Have you ever wondered what your Logo said about your company? Have you ever tried to create a new logo and struggled to have it represent you?
Logos are the face of your company, they present human qualities to the world and as such your Logo can tell the consumers a great deal about your company.
Whether you are trying to create a new logo, update your existing image or just curious there are several components of your logo that you need to pay attention to.
Color Composition
You may wonder why color is important to a logo, it’s just used to make the logo visually appealing, right? Wrong. Colors take on distinct human qualities and evoke a specific psychological response when used in a logo and as such it is important to make conscious decisions when selecting colors for your logo.
Red
Red is a color of passion and excitement, it portrays energy and creates a sense of urgency. This color stimulates the consumers. Think about most fast-food restaurants, they get you excited but also get you out. Red is also commonly used in the entertainment and sports industries as well as for children’s products.
Orange
Orange is similar to red in that it is a fun color that causes a stimulating response. Orange is the color of encouragement, and happiness and is meant to promote enthusiasm and showcase opportunity. Orange is most used in the art, entertainment food, sports and transportation industries.
Yellow
Yellow is an inherently happy color. It represents optimism, friendliness and youth. Yellow is a relaxing color that is said to affect your mood. Yellow is most utilized in the food, sports, transportation, travel and leisure industries.
Green
Green is the color of growth, health and balance and is generally a calming color. It evokes feelings of safety and reliability while also encouraging balance and harmony. It is most commonly used in the environmental, banking, real estate, farming and non-profit sectors.
Blue
Blue is said to be a calming and healing color. It showcases honesty, loyalty and security and as such is most used in the security, finance, technology, healthcare and accounting industries.
Violet
Shades of violet/purple has two very distinct personalities. Purple, being one of the most difficult color inks to make historically, is known as the color of royalty and wealth. When used in this context it is meant to show goods as a luxury products. Violet is also known to be the color of spirituality. In this sense, it takes on imagination and compassion and is used for humanitarian organizations as well as in the psychic and religious realms.
Pink
Pink is generally known as a sensitive and feminine color. It evokes compassion, love and playfulness and as such is used in children’s products, women’s products and the fashion and beauty industries.
Grey
Grey is said to be compromising. It evokes power and control while also creating mystery and showcasing a level of elegance. All industries utilize grey and it is commonly mixed with other colors.
Brown
Brown is a natural and earthy tone and as such, it takes on the traits of reliability, honesty and natural. Brown is used to imply common sense, creating warmth and stability. It is most commonly used in the agriculture, construction, transportation, legal and food industries
Black
Black, much like grey, is a powerful color that accompanies the traits of control, mystery and elegance. It is used in all industries and often combined with other colors.
White
White is often purely the background color when it comes to logos and is often disregarded but it has very distinct personality traits. White is a hygienic, clean and pure color that is used to showcase clarity, youth and innocence. As such it is often combined with other colors to create more complex personalities,
The Effects of Shape, Orientation & Font
The personality of your company goes beyond the colors, the shapes and orientation have a specific effect in the psychological response consumers have to a logo.
Circles
Circles are secure and continual. They are used to showcase femininity and protection as well as long-lasting security. When multiple circles are used together this showcases a sense of community, love and support, infinity and continuity. For a prime example think about the Olympic Logo.
Rectangles/Squares
The sharp corners and commonality of rectangles and squares work in tandem to create a sense of stability and balance. Squares are reliable and bold which creates a shape that is often used in corporate logos as a means to showcase professionalism and efficiency.
Triangles
Triangles are both the most secure and the most unstable of shapes and as such has the ability to call upon both ideologies. When a triangle is on its base it represents stability, which makes sense because in this formation triangles are the strongest shape and as such are seen as masculine, strong and aggressive. When a triangle is on its point it represents tension and change. At any point, it could shift from unstable to stable. This sense of instability is often used to represent movement, speed and conflict.
Organic and spirals
Organic and spiral shapes have the ability to capture and surprise, they are often more whimsical and fluid which gives a more organic feel. These logos often have a hand-drawn feel which embodies a natural, youthful and free personality.
Orientation
Vertical logos are said to be masculine and aggressive and showcase strength courage and dominance. These logos tend to appear narrower and taller. On the other hand, horizontal logos are seen as feminine and showcase a sense of calmness and tranquility. This orientation makes your logo appear wider.
Font
Just like the shapes and colors of your logo, your font choice has a psychological effect on people. Much of this impact comes from the generalized shape of the letters. Fonts like Times New Roman are seen as stable and mature as well as unimaginative and conformist, whereas Comic Sans was seen as a happy, casual and youthful font. No matter the specific font, the generalized effect stays constant.
For a business logo, the font choice should be more traditional and clean, as you want your business to come across as trustworthy and credible. For a more casual coffee shop-type company, you want the font to make the customers comfortable and relaxed.
The most important part of the font choice for your logo is that the company’s name is legible and readable.
Review
Just as with people, logos are a composite of everything that makes them up. The color combinations come together to form a list of personality traits, the shapes, lines, and orientation work to further that psychological response and the font choice round the logo in creating an expressive face that can be used to promote your company.
What does your logo say about you? Is it how you want to promote yourself? Need a new logo? Contact us today and let us help you create a face worthy of your company.