Your logo is an icon for your business; a graphical image that you will be using for a long time. You will spend a great deal of money over a period of years to get your customers to associate your logo with your Brand. To say that your logo is important is an understatement - and yet most of us don't make much effort to design a suitable logo for every new brand that we try to bring to market.

The problem is a simple one: Your logo must visually convey the essential concepts that you want to associate with your brand. The hard part is that it must also be designed to fit the various media that you might want to use - not just today but over a period of many years into the future! Some obvious types of media include:

• Business Cards
• Letterhead
• Pamphlets
• Web site mastheads
• Promotional Videos

... but this is only a partial list - it does not include many medias that are already in use (like Coffee Cups, to name one,) and whatever other marketing vehicles might come along over the years!

You might also be surprised to know that there are all kinds of studies that have been done related to logo colors. To maximize the effectiveness of your logo you need to choose colors that are associated with the moods and other attributes that match the demographics of your target customer base.

Note that some media are available in single/solid colors only - not all media can support the use of multiple colors. In fact each media type will impose different restrictions on your logo.

To make it easier for you to navigate the vast array of issues related to your logo, BNT Solutions recommends that you carefully consider and document the business requirements associated with your logo and take this documentation to an experienced Graphic Design Artist.

Experienced artists tend to have large collections of clip-art that they can use to quickly assemble new logo ideas for your consideration. They are aware of the various color and aspect ratio restrictions of different media - so they can restrict themselves to presenting only logo ideas that will be of long-term benefit to you.

To get the best results:

1. List two or three major keywords that describe the concepts that your logo must convey. For example:
   • If you are selling complex electronic systems for use in an office environment you will want to specify keywords such as Office Technology.
   • If your organization provides services for the family you can specify Family as a keyword.
2. List one or two major attributes that you want to associate with your brand. For example:
   • If your brand must establish confidence and trust you will want to ask for a Conservative logo.
   • If your brand must be exciting and rebellious you will want to ask for an Exciting logo.
3. Specify an aspect ratio for your logo.
   • If you plan to use your logo in High-Definition video presentations or if you want your logo to cover the top of your company letterhead - you will want to specify a Wide aspect ratio; perhaps even as wide as 16:9.
   • If you plan to use your logo in the left or right ear of your website masthead, you will need a short logo that is not too wide; perhaps with a 5:4 or 4:3 aspect ratio.
   • Note that a logo with a 1:1 (square,) 3:4 (0.75/1,) 4:3 (1.33/1) or 5:4 (1.25/1) aspect ratio can successfully be used in the vast majority of cases. On the other hand, the wider a logo gets the harder it is to use it in many common applications.
4. Decide if you might ever want to use a tiny version of your logo in some situations. Logos with text in them are hard to reduce in size as the text will tend to disappear. If you want to have a logo that can shrink you need to eliminate any details that might not render properly in the desired size on the target media.

   Make sure you inform your graphic artist about your intentions regarding scalability.

There are, of course, many other issues to consider - that's why you need to speak with an expert to get the best results.

Remember: You will spend a great deal of money over a period of many years trying to establish an association with your brand in the minds of your target demographic group. Your logo should be designed to help you make that association as quickly and inexpensively as possible.

It's not about how you feel about a particular graphic - it's about how your customer associates with your brand. For best results: Set your emotions aside and let your business requirements guide you.