18 November 2008

When we design a web site, one of the things we love doing is designing a ‘favicon’ - you will find a favourites icon to the left of a web address in your browser.  It sometimes get forgotten which is a shame because no one should under estimate the power of this little adornment.

The favicon is the epitome of a logo, a logo being a mark, brand or trademark used in the earliest of civilizations to state ownership.

They are becoming more common, if you look at your book marked pages, most of them will have a page with a turned down corner to the left of the name.  The ones that will stand out are the few that have a specially designed favicon in place.  Our own favourites icon is ideal, it says LOGO, is white on a blue background - strong, simple, to the point. Who could miss LogoPro when they book mark all the possible online logo design companies they are considering?

A well designed favicon can work on a subliminal level.

Having a favicon in place shows an attention to detail.

A strong favicon get’s you noticed in the bookmark column.

A favourites icon is just one more way of using your branding to keep your business in the public eye.

If you have an existing logo design and would like our logo designers to design your favourites icon, contact us at LogoPro, where we will adapt your logo design so it works well for your and give you the file and instructions on how to include it on your web site.

17 November 2008

In August BSMimpact chose to work with our online logo design company. They are an established consultancy, with the likes of Compaq/HP, IBM, Centrica, British Airways, Vodafone and TuringSMI on their client list.  As their brief stated ‘We adopt a methodical and completely business-focused approach to designing and implementing practical, pragmatic and innovative solutions’. We knew we had to rise to the challenge and provide them with a logo that reflected such a dynamic company. BSMimpact have been a delight to work for, providing our logo designer with thoughtful responses and suggestions, helping to create a logo design they could feel proud of.

14th October 2008

You have decided your business needs a new logo design, one of the first steps in establishing a new business, an important step if you are an established business.

When deciding to buy a new logo, make a check list of what are you buying a new logo design for?

Planning ahead will mean you will assess the logo design concepts offered with a more critical eye, ask yourself or your logo designer - will this ratio work on my web site, will this font have enough impact on my vehicles…  Before your begin the process, find the logos that inspire you, look at your competitors - working out what you don’t want is also important.

Thinks to consider:

logo design for a web site
Your new logo design will probably be the starting point for the design of your new web site. Generally you will need a logo design that is landscape in proportion, having said that our own logo is portrait! Don’t be bound by colours, feel free to have your logo in different colour ways for different uses.

Stationery including business cards
You will using your new logo design everyday, so it is important to feel comfortable with it.  When you send out your letters or emails, when you invoice your clients, when you hand out your businss card, you want to feel proud of your branding.  To be proud of the look and the quality of your stationery - so often we see people handing out a business card to a potential client, along with an apology for the card because it’s out of date or because they cost £9.00 for 250 card - a bargain! Think what that says about that business.

Brochures, flyers, data sheets
You may decide to print only one colour, so it is important to have a version of your logo design that works in say, black and white, or shades of black and white.

Advertising in news papers and magazines

Carrier bags or other types of packaging
Bold simple designs work well on carrier bags. Make good use of this type of promotion, make sure your carriers can be read and understood out on the street.

Uniforms, clothing, any number of personalised promotional products
Whether your logo design is being embroidered or screen printed, again keep it simple. Graduated colours don’t really work on embroidery, small lettering will be lost. Be bold, aim for a good contrast in colours.

Cars, vans, maybe even trains and planes
Another great opportunity to get your message out there.  Who can forget those baked beans on toast emblazoned all over the London buses, not a logo but what an impact.

Shop facias
So many ways a logo design can be applied to shop facias!  Don’t leave it to sign writers, they are not designers.

Bill boards

Think ahead, be open minded, perhaps you need a various layouts using the same concept, for instance a logo design that is long and thin (landscape) good for shop facias, a squarer layout for use on boxes or carrier bags (portrait). Perhaps you need to be able to use just the text or just the image, if there is one in your logo.  Ultimately you need a complete set, all carefully thought about for their particular application.

If you think you will need your logo for any or all of the above, do talk to one of our logo designers.  Once we understand your requirements we will be able to quote for adapting your new branding to your new business.

LogoPro are experts in all areas of graphic design and often work with clients on their complete identity, usually beginning with our online logo design packages.

10th October 2008

Coming to LogoPro for a second time, this client wanted a new logo design for an online shop. This was the brief:

‘Our company will be selling consumer goods including clothing, hi-fi, computers and more via our online shop www.pricekind.co.uk

LOGO/IMPORTANT INFO: We will only stock products for which we can guarantee that our prices will be the lowest in the UK. Our stock is updated daily and available only on first come first served basis. We offer a full range of payment, delivery and collection services.’

Our logo designers alway read the brief our clients send us with great care, looking at every tiny bit of information because it might be the spark that helps create a great logo design.

Pricekind.co.uk dismissed the concept that, as it turned out, was their ideal logo. We find that clients need time to digest the concepts offered to them, before choosing a design to develop further.  We were very happy with the final logo design, which is bright, eye catching and humorous.

1st October 2008

We are very pleased to report that a high proportion of our work comes from clients returning to LogoPro.  They come for a variety of reasons, not just for excellent logo design, that is fast, professional and incredibly good value.  One such client is TankVet, who came to us some years ago, opting for our logo design and stationery design package. We also printed their stationery, which they were very happy with.

In September 2008, they came back to us for a logo for a different company but still in the same business.  Our studio manager decided to put a different logo designer on this project, aiming to give our client the freshest concepts possible.   Our client was bowled over ‘I really like the logos, they are fantastic’ - the sort of response we love!

They chose a logo design from the first six concepts offered, and although they looked at variations they went back to the 1st logo design as their final choice.

24th September 2008

Over the years we have learned that our clients choose to come to our online logo design company for a number of reasons.  Often it is through word of mouth, past clients recommending LogoPro’s services to others.  The other main route is finding us through the search engines.  We assume that people who come to us through an online search, have chosen us because of the style of logos in our portfolio.  Although we aim to display a huge range of logo designs in our portfolio, inevitably a house style will come through.

Bilsea Electrical Services came to LogoPro in August, they submitted the briefest of brief for our logo designers to work on.  With Bilsea Electrical Services it took a second round of concepts to discover what our client was looking for. The response to our first 6 logo design concepts gave us a much clearer idea of the way to go – ‘the sort of thing I like would probably be best described as abstract ‘. The final logo design is quirky and still manages to convey the core business, electrical services, and looks perfectly at home in the LogoPro logo design portfolio.

22nd September 2008

A new look web site is now up and running for The Branding Warehouse.  The Branding Warehouse have been successfully selling via their web site for years, but the managing director knew that it was sadly lacking in impact. They asked us to design a new logo for them in the spring of 2007.  It had to bold and professional in it’s design, appealing to the important customers they already catered for and to attract new customers looking to buy promotional gifts from a company with an excellent reputation.

Happy with their new identity, The Branding Warehouse returned to us a year later, looking for the same professional commitment to good design, to design and build a new web site for them.  We worked hard to design a front page that was both eye catching and instantly easy to understand just what the company were offering. This included 16 bespoke illustrations of promotional gifts, with the company logo design in place, demonstrating perfectly the gifts available that could create a lasting impression for any business.

15th September 2008

Kingsbury Town Football Club decided to use an online logo design agency to design a logo for their club house.  They chose our business class logo design package when they came to us in August.  The new logo was specifically needed for promoting the clubs function hall, so they did not want any reference to football players, footballs or nets.  Out of all the concepts offered by our logo designers, they chose a design using a crown. Simple but effective, there is the association with king as in Kingsbury Town, king as in ‘king of the castle’ or ‘top of the heap’, also a crown as in a party hat.  We tried many colour combinations on the concepts sent, but in the end it was obvious the colours chosen should be the colours of the team strip, black and orange.

We would be please to receive any comments on this new logo design by LogoPro via our news blog or via our contact us page.

22nd August 2008

Following on from yesterday’s news, LogoPro are pleased to report the return of another loyal customer, who came back to us this month for a new logo design. Yellowstone Recruitment came to us in 2005 looking to brand their recruitment agency, specialists in marketing, pr and design. They chose a fun, quirky design then, a design we have proudly displayed in our portfolio for the last 3 years. Yellowstone director felt now was the time for a change, she asked our logo designers to create a bold, simple statement for their new company logo design. The new logo can be seen in place on yellowstonerecruitment.co.uk

21st August 2008

The Branding Warehouse came to LogoPro in May 2007 for a new logo design, stationery design and print. They were so happy with the results they came back to us a year later asking us to redesign their web site. They sell personalised promotional products of every shape and size, any of which can be embossed, engraved, printed or embroidered with a clients logo. Apparently ‘The most cost-effective proven marketing tool in history is the business gift!’ The Branding Warehouse web site looked drab with acres of text, all that has changed, they will have a striking web site to go with their strong new logo design. The web site will be fast to load and easy to navigate, so important if you want to keep a potential customers interest.

Online logo design and web design gives people a choice they have never had before. LogoPro is continually proving that lengthy face to face meetings with costly, conventional design agencies is unnecessary, that choosing to buy a logo design online, using professional logo designers can be a rewarding experience.