Getting your logo right is essential for commercial success.
A logo ties your brand identity together and is often the first thing customers think of when recalling your brand. With the universal use of smartphones and apps, your logo is often literally the ‘gateway’ to your site, app, or digital twin, meaning your customers will be confronted with it whenever they want to use your services.
Since logos are so intimately connected to brand recognition, a logo design that matches the expectations of an industry’s aesthetics goes a long way to building brand trustworthiness. And that trust is crucial to your brand’s success.
For example, would you trust a bank with a clown logo, with comic sans font? Probably not.
Would you trust a toy store with a corporate logo and stylized initials? Eh… wouldn’t seem like the most fun!
So, that brings us to the question: what does a good logo look like, and how do you determine ‘good’ within your niche?
What Makes a ‘Good’ Logo?
As the trustworthiness implied by a logo varies by industry, there is no easy one-size-fits-all answer to this question.
Spending time working on your logo with a professional marketing and innovation company is well worth the time and money - it’s a complex formula, so finding a logo that fits clearly into your niche and stands out to your customers is no small feat.
Whatever your brand goals, logo design must start with customer research. Who are you selling to, and what are their aesthetics?
Marketing trends shift with demographics - and so does logo design.
Millennials and Gen Z tend to lean towards aesthetics - they want things to be beautiful and fun rather than simply practical. That applies to logos as much as anything else! On the other hand, the 'silver economy' (baby boomers, who tend to have disposable income) appreciate simplicity in branding and marketing.
Knowledge of your audience is key. When you work with Fifth & Cor, you'll benefit from audience insights and profiles that will help you make the right design decisions for your logo, whether you intend to expand your audience or reaffirm your connection to current customers.
Whoever you’re marketing toward, here are some key things to think about when designing a logo:
Even if it’s aesthetic, a logo should be simple. Great examples of this are Slack and Netflix - Bright, interesting logos you would recognize anywhere.
A logo must be relevant to your target market and communicate your brand values and personality.
Of course, a logo needs to be memorable! The goal is to connect consumers to generate interest in your brand.
Strong branding, including a great logo, is necessary for customer retention. If your branding is fitting and memorable, first-time customers are more likely to become repeat customers or users, and eventually brand evangelists.
As much as a logo needs to be relevant and connected to your demographic, it shouldn’t be too trend-led. Timelessness should be taken into account. A good logo remains relevant over time and allows for small style updates as decades pass.
A logo should be versatile. It will be used in various situations, from online to physical ads to merch.
Logo Trustworthiness
If you want a trustworthy logo, do your research. Creating trust is a task that varies significantly from industry to industry. In particular, try to think from a customer perspective. What do your customers see as trustworthy and engaging? Before finding the perfect logo design to build brand trustworthiness, you must know that.
Studies indicate that in “least trusted” industries (per a Gallup study), things like law, news channels, banking, and sports have dominant word or letter logos. This means that your choice of font will be one of the most significant considerations when designing a logo for a brand within these industries.
On the other hand, “most trusted” industries have icon-dominant logos. Trusted industries include the medical sector, agriculture, and the grocery and restaurant industries. Of course, as we are increasingly online (and we use more apps) logos are getting shorter and more eye-catching across the board, even as these trends remain true.
A logo should show who you are and invite potential users or customers to find out more. Whether or not we know it, we're all constantly picking up on visual branding cues. A logo essentially warms a customer up, meaning they know what to expect from a company before they engage with it further. Any dissonance between logo and service can destroy that trust.
Logo Trends
How about logo trends? For trustworthiness, be careful following a trend too intensively. You want your logo to last, after all!
That being said, sensory logos are becoming more popular.
More brands are experimenting with 360-degree marketing using virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). This means the opportunity to test with haptic logos, engaging users’ sense of touch. It’s in its early stages, with feasibility studies underway, but this is probably where logo design, branding, and marketing are heading in the future.
No matter whether you want to develop a logo that works in the metaverse or fancy something old-school and vintage (timeless, even), Fifth & Cor can help. We're happy to work with new businesses in the early stages of branding and logo design and also have extensive experience working on rebrands. Contact us today for a Discovery Call, and let's get started growing your brand.