Does Your Window Company Need a New Logo?
Posted on December 14, 2017 by Logo Design Tips and Tricks
Does your window company need a new logo? Maybe. But maybe not. This is a big and drastic undertaking and should never be taken lightly. You should never shake things up for the sake of shaking things up.
But a new logo and rebrand certainly does have its time and place. And a lot of companies have found new success after a new logo.
So is it right for you? Keep reading to find out.
We’re Not All Pepsi
Listen, we would all love to have Pepsi’s marketing dollars and fan base, so we could pull off a full rebrand every couple of years. Take a look at their many logos over the years.
But here’s the thing. Constant re-brands is a part of their brand. Some time ago, they decided to differentiate themselves from Coke by establishing Pepsi as the younger and edgier brand.
Coke was to be the American institution, and Pepsi wanted to be it’s younger and wilder sibling.
But Pepsi is Pepsi and has billions of marketing dollars at their disposal to spread the word of their rebrand, and change the logo on a billion cans. None of us are Pepsi.
As a window company, it’s highly unlikely your brand or position is young, hip, and edgy. So, a new logo every 5 years for you is only going to cause you to water down your branding.
When is it Not Time for a New Logo
There is always the, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it mentality.” So should you stick with your original logo? Here are some situations where the answer is probably yes.
1. Your sales are stagnant:
It’s really easy to scapegoat your brand when your sales are underperforming. But it’s actually rarely to blame.
Your brand could be the problem, but it takes a lot of research to determine if your brand is failing, or your brand execution is failing. Too many people assume it’s the former.
This is particularly true of new brands. Some people will pull the plug on a new logo, and switch back to the old one after only about a year. Or even worse, they will pay money to have a new-new logo designed.
You need to give a new brand time to ripen and mature. And you need to give yourself enough time to promote it and incorporate it.
Marketwire is an example of this. As a global leader in press release distribution, they rebranded in 2012, to reflect a move to doing more than press releases and rolled out a new logo and a new tagline “Beyond Words.” It was well received.
But then, a year later, they rolled out another rebrand, another logo and inexplicably added a “D” to their name to become Marketwired. This was almost universally met with head-scratching and was seen as a big step back.
2. Your logo is already popular
Let’s not forget what happened to the Gap. In 2010, they decided to change up their already-iconic logo. The new logo was fine and actually looked good. But the existing logo was so beloved by customers there was an uproar.
In the end, The Gap had to go back to the “old” logo in a matter of days.
if your window company already has a logo that people like and recognize, there is probably no reason to change it up, unless, one of the situations in the next section apply to you.
When is a Good Time to Change Your Logo
Here are the situations when a new logo is appropriate and could really help your window company.
1. Your offering has changed
Maybe you’re a window company that is expanding into blinds and patio doors. If you feel your logo is a little to windows-only, you could rebrand and launch a new logo that doesn’t pigeonhole you as much to one offering.
2. You’re attacking a new market
Let’s say someone like Blinds and Design decided they were going to target just home builders and interior designers. That would be a serious shift from business-to-customer to business-to-business, so that could necessitate a new logo.
You will have a new target market, so you may need a new logo that will better resonate with your new audience.
That being said, you’re going to need more than a new logo. You’re going to need new messaging and a total re-brand as well. Too many people think a new logo is a rebrand. It’s actually far more complex than that.
3. A merger or new acquisition
This one is a no-brainer. If you acquire, get acquired by, or merge with another company, it’s time for a new logo.
You will need a new logo to combine the elements of multiple brands coming together as one. The mentality here is always “It’s a new day. It’s a new company. Stronger, yet still united.”
4. You didn’t put much thought into your logo the first time
You’re a startup who just feels the need to have “something” to stick on your website and letterhead.
But over time, your business grows and matures and your logo that never really meant anything is becoming more meaningless.
Now you have the time and resources to create a logo that actually means something to you and your target audience. So take advantage of your chance to do things right the second time.
Ready to Create a New Logo for Your Window Company?
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Top 5 Tips For Creating The Best Home Improvement Logo For Your Business
Posted on December 14, 2017 by Logo Design Tips and Tricks
You have a new home improvement business, which means that it’s time to design a home improvement logo.
A logo is more than images, text, and colors. It’s a visual representation of your brand. It creates an emotional connection to your company.
Coca-Cola’s red and white logo connects soda to happiness and good feelings.
You don’t need to have a logo as iconic as Coke’s, but you can create one that makes your company memorable and engages prospects.
Read on for five tips that will show you how:
The Process of Designing a Home Improvement Logo
Creating a logo is a process. To start, you’ll want to define what your company stands for. You will need to ask yourself what you want the logo to convey about your company. What do you want people to feel when they think about your products?
You should also know what your unique selling proposition is and who your ideal client is.
If your business offers the best concrete driveway sealer, your logo should reflect that.
Finally, look at logos that you like and don’t like. Take the time to examine them and explain what it is that you like and don’t like about them.
That will help you design a logo you and your clients love.
What’s Your Competition Doing?
You will need to know what your competition is doing. You certainly don’t want elements of your competitor’s logo in yours. That will only cause confusion in the marketplace.
This type of research will open up ideas as well. You can find creative ways to stand out in the marketplace, whether it’s by using a certain color or a font type.
Think about Where the Logo Will Be Used
How are you going to use the logo? Will you use it mostly on brochures, business cards, and your website? You might want to have your logo engraved on a trophy at some point, especially if you sponsor a golf tournament.
By thinking through how your logo will be used, you can see how your designs will look in certain applications.
For example, you can print out a design and see how it would look as letterhead or on a brochure.
Color Has a Big Impact
Our minds respond to certain colors in a certain way. Your logo’s colors should convey what you want people to feel about your company.
For example, blue typically indicates trust, while people relate to red as youthful and bold.
Try a Few Designs and Test Them Out
Before settling on a single design, it’s smart to test a few ideas. You can test your designs through social media, surveys, or by split testing on your website.
I wouldn’t test a logo just by showing to friends and family because they’re probably not your ideal clients. If you do, ask them to put themselves in your ideal clients’ shoes and decide which design they like.
Start Designing Your Logo
Designing your home improvement logo doesn’t have to be an overwhelming experience.
OnlineLogoMaker has helped over two million brands create their logos. You can make yours in about 10 minutes.
Create your logo today!
5 Things To Consider When Designing A Financial Logo
Posted on December 14, 2017 by Logo Design Tips and Tricks
Financial companies rely on a reputation for trust and integrity. Everything from mission statement to the company logo needs to reflect this along with the company’s core values.
According to Edelman, trust is a foundation of banking. One small but powerful part of building a trustworthy image is the company logo.
A logo is a key component of company branding. Potential customers need an immediate, memorable, and positive view of the company.
Read on for five things to consider when designing a financial logo.
1. Identify Your Audience
Think about the demographics of your target audience. Age, lifestyle, and profession are some that pertain to financial companies. Also, focus on words or images that highlight those concepts that you want the logo to reflect about your company.
From there you can begin to formulate color schemes, fonts, images, and so on.
2. Find Your Inspiration
A financial logo should be unique. While you will study designs used by other financial companies, keep your mind and eyes open. Look into the company history or the biographies of the founder and CEO. Observe the architecture of the headquarters building.
Think of the company’s mission statement and image. What visual images does that inspire? There may be something in one of these places that inspire ideas.
3. Consider Your Color Palette
Colors impact the impression left by a financial logo. Bright colors tend to appeal to younger audiences. Then again, bold colors like red and orange are often associated with chance, which isn’t a desirable effect for a financial company.
The logo should have a no more than three prominent colors. You should be able to reproduce it in different formats for marketing purposes.
4. Design for Multiple Formats
Most of the time, people see the company’s logo online or in smaller formats like brochures and business cards. The logo design should still look good when minimized.
That said, the logo should also look striking at its largest scale, such as on the side of a building.
Finally, consider how the logo looks when reprinted in black and white. If grayscale obscures your logo, you may need something with better contrast.
5. Timeless Over Trendy
A successful financial institution becomes a mainstay. The financial logo should be one that will stand indefinitely. The logo should have a touch of class and avoid any trendy designs that may date it a dozen years from now.
Often the best logos are ones that feature a representative element of the company’s name. The industry will change over time, and the company will adapt. But its name and core mission will most likely stay the same.
While it’s not a financial institution, one logo everyone knows is the simple apple of Apple, Inc. And given the current rate of AAPL stock, this company certainly qualifies as a mainstay.
Another option is using an abstract design. Abstract images give off an air of elegance because they are visually like fine art. Since they do not depict actual objects or things, they do not become outdated.
Design Your Financial Logo
Most of the above tips have to do with planning and brainstorming a design. Complete that process, and you’re ready to create your logo. A quick and easy way is to use an online tool.
If you have any questions about using our logo design tool, please contact us.
7 Powerful Strategies for Creating the Best Ecommerce Logo Design
Posted on December 13, 2017 by Logo Design Tips and Tricks
What’s so important about eCommerce logo design?
Ecommerce is growing at a rate of up to 12%. That is good and bad news for your business. The competition has never been fiercer for online customers.
There are more opportunities to capture online consumers sales. Content-first strategies add value to the customer experience. Subscription services help you retain customers and increase value as well.
Does your brand offer heavy discounts at strategic times? This should be communicated in your logo and branding.
If you’re ethically sourcing, your marketing and logo should have a humanitarian element. Niche markets need specific branding elements as well.
All of these strategies center around a unique value proposition. You can offer customers something others don’t. Unless you’re Amazon, that’s the only way to compete.
The steps you take have a bigger impact than you think. Here’s how to get the most value after the most visual part of your business.
What Does Ecommerce Logo Design Have to Do with Value?
Your logo is often the first touchpoint consumers have with your business. The effort you put into ecommerce logo design will affect your chances of success.
Logos help consumers recognize your brand immediately. Your logo should reflect the unique aspects of your brand. It will become a symbol of quality and trust to your customers.
In time, your logo will be a vehicle for customer loyalty and advocacy. Keep these opportunities in mind during your ecommerce logo design.
We’ll review the practical and aesthetic qualities of your logo. Then we will discuss how they will affect your target market.
How Do I Get Started with Ecommerce Logo Design?
Your logo design should be part of your greater brand strategy. Developing your brand doesn’t begin with your logo. But it is a way to build a bridge between your brand and your customers.
Both your brand and your logo should not be created in a vacuum. How accessible is your logo to your target market?
Consider on what device your consumers will view your logo. Think about the circumstances in which your consumers will view your logo, and their specific tastes. These are just a few considerations moving forward.
7 Strategies for Ecommerce Logo Design
Why did you create your ecommerce business? Your path to success begins with this question. Here is how your logo design is a part of that journey.
Your ultimate goal is to service your customers. Your logo will be an extension of this. If successful, it will become a beloved symbol for you and your customers for years.
The following seven strategies will help you create an ecommerce logo that will provide lasting value for your business.
1. Understand Your Demographic
As an SMB, appealing to the vast majority of ecommerce shoppers might not be part of your strategy. Your logo plays a key role in penetrating niche markets. It also needs to make sense for your business.
You can study target demographics to learn what colors and designs appeal to them. You should consider certain images that resonate in this market. Creating variations on these well-liked symbols can boost your appeal.
If you’ve already had success with customers, look at their trends and analytics. Consider what types of customers are succeeding and which are not. Both factors will contribute to your new logo design.
2. Differentiate from Your Competition
You will face avid competition in any market. Competitors in niche markets may have more devoted customers than in others. You can capture your share of the market with personalization.
You can begin by looking at existing customers. Here are some factors to consider when looking at customer data:
Who are your best customers, people who shop with you regularly? And what is your bounce rate? These are people who visit your site then leave abruptly.
You should consider your customers’ lifetime value. The sales per customer over time will indicate the “stickiness” of your brand.
Identify if any customers are at risk. These are customers who may stop buying from you. What about your brand is turning them away?
Finally, How are you personalizing your logo for these customers? Understanding why customers buy or bounce can create opportunities for a better design.
Take your findings to a logo design professional to add nuance to your design. Your new logo can suggest improvements to happy customers. It can suggest positive changes to unsatisfied ones.
3. Determine Your Message
What is your logo saying about your brand? Your logo should make a clear statement to customers. It will be their starting point for their relationship with your brand.
There are several brand elements that can help you determine your design. Is your brand exciting? Is it wholesome?
Are you providing a service? Is what you are selling for children? Any of these can factor into your design.
4. Think About Longevity
What is the long-term value of your logo? You can’t commit to a logo you plan to change a year later.
Your logo should not be ambiguous. But it shouldn’t close you from opportunities to expand your business. Be sure you’re not committing to a value statement that is short sighted.
You may want to expand into new markets in the future. You may want to appeal to different demographics. There are resources that can help you strike a balance between an inclusive and targeted design.
5. Select Design Elements
There is a psychology behind logo design. Most consumers claim a logo’s color is a top contributor to their decision to buy.
The two most important logo qualities are shape and color. Consumers will develop a first impression based on these elements.
Another factor is representation. A baker might include wheat in their logo, for example. A skateboard company might choose fire and skulls. Neither appeal to the same demographic.
You can learn about your target market by looking at your competitors’ logos. Determine how you will distinguish your logo from successful ones.
6. Optimize Your Logo for All Platforms
Ecommerce shoppers will access logos on different platforms and devices. You need to optimize your logo for each of them. Failing to do so could drive away business.
When optimizing your logo, you should consider how it will appear on all major browsers. Also consider how it will look on all types of PCs and mobile devices.
Do you have a mobile app? Your logo should be optimized for mobile display. If you have a responsive website, ensure your logo will adapt to all variations.
7. Include Your Logo in Your Brand Strategy
Your logo is only a representation of your brand value. You’ve designed a winning logo. How will it be a part of your experience?
Will you have secondary logos? Are you part of an affiliate program? Dropified app affiliates create logos specifically for referrals.
Consider the factors outlined in ‘Determining Your Message.’ Whether you’re selling humanely sourced dog treats or intense thrills, your logo will accompany those messages and experiences.
You’ve got a clear idea of how you’ll change your customers’ lives. Now give them something they’ll recognize and share. Your logo will be a vehicle for business success.
Getting Started is Easy
Anyone can achieve a high-quality ecommerce logo design. Contact Online Logo Maker and begin crafting your successful logo today.