What does your company’s logo say about you? Of course, it is possible that it doesn’t reveal that much, which is not particularly efficient as a logo. Still, there’s something far worse. Some logos are so poorly designed that they send the wrong message or even scare your customers away. This is because someone made them with little or no understanding of the psychology of the logo designing process. Here are several things you need to know to avoid the same fate and steps to have a successful logo.
Psychology That Goes into Logo Designing Process
1. Symbolism and simplicity
The first issue worth addressing here is symbolism. Namely, unless your brand is already a household name, your audience will start looking for clues about you as soon as they encounter you. Therefore, you need a logo that’s symbolic of what you do. For instance, as a healthcare organization, you want to use a heart, a Band-Aid, an injection, a thermometer, or a Rod of Asclepius as a symbol. This way, your audience doesn’t have to look up the ‘about us’ section to figure out your industry.
Nonetheless, the problem with the most common symbols is that everyone is already using them. This means that to stay unique, you have to use variations or alterations. This might lead you astray, seeing how an effort to stand out might push you towards changing so much that your logo becomes abstract or outright confusing. This creates an entirely different problem, seeing how it might frustrate your audience upon their failure to discern it.
Yet another issue with complex symbols is one’s inability to verbalize them. If they can’t describe your logo with words (at least easily), you might find it harder to gain word-of-mouth recommendations. A failure to verbalize the logo’s predominant element might lead to a failure to remember the logo later on entirely. This might not be so horrible for brand recognition, but it might make your brand awareness more difficult in the long run.
2. Color inspires emotion: Steps of a successful logo
Colors also have their symbolism; a red cross symbolizes a health organization, while a white or a black one is more likely to stand for a religious organization. Nevertheless, this is not the central role of color. In its essence, a color is there to inspire a particular emotion. For instance, black stands for power or sophistication. White stands for hope and purity, while red is the color of love, passion, or danger. You can choose a color from the specter depending on the emotion you’re trying to evoke. Moreover, blue is the color of tranquility. Yellow symbolizes intellect and warmth, while green is the color of luck, nature, and growth.
The tricky part about a specific color is that you can choose whether to use it on its own or in a particular combination. With a variety, you’ll have an easier job of being unique. However, it is quite possible to send contradictory, even confusing signals. Therefore, picking a color and sticking to it might be cleaner, simpler, and more transparent. In this way, you are solving the issue of the color of your logo and the primary color of your entire brand. We’re talking about your staff’s uniforms, the product packages (like Coca-Cola or McDonald’s), and much more.
3. The psychology of shape on logo designing
Another thing you should understand is that different shapes also make us perceive things differently. For instance, sports gear brands like Nike or Adidas have sharp logos that convey an aerodynamic and efficient body. Needless to say, this makes sense in the fitness world. However, it is not something that you often see in the world of the food industry. Here, people are more content with curves, and McDonald’s (although monogram) is a perfect example of how this works.
When going with symbols, this might not be as relevant, but it might be something to look out for when designing an abstract logo. The problem with these rules is that they can sometimes be overwhelming, and to tackle them, you need to find someone skilled and experienced in logo design services.
4. People don’t read
While words and letters may be crucial to some logos, there are situations in which you need to rethink your need to include a word in your logo design. Monograms and initials serve as great logos, provided that the idea isn’t already taken within your industry, but what about words or complete sentences? Someone closely examining your stamp may be able to read and understand the message, but most people won’t bother. So, significant steps successful logo creation process.
Therefore, sticking to an image or a notion is much better. If you have to use words, try sticking with something short, simple, and memorable. Moreover, avoid words that can potentially spell a spelling mistake (double letter words or those with a hyphen).
5. Watch out for something unintentionally inappropriate
You may use inappropriate or misleading shapes when combining seemingly simple shapes and symbols. For you, this might slip unnoticed since you already know what the logo is about to represent. Yet, don’t expect everyone else to be as oblivious. Try bringing in several different outsiders to ensure this is not the case. Belonging to other demographic groups and asking them what they think about it. Sometimes, it’s not just a lack of perspective but a generational or cultural gap that stands in your way.
As you can see, the principles of proper logo design aren’t many. But they are all equally vital to the design process’s success. In conclusion, Ignoring them is a business practice bound to return to haunt you in the future. Nevertheless, with some research, testing, and the proper counsel on your side, you have nothing to fear with the appropriate steps for a successful logo.
6. Typography psychology
The style of a font is a language that goes beyond words. There are five main fonts: serif, sans-serif, script, script, and ornament. Like symbols, their psychological associations have much to do with their historical uses. However, font styles can still make a logo name or tagline look traditional, technical, elegant, or personal.
7. Gestalt theory & psychology present on logo designing
Gestalt theory explains how the human brain organizes complex shapes. In logo design, these six design principles help designers ensure designs are perceived the way they intended and maximize the power of shapes. In different words, if the overall shape is confusing and distracting, it will be difficult for the designer to connect with the audience on a psychological level.
