Making the logo bigger doesn’t strengthen your brand

Making the logo bigger doesn’t strengthen your brand

It’s a running joke among design professionals—the client who always asks, “Can you make the logo a little bigger?”

Why do we cringe at the request? Because we realize that the client believes by making the logo bigger, people  will remember it and their brand recognition value will shoot to the moon…an idea that is more often than not, untrue.

Designers are very careful to size and place a logo strategically, making sure the logo lives comfortably in its space among other visual elements and messages on a page. What most clients don’t realize is that the brand and the logo are two very different and separate things. Logos began as unique visual markers distinguishing one company from another, almost no different than choosing a unique business name. Your brand, on the other hand, is the core system of ideas your audience believes to be true about your business.

Consider IKEA. IKEA’s logo is nothing exciting by itself. It communicates nothing about it’s history, mission or product line. But, when you visit the store, the website, or see an ad, you get a much greater understanding of what they are about (at which point, you can decide to love them or hate them). You gain so much more from experiencing the brand than from seeing the company logo. The logo becomes a secondary element to the brand experience and almost functions as a party favor, the smallest thing you can remember to remind you of the brand experience.

[tweetshare tweet=”A logo is like a party favor—it’s the smallest reminder of a brand experience.” username=”unkannydesign”]

You don’t gain brand recognition value by making the logo bigger, you gain it by not allowing the logo to interfere with the other visual elements and intended messages on the page that are creating your brand experience. Let the viewer remember you by seeing your logo as the last thing on the page, not the first.

 

500 500 unkanny! Design
Spread the word