What you’ll see in this article:
• Some examples of effective and bad logos, billboards, and vehicle wraps.
• Why you probably should consider having a professional design your logo.
• Some important principles to follow in logo, billboard, and vehicle wrap design.
• The squint test, and the 2-second test.
Although most of the negative examples on this post seem to be fakes, I have blurred any identifying information. On designs that I compliment, I haven’t seen the need to obscure them.
I’m on a Rant
This post is going to be a bit stream-of-consciousness and rant-y. But forgive me and give me a little bit of grace. This is a topic that I feel passionately about, and it happens to be one that affects you pretty greatly. Let’s talk branding…and specifically the visual part. They say that a vast percentage of communication has to do less about WHAT you say, and more about HOW you are saying it. That’s not much different here in the visual presentation of your branding.
Because this kind of stuff is what I’m focused on every day, I tend to ask myself “is this effective” every time I see a billboard, work truck, product logo, sign, or even a booth at a trade show. I even have 2 cork boards above my desk, one is labeled “Do This” the other “Not That.” On them, I put examples of things that I love and laugh at, respectively.
There is never a lack of things to laugh at and not do.
I try to stay positive and not criticize, but that is difficult sometimes.
I was thinking a lot about that lately, when I say a work truck in front of me on the road. It made me a bit dizzy with too many colors and patterns, and ultimately I’m not even entirely sure what the company was or what it was selling. Sadly, I didn’t get a picture.
But I do have some pictures. I think it is time to go through a few of my ideas on what makes a good logo and general brand presentation, and I will have some pictures for this part.
But first, let’s define our terms: Webster says that a logo is “an identifying symbol (as for use in advertising).” Think the Golden Arches in McDonalds or the Nike Swoosh,
Now, you are certainly not as ubiquitous as McDonalds or Nike. For them, their symbol is so recognizable that you instantly know it. But that is certainly not the situation you are in at all.
I would probably suggest that for you. McDonalds doesn’t need to tell you that it’s a hamburger restaurant. The Golden Arches is actually the most recognized symbol in the world, but even today McDonalds does put what their product is on their signs inside their logo. It wasn’t always such a recognizable mark, and it was helpful back then.
I would suggest that you do the same thing. I might suggest that you make what you do part of your business name, and possibly a part of your logo. You are reading The Marketing Cowboy blog. You know what we do. You aren’t reading this for plumbing advice. There’s no ambiguity at all in what we do, so we are taking the very advice that we just gave.
Below is the FedEx logo. It is considered one of the best logos in design history. You know what FedEx does, but in case you didn’t, it has a cool arrow in the design that implies movement. In case you never noticed the arrow before, you will never un-see it now. Haha, I just controlled your mind!
Some Painful Examples
But, for every great logo, there are many bad ones.
This is the Olympic logo for 2012 in London. That part is pretty obvious, it has the Olympic logo, 2012, and London. It’s very ugly, though. In fact, so much so that people in the UK got mad about it. I don’t blame them.
I don’t think this is real (and thank heavens), but it is similar in some ways to the work truck that I mentioned earlier.
Just glory for a minute in its awfulness. It is the marketing version of drinking spoiled milk. It will ruin my whole day.
Let’s go through a few quick notes.
- No, I’m not going to download your app. I might not even do that if I used your services freely, but I’m definitely not going to do that while driving down the freeway. Someone thought that was a good idea to put on a truck. It was not.
- This is a long and crazy list of what you do. I have no words for this one except for, “nope.” Do not do this.
- I’ve blurred the logo. I did this partly to protect the company (if it’s real) but also partly to save you from getting publicly sick to your stomach. You’re welcome. But in case there is someone on the road next to them that has an iron stomach, there is a smaller logo right underneath it. I’m no sure why they did this.
- This is a big one for me. You don’t need to tell someone your website. If your name is “ACME Widgets” your website better be ACMEWidgets.com, or at least very very close to it. But if your website is ACME1443.com, then fix that. It’ll be a problem. Get this part right!
But under normal circumstances if you put “ACME Widgets” on your truck, people are going to google that. They will assume when they see ACMEWidgets.com that it’s you.
There are cases where you might just want to put your website, with the .com part on your truck. That isn’t the best option in most cases, but sometimes it makes more sense.
You never need to tell people to “visit our website.” Every time someone says those words, somewhere in the world someone drops a puppy. Don’t be responsible for the harm of innocent puppies. Just don’t do it!
I’m ignoring the part about searching for job opportunities. It hurts too much to even think about it. - I don’t know what the other logos are. Maybe they represent organizations that they are a part of. Don’t do that either.
- This is one part that is a necessary thing to have on that truck. No one will usually call when they are driving on the freeway, but they might take a picture with their cell phone and call it later. I know, because I’ve done that myself.
However, you don’t need to put the word “Hotline” or “Phone number,” or anything like that. People know a phone number when they see one.
But do not put that at the bottom of the truck or van where it is hard to see.
Finally, I didn’t put a number to highlight this part, but under #4 if says “Home Repair Service” as an afterthought, and it runs out of room.
What to do Instead
Think of the vehicle that you use to do your business as a mobile billboard. You have a few seconds to convey some important information and acquire audience capture.
As much as you want to put several cool elements in your logo, put only one. Make it simple. Text is also underrated.
Here are a few quick ideas to help you in logo creation.
- Consider using a professional. Yes, I know that your niece is really good at Photoshop. Don’t use your niece. If you choose the free option, it’ll probably look like the free option. I know that this might be difficult to believe, but in the same way that you let Toyota build your car instead of designing one yourself, it is often best left to a professional.
- Don’t bring your logo design to a friend/relative as ask “what do you think?” They’ll tell you that it is amazing. If you do design your own logo, and you value the marketing know-how of your friend/relative, bring that person 3 logos, and ask what they like or dislike about the designs. You’ll get a more honest and nuanced opinion.
- Try squinting your eyes. This cuts out the visual detail. I’m not saying to design this way, of course, but it is a good way to add to the different ways you evaluate designs. It is an old trick, but it works.
- The 2-second test – Get a second person. Don’t let them see the design. Tell them what you are about to do. Let them see if for 2 seconds only, then take it away. Next ask them open-ended questions, questions like “What does this business do?” Or “Can you explain what the logo is trying to say?” Refrain from telling them the answers that you want to hear.
- If someone needs you to explain your design to understand it, then it doesn’t work. You won’t be there to explain it to people as they see your logo, usually.
Billboards
I know that you likely won’t have an actual billboard…well, at least not yet. But I think that billboards are a great marketing thing to think about. They are also somethig that I think about a lot, as I drive around and encounter them.
Here is one (likely also ficticious) that I found.
Not only do I get stuck on the numerous grammar issues, like the fact that aparently there is only 1 home for sale, and I’m not sure what “Price Startet” even means. It also breaks every billboard rule in the textbook. Here are some rules for billboards:
- You can’t convey more than 1 thought. A billboard shouldn’t try. McDonalds does a lot of billboards, and it does them well. When you see a McDonalds billboard, you think “that looks like tasty food.” That’s it.
- The viewer won’t have time to take a picture of a phone number, an email, or a URL.
- Your Call-To-Action needs to be obvious, and readable.
- People will have about 5 seconds (at most) to see this, only.
I’ve redone this billboard to capture the important elements.
Honestly, this was a terrible excercise, but good for me. I tried to keep everything as much the same as possible, from their name to the colors and major design elements. It introduced constraints that I wouldn’t have wanted.
But the point is, that if you saw this on the freeway, you wanted know that they were enticing you with elegant (and yes, I did have to spell “elegant” correctly) homes at affordable prices. You would also know that you could see homes at RealEstate.com. You might remember that.
Here’s an example of an actual billboard that I encountered a while back.
I went back to my office and I Googled that. It turns out to be a chain of jewelry stores. There is a cool story behind the statement. I remember it. Very effective.
A billboard…and similarly your logo should follow the same basic rules.
Bottom Line
You might be wondering why I’m volunteering this information. Well, at The Marketing Cowboy what we believe kind of cuts against the grain of what a lot of people believe in marketing. I bet you (just like me) receive a dozen “Do you have a quick 15 minutes” emails for someone to try to sell you their product or service. But that isn’t very effective at all. That’s a numbers game. They are planning to send out hundreds of those emails, just in the hope that 1 person will respond.
Instead, we believe in a less selfish idea, “give stuff before you ask for stuff.” It’s the marketing version of The Golden Rule, I suppose. We want you to be successful in your business, and we hope to help you to achieve that, whether you pay us or not. We hope that this helps!
Finally, if you would like to discuss any of this with a marketing professional and/or find out how The Marketing Cowboy can help your business Unleash your potential, please Click Here.
