Helpful Tips
A simple rule of thumb is that if you cannot look at a logo for a quick 10 seconds and then draw it with pen and paper, it's too detailed to be an effective brand.
STEPS TO SUCCESS:
Creating A Great Logo Design
There are three basic types of logos, which can be used alone or combined within one design:
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Illustrative logos (a logo which clearly illustrates what your company does) |
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graphic logos (a logo that includes a graphic, often an abstraction, of what your company does) |
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font-based logos (a text treatment which represents your company) |
Below is a list of great logo design QUALITIES and short descriptions as to how they work together to create a logo design that's both original and unforgettable:
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Simplicity
Simply put, simplicity is one element all effective logo designs have in common. People are drawn to clean, uncluttered logo designs because they can easily absorb and recognize the symbol at a glance. Busy, crowded logos ? such as designs featuring many intricate details, elaborate images or pictures ? are distracting to the viewer and tend not to be as well recognized as cleaner designs. |
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Proportionality
Ideally, a logo should function as a discrete unit with a width not much greater than its height. Remember that a logo design should work well on anything from a business card to a billboard, and logos that are too long or too tall become difficult to read when they are reduced or enlarged. |
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Small Color Palette
It is no coincidence that 80% of the world's most widely recognized logos use either one or two colors. Truth be told, few good logo designs use more than three colors; this is because using more than three colors usually turns a logo to mud. A basic color palette of one to three colors (which may or may not include black) keeps things simple and allows the selected colors to clearly convey a mood or emotion. |
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Easily Legible Fonts
Creating a logo design in elaborate script fonts may look classy, but what good is a logo if nobody can read it? Your best bet is to choose a font that is distinctive but still easy to read. (FYI ? Two thirds of most logos are designed with sans serif fonts, such as Arial and Veranda, with the other one third designed in serif fonts such as Times New Roman and Garamond.) |
How recognizable is your brand? Did you know that a strong brand identity can increase your revenue 10 – 20%? If you feel your logo or marketing materials are not as strong as you would like, let the Next-Step-Up Communications help.
STEPS TO SUCCESS:
Checklist for Great Web Design:
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Background does not interrupt the text |
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Text is big enough to read, but not too big |
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The hierarchy of information is perfectly clear |
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Columns of text are narrower than in a book to make reading easier on the screen |
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Navigation buttons and bars are easy to understand and use |
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Navigation is consistent throughout web site |
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Navigation buttons and bars provide the visitor with a clue as to where they are, what page of the site they are on |
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Link colors coordinate with page colors |
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Links are underlined so they are instantly clear to the visitors |
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Every graphic has an alt label |
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Every graphic link has a matching text link |
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Graphics and backgrounds use browser-safe colors |
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Pages download quickly |
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Good use of graphic elements (photos, subheads, pull quotes) to break up large areas of text |
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Every web page in the site looks like it belongs to the same site; there are repetitive elements that carry throughout the pages |
If people can't remember what your logo looks like, they won't recognize it when they see it again and thus they won't remember your company or your brand.
STEPS TO SUCCESS:
Define Success Personally & Professionally
How you measure success depends on many variables,
not just your bank account.
What do you mean by success?
- Is it working less hours so you can spend time with your family and your interests?
- Is it having more energy to tackle your tasks?
- Is it growing in confidence so you can communicate your business and product better to others?
- Is it increasing your volume of sales?
Remember that success needs to be clearly defined with all aspects of success considered.
STEPS TO SUCCESS:
Set Specific Goals to Increase Success
A specific goal is a goal that incorporates an action plan that outlines how you will achieve the goal, and a performance measure that tells you how you will evaluate the goal.
This is the goal setting formula for ensuring that you're setting a specific goal:
"I will (goal +
performance measure)
BY (specific actions)."
The performance measure in the goal is often a date or a length of time, but it could be any objective criteria that you can use to determine whether or not you've accomplished the specific goal that you've set.
STEPS TO SUCCESS:
Business Planning is more than Paperwork
Before you can engage in useful business planning, you need to gather the information that will allow you to identify priorities and make decisions. This information may include demographic data, market research, labor market information, competitive intelligence etc.
Business Planning Needs...
- to be based on real, timely information.
- to be action-based.
- to identify risks and challenges.
- to be ethical.
- to have measurable and achievable goals.
STEPS TO SUCCESS:
Connect with Common Points
Ministries, churches and non-profit organizations have the same job as for profit businesses and corporations:
- To Get Noticed
- To Get Remembered
- To Get A Response
Make sure that you are in touch with the "felt needs" of your target audience and that you are focused on your purpose.
Felt needs are a way to describe being aware of what's going on inside of your someone's mind.
The list of felt needs can range from needing to part of something important to needing to be included.
People respond when they feel that their needs are being met in someway. Your ministry or organization has a purpose to serve God but also to serve others. Do all you can to make it clear what your purpose truly is.
Unique selling position techniques...
We devise and implement a plan to get your UNIQUE message across to your audience in cost-effective ways with multi-level impressions.
To be as compelling or persuasive as possible requires that you know your product's USP; that is, what sets it apart from your competition. To determine that, we suggest you follow the USP Identification Procedure by answering the following questions:
- What are the key features of my product?
- What are the key features of the competitive products?
- Which of my product's key features are truly different?
- If there's more than one, is one the most significant?
- How does that most important unique feature, or combination of features, translate into a real benefit?
By answering those questions sequentially, the answer to question 5 will be your USP. It may be a single differentiating factor, or it may be a combination. Either way, it must have the characteristics identified above by Rogers and Abraham, and it must be:
- Simple
- Believable
- Communicable
...All to focus your niche and stay on track with the needs of your prospects.
You can help them take the Next-Step-Up.
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