Your logo has a job to do.

Your brand is made up of so much more than a logo, but your logo has an important job to do as part of your brand.

If your business is a book, think of the logo as the cover of the book. With this in mind, the importance of making a good first impression to the right audience should be obvious. Your logo doesn’t need to tell the entire story of this book, but it should be inviting enough to inspire your audience to pick it up and read it.

Let your brand story unfold in layers, like the pages of a good book you can’t put down. The narrative, personality and visuals all play an important role in storytelling, and the more closely these things are aligned, the stronger your brand story will be overall.

So what is the job of my logo?

1. Identify

We live in a busy and fast-paced world with a lot of visual traffic, and your logo should quickly capture the attention of your audience and be easily identified with your business.

While identifying your business is the main job of your logo, it should work as a team with other elements of your brand, including consistent use of typography, colour, supporting graphics, narrative and overall personality. All these elements should have the same expression. For example, if you want the personality of your brand to be fun and playful, this should be consistently demonstrated in visual and written communications.

2. Impress

First impressions really do count. Communicate your worth by investing in your logo from the start, to save time and money later.

Consider how you would present yourself in an interview or a business meeting. I’m guessing you wouldn’t wear your pyjamas, right? As the face of your business, your logo should look like it belongs and that it cares about what it represents. Just like an interview, you need to stand out against your competitors and grab attention in the right way. You also need to ensure the way you’re presented is appropriate for the industry. If you’re going for an interview at a bank, perhaps a tracksuit isn’t ideal. Dress to impress the right people, and do the same for your logo.

If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.
Red Adair, international innovator and specialist

3. Connect

Always consider the people you want to reach. You understand them, right? You may think it’s better to connect with everyone to maximise the amount of business you receive, but in reality this can also mean your communications are generic, and this approach can fall flat.

Remember, trying to reach everyone, can mean you reach no one.

Below is a great video from Lighthouse Communications about connecting with your audience.

4. Be memorable

Simple shapes and colours are easier to recall. So keep it simple, make it unique and stick to one key idea to make it memorable. In contrast, complex shapes and multiple ideas can become lost in the busy landscape. Simplicity is bold and confident, and this is what we remember. Push the boundaries and be open to new ideas. Discuss your thoughts with a professional designer, who can use your input to come up with alternatives. Also, ask your designer if they can provide you with mock ups to help you to visualise new concepts may not have considered.

5. Influence

People need to trust you before they are influenced by you. Build trust in your logo through authenticity, and rock-solid consistency. It can take time to build enough trust in order to have influence, but consistency speeds things up as it allows people more opportunities to become familiar.

6. Adapt

Don’t worry about trends, it’s more important that your logo is versatile, scalable and practical for a fast-changing world. You don’t want to be redoing your logo every time there’s a new trend .Keep it simple so your logo can adapt.

7. Be legally and exclusively yours

A DIY logo, such as one made with a Canva template might be suitable for a school reading club, or projects you aren’t planning to earn or raise money from, or if you don’t care about exclusive rights. However when it comes to a professional business, and your logo is the face of that business, your logo should be taken seriously.

Canva is available for anyone to use, and as a result, a logo created using their templates could be shared with countless others. Ownership of the logo remains with Canva, you have non-exclusive rights to it and you can’t register it as a trademark.

Think of this fast design like fast food. While it may be quick, cheap and easy up front, and it may be just what’s needed for certain situations – like fast food on a roadie – it may not be cheap or healthy for your brand in the long run. These online design tools have their place, but completely fuelling your brand on the fast food of design could cause more issues down the track.

Once you have your brand elements in place, you could certainly use Canva to create social media posts, but with your logo, colours, brand guide and some professional tips from your designer, who could also set up a few templates for you.

If you’re worried about spending money on your logo, remember that this is an investment in your brand, and working with a professional designer is like the difference between a microwave meal and one made from scratch by someone who really knows and cares about the end result.

Let’s recap

Your logo’s job is to …

Identify your business
Make the right impression
Connect with your audience
Be memorable
Influence through trust
Adapt through trends