an Awesome Vape Logo
Posted on June 26, 2018 by Logo Design Tips and Tricks
According to Yelp, there are at least 11,000 vape shops all around the US. While not all vape shops are created equal, the one way to tell them apart is their design and their logo. If you’re working on your vape logo, you need to take a few things into consideration.
Here are the 6 most important things to think about when you’re making your vape shop logo.
1. Know Your Niche
The first thing you need to assess when you’re designing a logo is who you’re designing it for. While every company wishes that their products and services appealed to absolutely everyone, it’s just not possible. There’s going to be a target market for your vape shop and you need to know who that is.
Start by doing the market research regarding who is in business near you. If you’ve got a brick and mortar shop, go visit all the shops near you before you announce the opening of your shop. If you’re already known competition, have some friends or colleagues go by and assess how the other stores are doing.
Get to know what kind of design style they’re relying on and get to know how much of the market they reflect. You don’t need to follow their lead but you should consider what they do reflective of the market at large.
Offer something new if you think there’s an untapped section of the market. If the professional vaper is catered to with the casual left behind, that could be your niche.
2. Pick A Texture
Textures reflect a lot about the kind of business you are. When you’re designing a logo, to give your logo some depth, consider what you want to reflect about your business.
Clean, metallic textures are very popular now. Because of the technology involved in vaping, it makes sense. People see vaping as the future and so people choose very metallic and modern looking logos.
However, if your vape shop is more about herbal or natural flavors and styles, you might want to go with an earthier texture. The texture of your logo can give your clients a view of the style of vape shop that you run and the kinds of products that you sell.
The texture of your logo could be a signifier that connects with your audience subconsciously and attracts them to you.
3. Corporate or Casual?
Now that you’ve figured out your target market, you need to think about what end of the spectrum they’re on. While some markets require you to have a more professional and corporate approach, some will be much more casual.
Even if you’re in a relatively relaxed college town, you might have to position yourself relative to what other businesses are around. Your vape logo needs to project the vibe you’re going for.
If a lot of new high-end restaurants have opened up near your vape shop, you’re going to need to take a more corporate or minimal approach. If your area is filled with independent record and bookshops, coffee houses, and pizza shops, you can be a lot more casual.
If you’re a high-end place for customers to refill their eliquid, you need to let customers know what you’re about from the moment they see you.
4. Colors Matter
When you’re projecting your image, the colors that you choose matter. Once you’ve decided on your target market, you need colors that connect with the lifestyle your typical client has.
If you’re trying to capture a more casual demographic, you could use more fun colors. Choose one strong color and a few muted tones to complement it. If you choose a really bright blue, you might want to pair it with grays, pastels, or other softer colors.
If you’re going for a more tech-influenced style, think about the kinds of colors used by companies like Apple. Whites, grays, soft pinks, and black are all possible contenders.
Limit your palette to about 2 colors and work within those strict parameters. Making your logo with too many colors could be distracting.
5. Use a Professional Design Program
When you’re ready to get your design into a digital program, you need to make sure you use a professional level program. While the free design programs that come with your computer might be a good place to start, they won’t give you the options you need.
You’re going to have to start design your logo with a real program, as much as you might enjoy good old MS Paint. With a professional design program, you also get the option to export your logo to a format that can ensure it always looks great.
Few things will make your audience doubt the quality of your company than a pixelated logo on a sign or on a banner. A professional design program gives you the option to export via a scalable vector format. No matter what size you stretch your logo, it will always look great.
6. Get Feedback
Once you’ve come up with an idea for your logo and exported your final version, give it to some friends and colleagues. Let them know that you want to hear some honest feedback about it. Take their feedback into serious consideration.
If it makes sense, average out their feedback. If you see their point, find ways you can accommodate their ideas without losing your original vision. While your friends and colleagues may not be your ideal audience, they can offer general tips from the perspective of consumers.
A Good Vape Logo is Memorable
Even if you don’t remember the name of a certain vape shop, a good vape logo can help you pick it out from the crowd. By sticking in your memory, a strong logo can impact your feelings about a brand. Look into the psychology of branding before you settle on any aspects of your vape shop’s design.
When it’s time to start thinking about fonts, check out our guide to picking the best font for a vape shop.
How to Choose the Best Font for a Vape Shop’s Logo
Posted on June 16, 2018 by Logo Design Tips and Tricks
Are you struggling to select the right font for a vape shop logo?
Do you feel like you can’t strike the right balance between professionalism and a font that appeals to your target market?
If so, then you need to read on.
In this post, we’ll tell you everything that you need to know to understand how to choose the most effective font designs for logos.
From legibility to branding, by the end of it, we’re confident that you’ll make the competition vanish in a puff of smoke — or really, a vape cloud.
1. Focus on Legibility
When you’re in the process of choosing the font for a vape shop logo, there’s one aspect that’s far more important than anything else.
That’s the overall legibility of the font that you select.
In other words, focus on fonts that are easy to read, whether from far away or close up. We know that, when you’re choosing fonts, it can be tempting to go for a design that’s attention-getting and outside of the box.
While that’s a great way to turn your target markets’ heads, they might be turning your way for the wrong reason. Remember that, if people can’t clearly read the name of your shop, then all of your logo design work will be for nothing.
A font that’s hard to read also doesn’t do much to further the sense of professionalism surrounding your brand.
You should also focus on choosing fonts that don’t lose their legibility when you resize your logo. You may need to shrink your logo down to a much smaller size so it can fit on social media profile pictures or business cards.
Always ensure that your brand’s name can still be read.
What can you do to make your brand’s name pop out even further, especially when you’ve had to seriously shrink your logo?
We suggest choosing a bright and bold color to print your brand’s name in. Things like neon greens, shocking pink, or even white against a black backdrop will all help make your brand’s name pop.
2. Consider Having Your Own Font Created
The best for logo text when it comes to designing the right look for your vape shop logo?
One that no one else has.
Especially in recent years, branding has become the single most important aspect of logo design. You need to do everything you can to set your vape shop apart from the competition and make a quick connection with your target market.
So, how can you make that happen in a space as small as a store logo?
By having your own, unique font created for your brand. People quickly associate a specific typography with a brand, which will lead to faster brand recognition than ever before.
For example, think about the loopy red writing of the Coca-Cola name or the luxurious and sleek black capital block letters of the fashion house Chanel. Even the famous Disney “D” shows you just how powerful a font can be.
These are all things that you need to emulate in your own design.
3. Less Is More
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that minimalism is one of the hottest design trends of the moment — and with good reason.
However, many people fall into the trap of wanting to create a logo font and design that says as much as possible in a small space.
You might feel the desire to put images and symbols inside your block letters. You might want to make each letter a different color. You might even want to create a logo design that uses multiple colors.
However, this isn’t what you should go with if you want to give the impression of a professional logo font.
Remember that primary colors are always the most effective, as is a simple and clean typography.
4. Learn from Others
Do you feel like you’re still struggling to choose the best fonts for logos?
If so, then one of the best ways to make the right design decision is to take a look at how other vape shops have pulled it off.
One of the most popular ways that vaping companies can make it clear what they offer and stand out from the crowd?
By choosing vape clouds in the shape of letters for their fonts. Many brands also embrace the pun of the vape “pen” by having it write out their brand name within the logo design.
In other cases, brands work to embrace the simplicity that we referenced above.
For example, take a look at the Vape in the Box logo.
Its simple white lettering is perfectly offset by a bright teal background. The brand has chosen block letters, which are easy to read even from far away. The brand’s logo can also be shortened to simply the word “Vape” for smaller icons like social media profile pictures.
Ready to Choose the Best Font for a Vape Shop Logo?
We hope that this post has helped you to better understand how to choose the best font for a vape shop logo.
Remember to keep things simple, to focus on legibility, and to ensure that you’ve thought about how your font choice relates to your brand as a whole.
Of course, we know that sometimes, you need to try several different fonts and designs out to see which one you like best.
Be sure to use our online logo maker tool to help you make the right choice.
Looking for additional logo design and branding advice?
Keep checking back with our blog to learn how to make the latest design trends work for your brand.
How to Make Sure Your Addiction Treatment Marketing and Logo is Ethical
Posted on December 21, 2017 by Logo Design Tips and Tricks
Marketing a rehabilitation clinic can be sensitive.
Your patients are those who suffer from substance abuse and serious mental disorders. People come to your clinic because they seek clinic, but they also deserve to feel welcoming and comfortable.
This is where marketing becomes tricky — you want to inform your patients you can help them, but you have to be careful which words you use and the way your logo looks.
It’s not uncommon to spot an unethical marketing technique from a rehab clinic. But you want to make sure you avoid them.
Read this guide and know how to avoid using unethical addiction treatment marketing practices and an acceptable logo design.
Misleading Success Rate
You see patients drop their addiction and sober up.
You’re happy you could be the one to give them their moment of clarity and change their life around. You include success rates because you want to continue helping others with their addiction.
Unfortunately, clinics use misleading rates to try and draw in patients.
This flaw is mainly due to inadequate research. So when you decide to promote your success rate, make sure you study the figures and you use addiction treatment marketing correctly.
Use a Professional Logo
Try to use a professional-looking logo with minimalist design. If you plan on stating your clinic type in your logo, use acceptable terms.
For example, use terms such as ‘wellness’ and ‘assistance’ instead of ‘mental health.’ Use ‘recovery’ instead of ‘alcoholism’ or ‘addiction.’
Don’t use terms such as ‘psychiatry’ or ‘doctor’ unless you host the qualified personnel in-house.
If you wish to feature a design, choose one that signifies compassion and family. Holding hands and a group of people together is a great example. You can even use images that convey happiness, such as a flower.
If you want to be safe, use a simple logo such as the one Recovery in Motion uses.
Don’t Include Accreditations You Don’t Have
Accreditation at a state and national level is helpful to your rehabilitation clinic. But many clinics lie about receiving proper licensing, especially if they have multiple locations.
Your patient and their family want to make sure you can provide the necessary assistance, excellent care, and use all industry standards.
They will assume you do so when they see your accreditation. But if they notice you don’t meet state and national standards, your patient and their family will be very angry.
Only include accreditation if you received it and if the location received it. Be fully confident you can provide the best care for your patients at your licensed facility.
Use Moral Addiction Treatment Marketing Techniques
If your clinic is licensed and has great reviews, it’s time to increase your marketing technique. But marketing a clinic can be difficult. You’re dealing with a sensitive situation and your facility needs to represent you respect your patients.
Be truthful about the services you offer and use respectful language. As long as you’re honest and convey a welcoming environment, your patients will be interested in your clinic.
If you want to create a logo that entices patients, take a look at our logo maker.