Have you ever felt the pressure for your logo to scream out your entire business plan? It’s something that so many business owners feel they need’s to happen when they’re creating their logo.
But what if i told you that your logo doesn’t need to be a literal representation of what your business does?
If you’re thinking well if it’s not, then how will people know what i do? I totally get that! But my answer to that would be that this:
It’s not ~really~ your logos job to tell people what you do – it’s your brands job to tell people what you do.
Let’s look at it like this…
Nike doesn’t have a shoe in their logo, but we know that they sell shoes.
Apple doesn’t have a computer in their logo, but we know they sell computers.
Starbucks doesn’t have a coffee cup in their logo, but we know they sell coffee.
Now, I’m aware that these are some of the most popular brands out there… but the point is Apple might have started off selling computers, but we all know that they sell (and do) way more than that now.
If they made their logo a computer they would have been boxing themselves into just that single thing, and would have needed to rebrand frequently because their logo wouldn’t accurately be letting people know “what they do” throughout the years as they grew and evolved into MUCH more than computers.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t have an icon of some kind within your logo family.
Having multiple versions of your logo can be super helpful in building brand recognition & offer a lot of versatility within your branding as a whole.
But it starts to become a problem when it’s the only thing you’re relying on for people to know everything about your business….
(You should definitely have more than one logo by the way…)
Your logo is not meant to carry the weight of your entire brand because it’s not your brand.
Your logo is meant to support your brand & serve as a quick way for you to let your people know who you ARE, not what you DO.
Your brand as a whole is meant to fill your people in on the rest of your story – aka what you do, who you do it for and why you do it- all the fun stuff that comes from of a cohesive brand experience.
So wait, whats the straight answer to why you shouldn’t rely on your logo to tell people what you do?
Your logo isn’t meant to tell your whole story.
It’s more like the cover of a book, grabbing attention and hinting at what’s inside.
By understanding that your logo is just a piece of the puzzle, you can let your brand grow, change and evolve with you overtime without feeling tied down or put into a box
There is so much more to your brand than your logo.
And besides people don’t fall in love with logos anyway, they fall in love with brands.
