Inreason Media - Creative Logic for a thinking world

How does your logo measure up?

Six points to determine if your logo is helping or hindering communication.

When marketing your company, if ”image is king”, then your logo is the crown of your corporate identity. The question is whether that crown is one of jewels or thorns. Everyone responsible for the marketing collateral of a company needs to occasionally review their logo and determine if it is still appropriate for the stage their company is at. A relatively new company (1-5 years old) may have had an extremely small budget for their corporate identity but now realizes that their growth has exceeded their ”mom & pop” demeanor. Conversely, a larger, more established company might have had a logo that reflects who they are for quite some time but is now outdated or does not mirror the direction their company has taken in recent years.

Following are six points to consider when determining if your logo is an asset or a liability. Although they all employ common sense, they are details that are often overlooked.

1.	Does the logo have emotional value? This is the most subjective point to consider and is often up for grabs when personal opinions are expressed. Yet, the differences between communicating “strong” and “delicate” or “traditional” and “innovative” are quite apparent. These emotional values are very important in influencing a logo design and sometimes are never investigated by the novice designer or the new company putting their own stationary together. (There are other sub points to this entry as well, like dialogue and symbolism, but to cover these completely would become an article unto itself.)

2.	Does the logo utilize the “less is more” concept? Even when communicating a complex idea, the graphic should approach the fine line of simplicity for best readability. This does not require the end-user or spectator to study or analyze the logo in order to realize the identity.

3.	Is the logo legible at small as well as large sizes? Your logo should be readable at very small sizes in order to take advantage of opportunities like small ad space or promotional products. Problems with legibility at large sizes is comparable to selecting a paint color chip at the hardware store and then finding out it looks completely different on the large wall.

4.	Is the logo legible within different mediums? Consideration should be given to your identity regarding the multiple types of mediums used for marketing such as print, broadcast or Internet. Your logo needs to display well within your black and white facsimile cover page as well as on your website.

5.	Is the logo easy to resize and reproduce? When dealing with the myriad of different vendors used to market a company, this point becomes excruciatingly obvious. The full color logo with multiple gradients is not only costly to reproduce, it is costly for vendors to resize as well.

6.	Is the logo flexible? Forethought needs to be given regarding issues such as reversal of the logo, placement of graphic elements around the logo and if those elements should be limited or not. The design of the corporate identity is driven by the logo. Therefore, the selection of fonts, colors, image treatments, and other related elements needs to be considered as well at the time the logo is developed.

Following these simple guidelines will ensure that your logo will convey your company's individuality and the development of your corporate identity will follow naturally.

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Evans Wheeler is the principal of Inreason Media, a design firm specializing in corporate identity development and implementation.