Posted on: Wednesday, January 14, 2004

Simplicity key to effective logo

By Candace Goforth
Knight Ridder News Service

AKRON, Ohio — If a company's name and logo are its fashion statement, a lot of businesses are parading around in plaid pants and loud ties. Small startups and established corporations alike struggle to get noticed. The challenge is to find the edge between catching a prospective customer's attention and looking like you're trying too hard — or not trying at all.

Marketing consultants insist it can be done, even by the most budget-challenged organizations, as long as you follow a few basic branding guidelines: Remember your audience, plan for the future and, in designing the logo, keep it simple.

"Most of the time in conversation, how people say things is almost as important as what they say," said Michael Houseman, president and creative director of the Akron advertising and design firm Trendesign LLC. "That holds true for marketing, too."

Often, entrepreneurs aren't prepared or willing to devote scarce resources to marketing. They figure, if they can just come up with something to get them started — say, something pieced together on a PC — they can make a bigger investment later.

But by that time, Houseman said, the company already will have made its first impression. And there's a good chance it won't be a good one.

Still, cash-strapped businesses may not have the luxury of making a large investment right away. But even if they can't afford an expensive advertising campaign, they don't have to settle for something amateurish, Houseman said.

The secret to an inexpensive but effective logo is simplicity.

Using flowery typefaces and trying to execute something really elaborate is generally not a very good idea. You want to project a professional image.

"This is all about communication," he said. "It's not art."

Perhaps not. But it is a creative expression of a company's identity.

For that reason, a professional designer is often better equipped to help develop an image that speaks to an organization's target audience, said Bob Piks, president of the Advertising Federation of Greater Akron.

Jack DeLeo, president and CEO of Hitchcock Fleming and Associates, says that a name and logo should retain its relevance even as the company evolves.