You know what this icon stands for, right? Do you know why you know?
Because it’s been used repeatedly, with little or no variation, for a long time over hundreds of thousands of separate messages.
That’s how organization logos work, too. Like icons, they become familiar, even instantly recognizable, over long and repeated use.
I bet you can picture the Apple logo in your mind right now, can’t you? That’s because Apple has been using the same logo, with variations in color but precious little else, since 1976.
Consistency is key in using your logo to present your image to the world. If you’re consistent, you can become an icon.
True stories that show how not to use your logo
- In its second rebranding effort in three years, a large for-profit slapped its new logo atop its old website, which still boasts the old colors and design elements. Even I can see that those greens just don’t match!
- A small hunger-related nonprofit has a logo that was custom-designed by a local artist, free of charge. It uses that logo on its stationery, another logo (which looks suspiciously like clipart) on its reports, and yet a third thingamabob on its website.
- Staff of another small nonprofit ordered business cards online using a generic image that looked something like – but clearly was not – their custom-designed logo.
The professional way to do branding is to hire a design firm that will go through an in-depth process with various stakeholder groups to understand your organization’s mission, competition, culture, and desired public image. In addition to a logo that matches or evokes those qualities, the design firm will supply a brand guide that specifies acceptable colors, fonts, layouts, and terminology.
If your organization can afford that kind of process, then you’ve got a brand guide. Use it. Where the large company in #1 went wrong was in not following its own guidelines, which clearly state what colors and design elements to use.
Smaller organizations, whether nonprofits or small businesses, often can’t afford a proper branding process.
But not having big bucks doesn’t mean you can’t achieve brand recognition. Sheriff stars were probably designed (or, more accurately, adapted) by local blacksmiths or by sheriffs themselves – and look how well that icon has lasted.
If you can’t afford the full branding treatment, try to dig up a few hundred dollars to pay a hungry young designer to design a logo for you and to set letterhead and website banners that look similar and use the logo in the exactly the same way.
Struggling entrepreneurs may be able to set up a barter arrangement: logo design for a professional headshot, tutoring, a new pet, whatever you have to give. If you can’t afford even that much, let your name serve as your logo until you can. In the meantime:
- Pick a relatively unusual but still highly readable font. There are lots of free font sites, including dafont and 1001 Free Fonts.
- Pick a color.
- Use your organization name in that font and that color on every communication you produce, from Facebook and Twitter pages to business cards.
Do not, under any circumstances, use a piece of clipart as your logo. The point of clipart is to be generic and unrecognizable. The point of a logo is to be specific to your organization alone and (over time) instantly recognizable.
Whatever you do, do it consistently. You want to achieve icon status, like the sheriff’s badge. Let me know if you need help.
Geek out on typography: Play I Shot the Serif.