You’ve got a great logo. Maybe you designed it yourself. Maybe a friend designed it for you. Maybe you even hired a graphic designer to create one for you.
Regardless of how your logo came into being, here’s the cold, hard truth:
No one cares about your logo.
Ok, maybe that was a little harsh. It’s not that no one cares. It’s that your logo doesn’t mean anything to them.
It takes a lot of time, energy, and money to turn a logo into a recognizable icon.
Sure, there are instantly recognizable logos in the world – Starbucks, Nike, McDonalds. But those companies have spent billions of dollars over several decades to make sure their logos are recognizable.
You don’t have that kind of money. (Or even that kind of time.) So what should you do?
Focus on promoting your products, not your logo.
If you’re a craftsperson, designer, or artists, the things that drive people to your business are your products. Your products are the reason people talk about, share, and buy from you.
So whether it’s advertising, your avatar, or any other marketing strategies, focus on images of your products first.
And save that shiny logo for places where you can use it in conjunction with your product photography. (Or better still, save the money you’d spend having a logo created and get some better product photography instead.)
And speaking of shiny new logos, you may have noticed that Crafting an MBA has a brand new look! If you’re reading this via RSS, please head over to the site and take a look!
So true! It’s the product that sells, who stands behind it with passion and conviction, and stellar customer service that goes with it. I’m working with someone now who is very stuck in this mode when there’s much more improvement needed in the presentation of the jewelry and making a cohesive signature line. Reps aren’t selling the logo, they are selling the product that better be well made and up to snuff. First impressions are very important, if you don’t turn their heads with your product, the logo isn’t going to save it. Thanks Megan!
Dear Megan, you are soooo right !! people appreciate the product and recognizing the artists
style; come to think of it I’ve never seen any one fawning over a logo , lol
I appreciate your giving us some food for thought : )
Thank you lovely,
Dabanga
Congrats on your website makeover! Love the fresh new look and your new logo.
I couldn’t agree more with this post. I look at many websites that have huge banners / logos that push the main content and call-to-action below the fold with the result that people may miss the important stuff at first glance. A simple text logo will often do and it only takes a relatively small investment to buy a professional/unique font to set yours apart. As you said, it’s much better to invest in product photography.
The new look is fabulous! Great profile pic at the top, too!
Love the new look! Is that a new photo of you too? Looking fabulous Megan.
As someone whose currently working with a grahic designer and focusing on launching my new logo and new brands’ image, this post makes me feel a little sad. Sad that I didn’t read it 3 months ago! D’oh. You’re so right, I can recognise the work of other artists and yet I couldn’t tell you what logo they use. There are some that come to mind, but they’re in a different niche selling services. Those with products, it’s the products I remember. I’m just gonna go bang my head against a wall. Here’s hoping I find a way to be memorable.
Megan, thank you so much for this very timely article. I have been selling my jewelry for 6 years and never had a “real” logo, and have been struggling lately thinking I really needed to have one.
You have made it easy for me – I really don’t need to have one. People do recognize me by my jewelry and not even my name – lol!
Thanks for all of your very wise info,
Renee
Great post! And I like the look of your new website, especially the photo of you at the top.
I totally agree with this post. I spent more time and energy on the look of my labels and photography for my products and it’s really made a difference. It took me a while to figure this out…So I think this is a great teaching lesson for those starting out or in the process of making these decisions.
Thanks for this!
Daniela
Amen. As a designer, this has been one of my biggest PIA questions to answer. “Do you have a logo?” It tells me a lot about the person who asked the question. When you show your business plan to investors, they aren’t looking for logos’ they are looking for numbers, a well thought out plan and direction. I think this is the achilles heel of being in a creative industry.
I suppose in most cases, this is true. However, in the case of my husband and I, our logos are also the same stamps that we use on our pottery (called a “chop”) as an identifying mark. Many potters use chops in lieu of signing their pieces, and many of our collectors do identify our logos with our work. There have been many instances at shows where people will be looking at one of our pieces and say, “Lach Arts! I have seen your logo on a piece my friend owns that I love.”
Though I recognize that we may be the exception to the rule, our logo has been an asset that has contributed to the recognition of the work that we do.
love the new look, megan. this is good food for thought today as I await the completion of a logo!
Love the new look!
I respectfully disagree with this advice. If you want to sell your work to people other than your friends and family, you need a credible brand. A logo is step one of a branding strategy. Your logo doesn’t need to be fancy or expensive. But you do need to have one, and more importantly, know how to use it.
Great products, great photographs, smart branding … you can’t fall short on any of these. Today’s consumers are very design conscious and brand conscious. You can only get so far with great products.
I think it depends on what you are selling and on how big is your business. Of course, for a newcomer, logo is not that important, all efforts should be on the work.
However, the logo is the brand. And brands are important for a lot of person. Why will some person pay 300$ for sunglasses? Because they are Chanel… not because they are better than 30$ sunglasses.
Let’s take your jewellery line Megan. They are unique and I am sure, a lot of person recognizes them without seeing your name or your logo. But when they will be asked about it by someone who does not know your work already, they might answer: it is a Megan Auman and it is high quality. In the future, if this person sees your logo somewhere, they will associate it with quality jewellery. And by associating your logo with high quality, they associate your product with high quality.
I think logos are a visual representation of your work. And it is easier for some people to have this kind of visual representation.
On the other hand, if you don’t focus enough on your product, you can have the most powerful logo, it won’t change anything.
Interesting. Reminds me a lot of an article I just read on Surtex about branding that makes a similar point. I’ve found this to be true in other ways as well. Basically, it’s the art/product that matters most. Everything else is important (customer service, professionalism, etc.), but without a desired product, it doesn’t matter too much. Similarly, people can forgive a lot if you have the hot/new item for sale.
http://www.surtex.com/News/SURTEXBlog/tabid/186/EntryId/9/Art-Licensing-It-s-all-about-the-Art-Branding-doesn-t-matter.aspx
Logos are important to represent a business of a product but it will be the most important to showcase the product and how essential it is.
I love that you tell it like it is! Implementing a logo/brand in the public’s mind is such a costly $$$$ deal that for most of us it will never be a feasible option. While I think a graphic profile is good, there are other areas that are more important for a small company
Years ago fter several attempts to create a logo that fit the image I wanted and never quite achieving that goal, I went ahead and decided to go with simple text of my name, and ever changing photos of my work. I figure my name will always represent me, keeping it unfussy will keep it timeless, and my photos can evolve as the work does.
As a graphic designer, a design professor, and a maker, I have to strongly disagree with this post. It’s a given that you must have gorgeous product that offers something people want. If you don’t have that, you will always fall short.
But a logo is not something to dismiss. Successful branding can help you reach your customers and is the way they remember who you are. In a sea of a zillion sellers, your logo does a lot of work for you and shouldn’t be an afterthought.
You can have the best product in the world, but if your branding falls short it will keep you out of the stores you need to be in and turn off a lot of customers who get the wrong message from the logo. I recently had this experience with a clothing store. It had been recommended by several friends, but every time I would drive by, their logo didn’t feel like someplace I wanted to shop–it had a cartoon quality to it. One day I finally stopped in after hearing about a sale. Inside I found something totally different–gorgeous clothing that felt sophisticated and fashion forward. How would I ever know that based on their cartoony logo?
I know that because I am a graphic designer as well as a maker, I probably am more sensitive to this issue than most; after all, it’s my job. I can understand if you are trying to license something (like patterns) to big companies, then maybe you don’t need a killer logo at Surtex. But most of use aren’t licensing our work to other companies that will do the branding on their end (just look at Target or Anthropologie). We are selling directly to customers or stores that aren’t re-packaging our product.
To reiterate what Mea said above, it’s a trifecta of great product, great photos, and great branding that makes someone a success.
Natalie and Mea –
I guess I didn’t articulate the point I wanted to make in the post clearly enough, because I actually agree wholeheartedly with both of you! Branding is 100% essential if you want to have a successful business.
What I was trying to discourage from in this case is people who spend money to advertise online (or in print) and choose to highlight their logo instead of their products. If you don’t have a logo that is instantly recognizable (which, unless you are a major brand, you don’t) then choosing to highlight your logo instead of your products is really throwing money down the drain.
But I agree that great branding (including a great logo) does matter when it comes to building a successful business.
Hi Megan,
Thanks for the great topic–obviously, it’s something that lots of folks want to discuss. I do agree with you that only featuring your logo on paid advertisements doesn’t make sense.
But the last line in the original post suggests that product photography should take precedence (i.e. $$) over branding, which I don’t agree with. Product photography is something that most makers can learn to do–studying gorgeous product catalogs, taking a photo class or online tutorials, shooting with natural light, etc. It’s a skill that will be used over and over again, as we all create new products and have to shoot them on a consistent basis. It’s worth learning that skill because you will use it again and again.
Creating a strong and memorable logo is a bit more complicated, and generally something that will only be done once. That, to me, is worth spending money on if you are not a graphic designer. It is something that will live with you day-after-day and is an ambassador for your product. A strong logo can pull someone from the crowd into your booth, whether that’s a booth at Renegade or a booth at the NYIGF.
Investing in a logo is worth it.
Finally some reason on the logo push. I think Mine will grow as my business grows. If I change things up along the way – it just shows my growth. When I get it right it will stick. My focus is product right now.
Thanks so much
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i have numerous design for a official logo
for example there is logo for doctors
for advocates
for ca and etc
i want to design a logo which will designate its work