Checklist : Logo, Logo Design, DIY or Hire a Professional / Agency – Part 1

Welcome to the 3G’s & MHO Checklist Series. 

This is just our idea, and one of many perspectives no doubt, as a result of formal studies of this topic, and work experience since the mid 1990’s, having worked for/with blue chip listed companies on the JSE, as well as on numerous large and small companies spanning construction, education, energy, finance, gambling, hospitality, industrial, marketing, medical, mining, recreational, retail, security, and transport sectors.

This particular series takes a look at logos and more specifically company logos, brand logos and product logos, for use wherever a logo will add value, including but not limited to your Facebook logo, Instagram logo, Twitter logo, LinkedIn logo, website logo, anywhere the business logo can be used to represent your business, ensure recognition, facilitate recollection, illicit positive association, and help drive sought after action.

That is quite a mouthful and could sound rather theoretical or cerebral. Okay, so what is this actually?

When looking at a logo, and more specifically logo design, whether your intent is to undertake this yourself using a free logo maker or some other logo design tool/website, or pay a professional or agency to do so for you, there are various aspects you may want to consider in order to ensure your needs, wants and expectations are met (now and into the future), avoid any miscommunication / misunderstanding, stay on budget (money, time and other resources), and where relevant continue to capitalize on brand equity (brand worth) that has already been earned. 

Due to the extent of this topic, logos, we will approach this topic over the course of a couple of posts (starting with Part 1 – which is usually a good place to begin). And keep it jargon-free (as far as possible) in case you don’t have an intent to major in marketing, branding, or digital presence. 

So what is a logo? And why is it important?

Definition as a starting point only (sorry, had to include some theory / jargon): Logos serve to represent a given organization or company through a visual image that can be easily understood and recognized. A logo generally involves symbols, stylized text or both. Logos are often created by a graphic artist in consultation with a company and marketing experts.

Note: In sourcing this definition I used a search engine to search for “how do you define a logo”.

So, breaking this down, your logo:

• Has to be unique to your organization, business, brand or product so people know it is you
  • Keep in mind this is all the elements combined, not necessarily each individual part that has to be unique.
  • For example
    • How many vehicle repair centers have an image of a car in their logo / branding, so that car shows what they service at that particular business;
    • How many people are named Joe;
    • But what makes it unique is the car image is part of the logo that also includes the words “Joe’s Vehicle Service Centre”, so you can recognize it is Joe’s business and what he does.
• Can include symbols
  • Symbols are an easy association of a picture,  or design concept, to a particular thing, typically shared by people (in general, or within a specific community / group that focuses on this type of topic / business / service)
  • Keep in mind that people can also be taught a new association of a picture or design concept if it is either a new picture or design concept, or an application of an existing picture or design concept to a new thing
    • Think apple and Apple computers and software
  • For example
    • Using the car image that we used in Joe’s Vehicle Service Centre above, this car image could be used in combination with other words, or even other symbols (or both) to represent something else:
      • For a car dealership showroom
      • To designate parking for cars
      • To show a road/path is for use by cars
      • To demonstrate vehicle traffic (and now suddenly by association, for people experienced with travelling on roads, one could expect motorbikes, trucks and buses on the road, not only cars, even though the image was only of a car)
• Stylized text
  • Basically taking a name, or a few words, or even a sentence (probably impractical in most instances) and making it look unique, different, even pretty, in some way making the text feel like the experience, or perception, that the business want customers to have.
  • Examples
    • Full names/words : Woolworths, Standard Bank, Total Sports, Total fuel stations,
      • See, even the same word “Total” but used on its own, or in combination with other words can make it unique and recognizable
    • Abbreviations : FNB (First National Bank), BP (British Petroleum), IBM (International Business Machines)
• Can include symbols and text (stylized or otherwise)
  • Sometimes in equal proportion, and sometimes one element (either the symbol or the text) is the main element and the other is a sub-element)
  • I do have an example, see below on 3G’s where I cover various aspects of this article and even different / multiple applications of specific elements.

So let’s take a look at an actual logo example that we did. Let’s look at 3G’s – as a first glance at our logo – and see how it measures up to part 1 of this series.

• 3G’s
  • This is the main element of our logo, the primary identifier
  • We are often just referred to as 3G’s amongst our clients, colleagues and other parties of interest, even by ourselves, be it verbally or in writing
  • We use it as an icon in many applications to represent our brand, and hence, our organization.
  • This is a nice icebreaker as people ask what does the 3G’s stand for, and this gives us an opportunity to engage with them, to start telling our story, to build relationship, and to show them some value that we can add to their venture (as the saying goes “Never trust a thin cook”)
• Branding Consulting Digital
  • This tells you what we do
  • It tells you which areas of business we do it in, or through
  • I mean, 3G’s on its own to someone not exposed to us in anyway wouldn’t tell them much, so they wouldn’t know what we do, and that would make us more easily forgettable.
• Expect more from your communication
  • This is our tagline
  • The opener of our “elevator pitch”
  • Positions us relative to where the audience is at
  • Upfront we make a brand promise

But is that all there is to our logo………. Well no! Nor is this all that there could be to your logo!

So what are your thoughts? Possibly considering some of these aspects of your logo?

Well, that was Part 1. There will be more to follow. You are welcome to access the balance of our articles and other posts. Likewise you are welcome to reach out to us should you want to engage directly with us on this. 

Propitious marketing!

And…….. Expect more from your communication

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