Have you ever thought about what makes your brand stand out and help your potential customers connect with it? There are many ingredients in this recipe, of course. But one of the first things your clients pay attention to is your company logo, brand colors, and other graphic representations of your business and its purpose. Therefore, it’s very important for your business’ overall success to know how different colors, shapes, images, and other design elements might bear on your customers’ perception of your brand. So, before choosing your brand colors or logo elements, you want to learn more about symbol design and how you can leverage symbolism to create a visually appealing brand logo.
A Few Words about Symbolism
Since time immemorial, people have attributed certain characteristics to things surrounding them and created mental associations between different objects. Ancient people used to carve enigmatic squiggles, circles, and weird shapes that carried a special meaning known to ancient artists and beholders. Symbols were also used to communicate messages, as well as warn and alert readers to dangers or important issues.
In today’s world, symbols remain an important part of everyday life. Just look around: parking lots, restrooms, heritage sites, street signs, and lots of other symbols convey meanings without words. And the best thing about symbols is that they allow expressing an idea instantly using one or two accurate visual representations of this idea.
Leveraging the Power of Symbolism
Chances that your startup will become a huge success with a poorly designed logo or unwisely selected brand colors are slim. Any visual representation of your brand needs to reflect its uniqueness and, ideally, purpose. Therefore, the symbols are very important when it comes to designing your company logo.
You need to select symbols carefully to make sure your target customer can meaningfully connect with your brand or/and products it offers. By symbols, we mean any graphics that are memorable and easy to decode, something that triggers pleasant associations and evoke positive emotions.
Depending on the nature of your business, you can choose emojis, images, geometric shapes, and colors that best represent your company’s spirit, purpose, and character. For this, you need to define your business concept and correctly identify the meaning of each element you aim to use in your brand logo. Go for the elements that are congruent with your brand’s unique voice and value proposition. You can also reinforce the effect with the right colors and/or word mark.
It’s critical to keep in mind that different people might attribute different meanings to one and the same symbol. So, you need to research your audience to learn more about their background, religion, stereotypes, and cultural peculiarities to ensure most of your target users can interpret your brand symbols as intended. By doing this, you’ll be able to avoid any ambiguities and unwanted associations and thus score more loyal customers.
Symbols to Consider for Your Logo Design
Now that you’re ready to put together an effective brand logo that will mesmerize your customers and make them choose exactly your brand, you can proceed to select the right symbols for your design.
If your company specializes in auto retailing or repair, consider using animal symbols like the lion, eagle, cougar, etc. Such symbols are normally associated with speed, power, and reliability. Owls, blackbirds, ants, or lizards might suit IT, educational, or pharmaceutical businesses. All in all, the universal appeal of animal symbols can be suitable for a wide range of brands. Just be sure to add a personal touch and approach the logo creation process creatively not to end up with bland and boring logos.
Healthcare companies, salons, as well as fitness and wellness industries might want to take a closer look at floral symbols suggestive of renewal, vivaciousness, growth, and development. Roses, olive branches, entwined laurels, shamrocks, and other plant and floral symbols can not only look great but also provide additional meaning to your logo. They are reminiscent of timeless beauty and rejuvenation that works well for yoga studios, rehabilitation centers, spa salons, and fashion brands.
If you want to lend your brand logo a more sophisticated look or modernistic charm, you can’t go wrong with geometric symbols. To showcase delicate balance, composure, and stability your brand can offer, opt for triangles and well-defined and straightforward lines. Square logos also look formidable and dependable. They are good for law firms, banks, manufacturing businesses, and the like. Circles, as well as rounded elements, are suggestive of comfort, reassurance, wholeness, and longevity. So, you can successfully utilize them to create a strong logo with a timeless appeal. But if you complete your design with other effective elements, you can convey a much deeper or nuanced meaning, which will help showcase your brand individuality.
There are lots of other options you might want to consider during your logo making quest. With a bit of inspiration and extra effort put in your brand design strategy, you’ll come up with a unique logo that will set your brand apart.
