Your company logo is an integral part of its brand identity. It’s often the first thing customers see when they visit your website, look at your business cards, or see your name on a billboard along the highway. Your logo may even be on your products or any marketing collateral you use, whether at tradeshows or online. However, many companies designed their logos before they had the funds to work with professional designers and marketers. Maybe you purchased your logo online or tried to design it yourself, or maybe your logo doesn’t work anymore because it’s outdated. No matter the case, you must decide whether or not to simplify your logo by considering the following factors:

Your logo must look good everywhere you use it. But, while it might look great blown up on a big screen, does it still have the same impact on a small business card or digital advertisement? If your logo is too complicated and becomes difficult to read when it gets smaller, it’s time to simplify. There are several sizes of screens someone might use to visit your website. Whether they’re on a smartphone, tablet, or desktop, you should have an easily readable logo. If your logo isn’t readable on small screens, it’s time to redesign it, especially if you rely on your website and digital marketing to reach customers.

Luckily, you can redesign your logo by looking for shapes and designs that work well on a small scale. You can also have different logo designs for different purposes. For example, you can have a simple small logo for small screens and business cards and a larger logo for billboards or larger advertisements. As long as all versions of your logo are similar and can improve your brand recognition, having different variations can help you find the right logo for any advertisement.

Who is looking at the logo?

User experience is important online and off. You want your target audience to have a good experience whenever they’re interacting with your brand. However, if you generate leads and conversions from your website, you should consider your online audience to determine whether your logo should be simplified. Remember, these visitors are already bombarded with colors and designs online, so your website should offer a simpler experience that’s less distracting and easier on the eyes.

Does it inspire confidence & trust?

Simplicity is easy to read and inspires confidence in your customers. You want customers to be able to read your logo without straining their eyes. Strong logo design is simple, but it’s not basic. You can create a logo that stands out and improves customer trust with the right shapes and words. Remember, your logo should promote brand recognition, and the easiest way to do that is to not force your customers to think too hard about it. Instead, your logo should amplify your brand and evoke a memory, but it can only do that if it’s simple enough to be remembered.

Is your logo relevant?

Businesses change over time, so your logo should change with you. While you may have started marketing to one target audience, your market may have changed, and you advertise to a completely different audience. As your business evolves, so too should its logo. While there is no expiration date for how long you should keep your logo, it depends on your target market. For example, if at one point you marketed to adults but have changed your business plan to sell products for kids, your logo likely has to change to be simpler and more attractive to young people.

Can it change perception?

A new, simplified logo can help change customer perception of your business. For example, it can make the brand appear more rejuvenated and younger to help you appeal to a younger demographic. Simplifying your logo can also help you modernize. All the top brands in the world have simple logos because simple sells. Look at brands like Nike and Apple; their logos are simple yet timeless and recognizable. Again, simple isn’t bad. It doesn’t mean you’re dumbing down your brand; it’s allowing you to become more recognizable in less time so customers can remember your brand in the future.

Can It draw attention elsewhere?

While your logo is an important part of your brand, it will not help you sell products or services to customers. For example, a company that sells chips doesn’t want to sell its logo; it wants to sell chips. A simplified logo can help draw focus away from itself and to the product instead, especially if the product photo is located on the box. Simplifying your logo may have the same effect when done correctly. Remember, you want people to see your logo, but you don’t want them to focus on it when you have other messages to share.

Is it ugly?

Unfortunately, many small businesses have ugly logos they designed themselves without the help of a designer or marketer to tell them what their target market wants. If your competition has a better logo, it may be time to go back to the drawing board to redesign and simplify your logo to help you step into a more modern age. It can also help your business look more professional.

Less is More

Someone should be able to read your logo in less than a second to remember it in the future, especially if you use your logo in different places. A simple logo is practical and can help you enhance your brand image by inspiring confidence in your customers. Complex logos are a thing of the past. They once demonstrated a company’s technological advancements to show that their graphic design was better than anyone else’s. However, a simplified logo is modern and can improve brand recognition easier and faster.

With a simplified logo, customers can have a clearer brand image to help them remember it after only seeing it once. In addition, simplicity is sophisticated and modern consumers prefer it. Logos should be simple in a modern world where individuals use screens to learn about your brand and form associations with it. Updating an outdated logo is crucial to the branding of your business to help you attract modern consumers and inspire trust.

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