Corporate identity may seem like a high-level problem for medium- and large-sized corporations, but this cannot be farther from the truth. In fact, at the risk of sounding biblical, each business is created equal. In other words, big or small, each is considered its own, separate legal entity. Just as each individual has its own birth certificate, each business has its own Articles of Incorporation establishing its "birth." And since each business is considered its own entity, would it not stand to reason that each business have its own face or personality? All Fortune 500 companies have their own face and personality, which appear in the shape of a corporate logo.
For many small business owners, creating an appropriate image for their company seems to be one of the greatest challenges. Business owners may have no interest whatsoever in developing a brand, company name, or corporate logo. In these cases, the business relies heavily on word-of-mouth referrals for sales, arguably the best path to low-resistance growth available today. But at some point, the referral gravy train slows and the business has nothing but a name. Sometimes, that name is stenciled into a window in a plain or fancy font, or just simply printed on a car-door magnet that goes on in the morning and comes off at night (because it's embarrassing to look at).
To develop an image for your business, the typical first step might be to design and adopt a corporate logo. While some business owners might enjoy the chore of creating a corporate logo for their business, many more cringe at the thought. After all, most people can identify a do-it-yourself logo. But for owners who insist on creating their own corporate logo, we recommend seeking the opinion of a third party. Former clients and network colleagues who have no interest in your business might be able to offer honest opinions of your in-house corporate logo design.
For the business owner looking for a professional corporate logo, there are numerous providers available who will design your logo from scratch. The process normally starts with the business owner completing a creative brief. This document outlines the business (e.g. what it does) and through a series of questions the designer(s) get a feel for the company's personality. Completing the creative brief should take a bit of time on the owner's part as it will ultimately result in several sample corporate logos.
The next stage involves designing the logo. During this period, the designer uses information provided in the brief to mould a corporate that will not only fit your business and needs, but will meet your (or exceed) your expectations. As a non-designer, this process seems rather simple because everything you want has already been written down in the creative brief; all the designer needs to do is incorporate each element the same way you might follow a recipe.
The last step involves reviewing a series of sample logos and choosing the one that best fits your business and the image you are trying to project. With a few final tweaks, the corporate logo that will help give your business its presence is complete.
The price for logos vary widely from as little as $25 to well over $5,000 or more. Although some corporate logos can be had for a bargain (Nike, for example, paid less than $25 for their corporate logo), quality usually comes at a price. Rather than return to the corporate logo table multiple times, we encourage business owners to take the process seriously the first time around and work with a designer that will meet or exceed expectations at whatever price.
Quote Stork works with two logo designers. VistaPrint is one of them and offers cheaper and self-serve corporate logo design. Since VistaPrint wants you to buy stationery product from them (e.g. letterheads, business cards, stamps, etc.) they will let you build your own generic logo and if you order other product, they will let you have this logo for free. For a company where a corporate logo is not all that important, VistaPrint makes sense. For businesses where image is rather important (and this will be most businesses), the other logo designer Quote Stork endorses is LogoWorks. For $299, LogoWorks provides high-quality corporate logos. While the price seems steep up-front, the quality of logo speaks for itself (you can view their work on-line) and the end-product is not only more likely to satisfy, but to endure over time.
For many small business owners, creating an appropriate image for their company seems to be one of the greatest challenges. Business owners may have no interest whatsoever in developing a brand, company name, or corporate logo. In these cases, the business relies heavily on word-of-mouth referrals for sales, arguably the best path to low-resistance growth available today. But at some point, the referral gravy train slows and the business has nothing but a name. Sometimes, that name is stenciled into a window in a plain or fancy font, or just simply printed on a car-door magnet that goes on in the morning and comes off at night (because it's embarrassing to look at).
To develop an image for your business, the typical first step might be to design and adopt a corporate logo. While some business owners might enjoy the chore of creating a corporate logo for their business, many more cringe at the thought. After all, most people can identify a do-it-yourself logo. But for owners who insist on creating their own corporate logo, we recommend seeking the opinion of a third party. Former clients and network colleagues who have no interest in your business might be able to offer honest opinions of your in-house corporate logo design.
For the business owner looking for a professional corporate logo, there are numerous providers available who will design your logo from scratch. The process normally starts with the business owner completing a creative brief. This document outlines the business (e.g. what it does) and through a series of questions the designer(s) get a feel for the company's personality. Completing the creative brief should take a bit of time on the owner's part as it will ultimately result in several sample corporate logos.
The next stage involves designing the logo. During this period, the designer uses information provided in the brief to mould a corporate that will not only fit your business and needs, but will meet your (or exceed) your expectations. As a non-designer, this process seems rather simple because everything you want has already been written down in the creative brief; all the designer needs to do is incorporate each element the same way you might follow a recipe.
The last step involves reviewing a series of sample logos and choosing the one that best fits your business and the image you are trying to project. With a few final tweaks, the corporate logo that will help give your business its presence is complete.
The price for logos vary widely from as little as $25 to well over $5,000 or more. Although some corporate logos can be had for a bargain (Nike, for example, paid less than $25 for their corporate logo), quality usually comes at a price. Rather than return to the corporate logo table multiple times, we encourage business owners to take the process seriously the first time around and work with a designer that will meet or exceed expectations at whatever price.
Quote Stork works with two logo designers. VistaPrint is one of them and offers cheaper and self-serve corporate logo design. Since VistaPrint wants you to buy stationery product from them (e.g. letterheads, business cards, stamps, etc.) they will let you build your own generic logo and if you order other product, they will let you have this logo for free. For a company where a corporate logo is not all that important, VistaPrint makes sense. For businesses where image is rather important (and this will be most businesses), the other logo designer Quote Stork endorses is LogoWorks. For $299, LogoWorks provides high-quality corporate logos. While the price seems steep up-front, the quality of logo speaks for itself (you can view their work on-line) and the end-product is not only more likely to satisfy, but to endure over time.
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