Why you shouldn’t DIY your logo
I am a massive advocate of being creative and having my client involved in every step of the branding process, but it’s also understand the attraction of wanting to DIY your logo. It’s fun to be creative! You know your business best and you want to create your vision and release it to the world. The reality is, you will be doing your brand more harm than good if you try to DIY your logo. Here are the top reasons you should always go with a professional designer.
Your logo is the face of your business
The sheer importance of a logo cannot be underestimated. It is the main touchpoint of your business and what most consumers will take away as a first impression. This is why it must be considered from multiple perspectives. Your logo needs to:
Communicate your services and offering
Be memorable and attractive
Represent your values
Stand out in the market
Be stronger than your competitors
Make an impressive first impression
Your logo has value and will eventually carry brand equity, so it deserves an investment of time, money and expertise into getting it right.
Consistency
Your logo should appear consistent and needs to look the same no matter where others might come across it. Think of how many places your logo might be viewed: on your website, social media, business cards, stationery, small, large, in black and white or even on signage!
It’s critical that your brand mark looks clear wherever it is utilised. That means it needs to be a high-quality file that always follows brand guidelines wherever it is applied. Brand guidelines maintain consistency across all your brand touch-points. Consistency builds trust and trust builds loyalty.
Professionalism
Consumers are astute and notice everything, particularly when things don’t look exactly right.
Your customers, or anyone who comes to you for your products or services, expects a certain level of professionalism from your company. If it’s obvious your logo is an amateur design, your business could be perceived as a backyard operation or a company that chooses to cut corners.
Paying an expert for their goods and services means that the result will always be professional, as will your business image.
Design details
A logo is not a simple thing to create. A great logo design incorporates your offering, message, values, personality, colour theory, typography, expertise, knowledge of design and marketing trends and years of experience.
An experienced designer will be able to use their knowledge to create a logo that looks on brand and properly positions your business in the marketplace.
Take Apple for example. Their logo design looks so simple that you would think it would have been easy to design. However, the design itself takes into consideration numerous design rules, including the Golden Ratio, which ensures that the logo looks pleasing to the eye.
The meaning behind colours also affects how consumers interpret and interact with your brand. You shouldn’t choose a brand colour simply because you like it. There’s logic and proven theories behind the meaning of colours.
The Psychology behind Colour
You’re emotionally invested
As a business owner, it makes complete sense that you would be emotionally invested in how your brand is created and perceived. You should care and want to be involved! However, it does mean that you can have tunnel vision when it comes to creating a solution, or you end up basing your decisions on emotion instead of what will work best.
This is why you need someone who is objective. For example, you get an accountant to do your taxes or a mechanic to service your car. Why? Because they are the experts, they have more experience and will take half the amount of time to execute the job and do it well! Your time is better spent doing the things you’re good at, like running and growing your business.
