Every entrepreneur dreams of creating an iconic brand; a business with global recognition that evokes pride, community, and trust. There are a number of factors that go into building an iconic brand, such as presenting a clear set of core values, narrating a well-crafted relatable brand story, as well as exceeding the expectations already set forth. Yet, without a symbol, or icon, to represent what your brand stands for, your audience will struggle to even remember who you are, or what you have to offer them.

That symbol is your logo, and when applied to the foundation of your brand, can turn your business iconic. For instance, if you asked the average consumer which company is represented by two golden arches, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone that didn’t answer McDonald’s. What about the company represented by a checkmark? That’s right - Nike. Two red circles? Yep, Target. An apple with a bite taken out? You guessed it - Apple. Each of these iconic giants understood the importance of building a strong brand foundation, and the importance of a well-conceived logo to represent that foundation.

In order to conceptualize a representation of your brand, you must first establish the foundation of that which you wish to depict. If you are just getting started on your business journey, you will need to determine your business basics (foundation) first.

• WHO? Who are you selling to? Who is your target market?

• WHAT? What are you selling; products, services, or a combination?

• WHERE? Where are you selling; online, brick and mortar, events, or a combination?

• WHEN? When are you selling? Do you have specific hours of operation or seasonal periods? Are there limits to your availability?

• WHY? Why are you selling? What need are you fulfilling?

• HOW? How are you selling; what does your product or service lifecycle look like? What variable selling options do you offer?

Once you establish your business basics, you then must determine your brand basics (foundation).

• WHO? Who are the patrons buying your products (this will not always be the same as who you are selling to)? Who do you support? Who do you represent?

• WHAT? What do you stand for? What do you support? What do you represent?

• WHERE? Where is your brand focused; a specific cause, region, organization, industry, or group? Where is your brand community?

• WHEN? Is your brand focused on the past, present, future, or a combination? 

• WHY? Why should people support and/or buy from your brand? Why should they do so over your competitors?

• HOW? How can your brand community interact, engage, and otherwise invest in your brand?

With your foundations now in place, you should have a clear, concise, big-picture view of your brand. This is the earliest possible stage of the process to initiate designing a logo that will embody those foundations. You have all heard the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words”? Well, the right logo is worth a lifetime of business. It is important to remember that creating a logo requires a creative process. Where most aspects of business are best served in black and white, creating a logo requires a colorful imagination.

Prior to meeting with a designer, there are a number of factors to consider for a successful collaboration. Most designers will ask about these points during your initial consultation, so it is good practice to come to the table prepared. This will ensure all stakeholders are on the same page from the beginning, and a clear message is being conveyed. One thing to keep in mind is that your logo kit will contain any combination of the following: an icon, a wordmark, a combination, and a favicon. Make sure to approach these considerations with a broad range of applications in mind.

• Preferred color palette

  • Most logo kits contain five colors, including black and white, making up a color palette; some brands have more, some less. Colors can be chosen based on the business name; for instance, if your business is called Melon, you may choose cantaloupe orange, honeydew green, and watermelon red. Even if there is an obvious association between the business name and a color, you are not bound by reality in the creative process; for example, Apple has not once released a red apple icon, but they have in black, gray, and even rainbow. When all else fails, choose your personal three favorite colors and leave the imagination to your designer.

• Typography style

  • If you are a font buff, you’re in good company with this task. Assuming you have a few ideas of what styles you want for your design, come to the table with three to five font families for your designer to pull inspiration from. If you always default to Times New Roman or Arial fonts, you may find this one a bit difficult. You can choose three to five of your favorite wordmark logos for your designer to use as a starting point. At the bare minimum, you should come prepared with your desired basic style; whimsical, playful, impactful, loud, proper, etc.

• Symbolism

  • Now we are getting into the meat of the design process; determining the symbol or icon that will represent your brand. More often than not, your business name will provide your symbol for you; for example, Apple has an apple, Target has a target, and Crum Consulting is represented by two interlocking C’s. Yet, sometimes it is less about the name, and more about the message. For many years, Microsoft was represented by a square split into four different colored blocks. This logo was modeled after a window, to help convey how technology and computers offer users an open window to different business opportunities. Another example is the Starbucks siren, designed with the idea to create a brand that was so impressive, the consumers wouldn’t be able to resist it, similar to the lure of the siren. If your symbol isn’t obvious, or you struggle with trying to depict a certain message, start with making a list of adjectives and/or nouns that describe your vision. 

• Desired emotional response

  • List out any and all emotional responses you want your clientele to experience when interacting with your brand. We already listed three desired responses to iconic brand interactions; pride, community, and trust. These are standards across any industry. Focus back on your foundations for this task. If your brand community is composed of families, you’ll likely want to evoke compassion, devotion, loyalty, nurturing, safety, and comfort. Whereas, if your brand community is made up of athletes, you’d want to embody challenge, excitement, teamwork, growth, empowerment, positivity, and perseverance. Let your foundations guide you here.

Taking the time to work through all of this preparation prior to meeting with a designer will save you time and money in the long run, and all but guarantees your design process to be an exciting and enjoyable experience. If you walk into a design project without any of the knowledge we just covered, you will most likely end up experiencing a frustratingly inefficient design process, and a logo that does not embody the full potential of your brand. Build your foundations, define how you want your brand to be perceived, and then settle for nothing less. That is how you take your business from icon to iconic.

When you’re ready to take the next step, we’re here for you.