Tips On How To Ensure Versatility Of Your Logo Design

 

A company’s logo design is used on various marketing strategies. A logo appears in various sizes ranging from as big as billboards to tiny ones like on a business card, pens and stickers. Therefore, a logo must be scalable. It should also appear impressive in both color as well as black & white versions.
All types of businesses use logos as an effective marketing tool. People usually recall a business by seeing its logo on products and on advertisements. We can say that logos take business messages to the people and help the companies in converting the viewers into potential buyers.

However, success of a logo design largely depends on its quality of being versatile. This means that the logo must look equally great on all sizes of products. So, the logo must look impressive not only on big scales of large billboards to the size of a stamp. The logo must not lose its shape, size, colors, fonts, and other vital elements in all sizes. This is one of the basics of logo design.

A logo is printed on larger billboards or on fairly smaller advertising products such as pens, stickers, rubber stamps and business cards. In addition, the same logo must also look impressive on pixel based media such as websites and web banners. Business owners can use such versatile logos on a wide range of ads and products or services. Clearly, the businesses should be able to reproduce the logo in its varied sizes.

Versatility is one of the most essential quality of a good logo design. In the 21st century, brands are highly visible. They are exposed to a wide range of media. Most of the brands are actively projected on social media pages. This means that a logo should appear great on all the social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

Another reason why your logo should be versatile is that it helps create your brand identity. So, a logo should look good when printed on the top of a letterhead, business card, mobile app icon, etc.

A versatile logo is cost-effective. It saves you money and time as you do not necessarily have to create separate logos for different media ads and products. Since, the same logo goes for all ads and promotion ranging from large billboards and smallest stamp size ads; you get to save a considerable amount. Additionally, your printing cost decreases manifold when you use fewer colors in the logo.

Here Are Some Tips To Create A Versatile Logo

01. Consider The Details

While designing your logo, consider how much detail should go in it. The details of lines, colors, fonts etc. are necessary to convey the business message. But too many details may create printing troubles for a logo.

If the details are minute such as delicate or skinny lines and too many colors, then these may disappear when printed. These details may appear as broken shapes when printed in small sizes. So, it is advisable to keep only fewer details that are extremely necessary for the logo.

A logo with fewer details will save your production cost of graphic design items. For example, your overall cost of a business card design will be lower to produce it if the logo that you print on the card is also a simple design.

02. Pay Attention To The Space

If a logo design has the white space, or negative space, it must be created carefully. The white space between the two elements should be consistent. This means that the space should not be too close as it may lead to elements overlapping each other when the logo is printed. And if the space distance is too big, the viewers may not find an association between the elements and the logo may fail to communicate well with the viewers.

03. Use Gradients Selectively

Opt for gradients only when they can contribute to the overall quality and appeal of the design. Avoid choosing too light tints as such tints usually disappear when printed and the logo appears in white color scheme only.

Do not necessarily opt for too dark tints as they may appear too solid and patchy when printed. In fact, too dark tints create a muddy look for the logo when printed on a newspaper. Take note of the fact that some reproduction processes do not accommodate use of gradients very well.

04. Create Logo Without Colors

Another sign of a versatile logo is that it appears impressive in both colors and without colors. This is because a logo is printed on newspapers, magazines, faxed copies, etc. in black and white. So, the logo must retain its uniqueness when printed without colors. This will ensure better logo and brand identity design of the business symbol.

A trick to create a versatile logo that looks impressive in black and white is to create it first without colors. When designing the logo, first create it in black and white only. It is only when you are satisfied with the design that you should fill colors in it. As a graphic designer, you should take a logo and get approval. Then, incorporate colors after getting the approval.
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Four Reasons Great Promotional Products Work

                            Four Reasons Great Promotional Products Work

Branded products are everywhere: featured in movies, professional sports, and even on your favorite jacket or thumb drive.

These products bring pleasure and familiarity while sending a message of brand support to friends and casual observers. And these ideas carry substantial weight.

Another Washington First

The first known example of distributing promotional products was in 1789.

Commemorative buttons, created to celebrate George Washington’s inauguration, featured a crisp, stamped profile of Washington and the Latin phrase “Pater Patriæ,” meaning “Father of his Country.”

Sported by patriotic Americans, the buttons celebrated American democracy and support for the first president. The passion behind this message continues to live on: in February of 2018, one of the inaugural buttons was auctioned for $225,000!

The Gift That Keeps On Giving


Washington’s buttons fueled momentum, and your customers are wired to respond to promotional products too.

Eight out of 10 U.S. consumers own at least one giveaway item, and 60 percent of people who receive a promotional gift keep it for up to two years! If those stats don’t speak for themselves, here are four reasons that branded merchandise will work for businesses of any size:

1. Free Stuff Grabs Attention.


Like candy at a parade, free stuff draws people.

Promotional gifts catch their eye and make them wonder what the hype is about. When you give gifts, people are attracted to you. Whether its curiosity, playful interest, or eye-catching designs, giveaways generate interest and ignite conversation.

2. Product Giveaways Pave Pathways for Loyalty.


Once you have their attention, you open the door for further interaction.

This happens, in part, as new customers warm in their perception of your brand. According to Tourism Consumer Insights, 52% of those who receive your product are more likely to think highly of both you and your business. As affinity increases, so does their interest in your business, because it’s human nature to want to give back to someone who has given to us.

In a Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) study, 85% of consumers who received a promo product said they ultimately did business with the advertiser.

3. Brand Recognition Peaks Through Repeat Exposure.


What is the ultimate goal of branded products? To engage and influence buyers.

Tangible, useful products offer your business endless opportunities to distinguish itself and to do it repeatedly! According to PPAI, 73 percent of those who receive a promo product said they used it at least once a week.

Offering free items to consumers is an incredible marketing tactic that will keep your company on their minds anytime your product is in use.

4. Giveaways Extend the Life of your Message.

How long does it take you to forget a text message or delete an e-mail? Seconds.

But tangible products (especially stylish or fun items) are much harder to toss aside. As you weigh your best product option, consider the interests and needs of your target customers and create the kind of products they’ll actually want. If 75% of your prospects use public transportation, tasteful branded umbrellas might become a constant companion during their morning commute.

People love stuff. It’s just a fact. And while only 28 percent of people are able to recall a TV ad, 57 percent are typically able to recall an advertiser on a mug.

While promotional pieces bring upfront expense, the longevity and brand recognition they create is an investment that keeps on giving.To view our promotional products website go to:https://printcafe.dcpromosite.com

4 Print Marketing Trends to Inspire You in the Year to Come

          4 Print Marketing Trends to Inspire You in the Year to Come

Print marketing is compelling, memorable, and engaging.

As people touch, hold, and even smell paper, they respond in a profoundly personal way.

While digital communication is booming, this has only enhanced the unique voice that print brings for any business. Millennials and Gen Z are very difficult crowds to reach digitally, with 63 percent using AdBlocker and 82 percent ignoring online banner ads. This trend toward tactile is stirring potential for many exciting creative opportunities.

Today, we’ll highlight four print marketing trends from 2018 to inspire you in the year to come.

Simplicity


The world is filled with chaos, and fundamentally, viewers long for a return to simplicity.

Minimalist designs offer the respite people crave. Minimalist designs include images with a clear, elegant purpose, maximizing white space and using layouts that are clean and authentic. Uncluttered visuals bring an honest, compelling point into focus in a quick and arresting way.

For years, TBWA Paris has been on a mission to advertise McDonald’s in the most minimalist ways possible. This started in 2013 with extreme close-up photos of food and followed with computer-icon-style pictograms featuring McDonald’s menu items reduced down to very spare illustrations. Many of these ads used no branding whatsoever: the point was that the food was so recognizable it didn’t need a label.

By 2017, McDonald’s had the food disappearing altogether, featuring top sellers like fries, McNuggets, or Big Mac cartons that were completely empty (apart from a few crumbs), because the food had already been devoured by famished customers.

Effective? Absolutely. These simple ads bypass the brain and go straight to the stomach.

Personalized Print Pieces


Print is already a highly personal medium, but advances in technology allow businesses to enjoy increased access to personalized posters, flyers, direct mail, and more.

If you want to impress, try gathering online data about customer preferences and include that in print.

Branding even the simplest products has also allowed companies to gain a more personal touch. For example, a local auto garage printed customized labels for its water bottles and offered complimentary water to customers while they waited.

Color


If you’ve ever painted a room, you know the significance even a slightly darker hue can bring. Color experts Pantone released color trends for 2018 with this advice:


If you want to look resourceful, employ blue and orange hues
If you want a playful tone, choose yellow
If you’re looking for something discreet, try pink
If you want more sophistication, choose gold
What if you want to reach a diverse crowd?

According to Pantone, rosy tones bring a palette that “reaches out and embraces many different cultures.” Pantone said in 2018, print marketing was trending away from pastels and toward bright, bold colors:

“Intense colors seem to be a natural application of our intense lifestyles and thought processes these days.”

Storytelling

Storytelling is not just for YouTube.

Print that tells a story can alleviate suspicion and make instant connections, especially with younger audiences.

A Spanish lollipop grabbed this edge with its “ant aversion” ad for Chupa Chups lollipops. While normally a company might bore viewers with guilt trips for sugar-free products, Chupa Chups chose a “visual story” to make their point.

In the print ad, a sticky sucker had been discarded on a rock slab near the lawn. Meanwhile, a triple-wide line of ants detoured around the candy, heading toward the grass. The headline, “It’s Sugar Free,” brought a resounding finale to this playful story.

Chupa Chups reminds us that print is at its best when it is used as an art. Use vibrant colors, minimalist designs, and personalized print pieces to grab their attention and tell your story this year.
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The Story Behind Pantone 448 C, 'the World’s Ugliest Color'

           The Story Behind Pantone 448 C, 'the World’s Ugliest Color'

               By Joseph Myers

                                         

                                   

Back in 2012, the Australian federal government lobbied hard to change the description of Pantone 448 C from “olive green” to “drab dark brown” after the country’s olive association expressed concern that being tied to the color would damage olives’ reputation. That's when it became obvious we had a forerunner for the title of “the world’s ugliest color." Findings from a marketing research firm made it more or less official, when a survey of 1,000 smokers selected it as the least appealing color.

Fast forward six years, and we have additional proof that Pantone 448 C continues to offend the masses, as multiple countries—including Australia, following that marketing study—have enlisted the shade on cigarette packaging as a symbolic condemnation of indulging in nicotine.

The Pantone Color Institute has been choosing a Color of the Year since 2000, and unlike Time Magazine, which has picked controversial figures such as Adolf Hiter and Joseph Stalin as its Person of the Year, the entity is not ever likely to have someone question its sanity by giving Pantone 448 C any serious consideration. We must say we would love to trot out the headline “Hue Have to be Kidding Us” if that were ever to occur, but, we are pretty sure the public will end up spared. Why is that? Well, simply put, there are only so many times that a shade could draw comparisons to fecal matter before one has to say, “Wow, it does look like that!” If that excretion is not your preferred one to compare it to, you are certainly not alone, as the disdain for Pantone 448 C has been growing since Australia’s aforementioned critiques of it.

It's become something of a phenomenon in the color world. Google "Pantone 448 C," and mixed in among the news stories about its use in packaging are plenty of impassioned defenses, like this one, and this one. and this one, etc. Someone even created a Twitter account for the color (though it hasn't been active since 2012):

We have taken delight in relaying the institute’s color-of-the-year verdicts, as the chosen ones, not to mention other Pantone family constituents, have gone on to have significance for brands in terms of logo determination, marketing strategies and more. However, it benefits us and you, too, we feel to look at a less-than-stellar perception of another color in the institute’s crayon box.

Israel has positioned itself as the latest country to seek to associate the drab tone with the deleterious effects of smoking, with its plan calling for the banning of logos on packs and the uniform use of Pantone 448 C—also dubbed opaque couché—on packaging. Further limiting brand awareness, the powers that be aim to shrink the size of the product names and will have health warnings dominate the front and back sides of the packs.

Regarding the warnings, we know that people will continue to smoke no matter how many admonitions or images of diseased lungs appear on cartons of packs, but we find ourselves curious to see what engaging in a bit of color psychology will do for end-users’ reliance on cigarettes. No color has won universal acceptance as a positive hue, but since Pantone 448 C has gained unwanted traction as the world’s ugliest choice, could Israel—which has company in such lands as Australia, Great Britain, France and Northern Ireland in calling on bland packaging to curtail smoking—see a drastic reduction in cigarette sales? Is the widespread repudiation of Pantone 448C an indicator that it will go on to become an even greater resource in helping other countries to limit smoking?

We certainly like the irony that color, a tool commonly used to compel consumers to purchase a product, could come to have far-reaching use as an agent against the buying of a commodity. The overall matter, however, makes us wonder about your take on Pantone 448 C. Have you used it in your product lines, or have you likewise sided with the camp that declares it “the world’s ugliest color”?For more of our informative blogs go to: https://store.printcafeli.com/blog/Print_Cafe_Blog.html