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Author: Harris Jhosta
Posted to the web: 12/22/2005 10:23:55 PM

Across a period of time a logo is the image which symbolizesa corporation, its products and services in a complete explanatory manner. Itspurpose is to create an unforgettable, familiar feeling on the mind of apotential client or customer. It’s undoubtedly a logo which can be termed asthe heart of a company’s corporate identity. So in a nutshell a logo is atrademark of a company or organization. It's the identity that encapsulateswhat your company stand for and what it wants to achieve in its lifetime.Companies do spend thousands, if not millions of dollars just to have the rightlogo.

So what are the ingredients of a first-class logo?

Most people would reply 'I just recognized it when Isaw it!”

Well this isn't so far from the truth. A good logo catchesthe eye; it makes the observer curious and engaged, doesn’t matter if only fora short moment. And that is the moment in which an image and the subsistence ofyour company gets embedded into the minds of your customer rather than filteredout with a million other daily options. Your company's logo will be your visualtool to stimulate attention and leave a greater impact to your target audiencethat words may fall short of. Over time, logos prove to be the simplest andmost direct way of promoting one's business presence. Make your logo give youyour brand name recognition. It is your visual appeal to any document or webpage because of its unique graphic image. People tend to remember a catchy logoat a much higher rate than nearly any other advertising element. When designingyour logo, there are several things to keep in mind to achieve you goals: beunique, be true to the company, consider the psychology of your  target market, and, above all, keep itsimple.

Your business logo will most likely be used for manypurposes: business cards and letterhead, outdoor designs, the Internet andpromotional items such as T-shirts and mugs. The logo has to look good whenresized to fit on a small 2'x 3.5' business card. If the design iscomplex a lot of detail will be lost when the logo is shrunk to fit on the cardand people might not be able to make out the design. Elaborate designs can alsobe difficult and expensive to put on T-shirts and mugs.

Complex or over-the-top designs can mean high printingcosts. A decision to have a highly complex custom design logo for your firm cancome back to haunt you. This doesn't mean that your custom design logo has tobe simple (and boring) for it to work. An elegant logo design can enhance yourfirm's professional image. The trick is to find the right balance betweendesign and functionality, where you have a great design that you can use forall purposes.

Design of a company or product logo should not be tagged onto an advertising campaign at the end of the planning process. It deserves tobe examined and integrated into the body of the campaign; it should not be thetail of the dog. A good logo is developed at the front end, the part thatbites. Planners need to communicate to the graphic designer certain keyinformation about what the company or product goals are. They need to pass onto the artist a demographic picture of their target consumer - age, income,where they live. All of these factors are brought into play in the strategicplanning process. Too much information can be just as complicated to handle astoo little. Seeing too many sources might encourage the prospective logopurchaser to select a supplier at random and hope for the best. Given theprolonged expected life cycle for a company logo and the significant part alogo plays in image recognition, playing selection games can be devastating.But what can a newcomer do to get the best bang for his logo?

These days the savvy of risk in online business is becomingquite substantial, anyone with a computer and internet access can put up a logodesign business.

You could’ve pay a boy working as a freelance and charging$40 to draw your logo. Who knows? Maybe he's good, but there is more to logodesign than nice pictures. Logo designers need to recognize the associationthat should exist between the logo and the image the company wants to send toits customers. Logo designers have to have some business understanding andbusiness know-how in order to design logos that increase sales.

Don’t fall for cheap prices, they say “Quality never comescheap” and yes it is so very true, at one hand you tend to choose a cheap logodesign plan but on the other hand you sacrifice some of the things which inturn those logo designers will get benefited with. Some of those like thingsare:

1. A limited number of Formats

Mostly the cheap plan logo designers won’t provide the finaldesign in multiple formats such as a bitmap image and a vector image. Knowinglythese both formats are very necessary, you use bitmap for your website andinterrelated purposes whereas vector for printing up of the visiting cards andcorporate stationery.

2. No Money-Back Guarantee

Usually cheap logo designing plans are not backed up by anymoney back guarantee, might be the reason can be, they don’t really possess anysatisfied customers.

3. Limited Alterations

Some logo designers present very affordable logos where youget no or very few alterations. In additional words, they'll give you one logo.If you don't like it, that's your problem. Typically they then charge extra foralterations. This in itself isn't really dishonest - as long as they areupfront about it. It does become deceptive when it's buried in fine print.

Creating a logo is always a process - though differentdesigners have their own methods. Many designers will begin by sketchingthumbnails or playing with shapes on the computer screen, until something'clicks' and they follow that path to see where it leads. One way tostart is to select a shape which represents the concept of the company, andbegin playing with it. The idea is to come up with something interesting orclever, whether a viewpoint which is different, or an unusual combination ofshapes. Perhaps it will be something which will require some guesswork on thepart of the viewer, but then be crystal clear when they look at it another way.The accurate logo, with the accurate distinctiveness, willenhance your visibility, reliability and impression; which mean more businessfor you. Few are the things that are needed for a robust logo making activityand an outstanding product, before choosing this service of logo designing makesure that the designer firm follows this trail, following this will ensuremaximum credibility, firms like http://www.logodesignpros.co.uk/ follow thistrail and has been achieving recorded success ration over a period of years,these factors are:

Consistency

Consistency in use of logo, tagline, materials. Repetitionof similar elements, used in the same or similar ways. This helps people toremember who the company is and what do they do?

Memorability

Must contain an element of memorability so that the logostays at the forefront of potential clients' minds. That way, they'll think ofthe company next time they have a need.

Meaningfulness

Meaningfulness so that the logo can spread the message aboutthe distinguishing characteristics of one’s business.

Uniqueness

The uniqueness factor helps one stand out from the crowd.For example, if everyone in one industry uses a particular symbol (i.e., airlinesoften uses airplane tail), try to use something else that way, the logo doesn'tjust look like everyone else's.

Professionalism

Professionalism in the eminence of the graphics, theprinting and the paper on which the materials will be printed.

Timelessness

Timelessness in the logo will ensure that one don't have toredesign the logo in just a few years and that the investment and equity in thedesign will be lasting. Remember, logo design is an essential element to yourgeneral marketing strategy. Put in the necessary time, effort, and creativity,and you will end up with an effective, memorable logo that will go milestowards developing the positive brand appreciation and recognition you desire.A logo is essentially at the heart of corporate identity. It is the face of anorganization. The right logo design can be one of your strongest marketingtools. It delivers the message to the public that a company is unique, credibleand professional. Make it stylish. Make it elegant. Make an impact.