Author Archive

There are 4 different types of UK company formation to choose from:

1. Sole Trader

This is a business that nearly always consists of just one person. The business is not registered with Companies House. This means the business is unincorporated and is not a Company in the legal definition of the term.

Liabilities & Assets

In the case of a Limited Company the person or persons owning the company are seen as legally separate from the company. This is not so with a Sole Trader. The person owning the company takes full responsibility for any money owed or any assets that the business owns. The business and the person being the same thing legally. This can risk your personal assets like your house which may be sought in the case of unaffordable business debts.

Regulating Sole Traders

The good news is that there are very few formalities that a Sole Trader needs to comply with. There is no annual filing with Companies House or statutory records to complete and Corporation Tax is not separated. This makes it relatively simple to manage the accounts for and can save on administration costs.

How to start as a Sole Trader

It’s very easy to start as a Sole Trader. You need to register for Income Tax as a self employed person with HM Revenue & Customs and if your annual sales are over the VAT registration threshold of £67,000 (2009) you will need to register for VAT. Apart from that you are free to start trading anytime you like.

2. Partnership

Partnerships are very similar to Sole Traders above but consist of two or more people carrying out the business and sharing the ownership and liabilities. The partners still need to register for Income Tax and VAT if they meet the threshold of £67,000 (2009).

3. Limited Liability Partnership

A LLP is similar to that of a Partnership but must be registered at Companies House. It consists of 2 or more people who share the business profits.

Liabilities And Assets

The main benefit over a traditional Partnership is that the Partners are protected in the same way as a Ltd Company having limited personal liabilities. They are legally separate from the business and can protect their own assets from the businesses debts like their houses for instance.

Regulating Limited Liability Partnerships

They must submit an annual return to Companies House. They must also submit their annual accounts. Annual accounts must be submitted to Companies House no later than 9 months of their year end.

The LLP needs to have at least 2 designated members responsible for the business filings. This can be the partners (and is assumed as such) or at least Corporate bodies.

They need to have a registered office in England, Wales or Scotland. This can be a business address or a third parties address.

Limited Liability Partnerships have a business suffix of LLP.

4. Limited Liability Company

The owners (shareholders) and Directors of a Limited Liability Company have protection of their personal wealth. As such a LTD company is the most common type of company formation in the UK.

Liabilities And Assets

The debts and the assets of the company are deemed to be separate from the individuals that own and run the company. It is the company that has the liability for the debts and ownership of the assets. In some extreme cases however, the owners may have to sell their personal assets to pay the debts of the company that have been secured against loans.

Regulating Limited Liability Companies

The Ltd Company must submit an annual return to Companies House. It must also submit it’s annual accounts. Annual accounts must be submitted to Companies House no later than 9 months of the company year end.

A limited Company must have one or more shares.

The company needs to have a registered office in England, Wales or Scotland. This can be a business address or a third parties address.

Limited Liability Companies have a business suffix of LTD.

Incorporating Your Business In The UK:

As discussed above, there are two types of business that need to be properly incorporated with Companies House. That is the LLP and LTD business. The Limited Company can be incorporated online from the Companies House Website.

Limited Liability Partnership

See the Companies House website here for guidance in setting up an LLP. You can also access the PDF version of this guidance here.

Limited Liability Company

To set up as a Limited Liability Company there are four things you need to complete.

1. Articles Of Association

Each shareholder should sign this document. It depicts the internal management affairs and the running of the company. This document can be obtained from any good business stationery shop like Rymans for instance.

2. Memorandum Of Association

This states the company name, the situation of the registered office (England, Wales or Scotland), the liabilities of the company and the objects of the company.

To check to see if the name you want is not already taken you can do that here:

Company Name Search

This form can be bought from a good business or legal stationers.

3. Form 10

This contains details of the situation of the registered office (England, Scotland or Wales) along with details of the directors and consenting secretary

This form can be downloaded from the Companies house website or you can do it here:

Form 10

4. Form 12

Once completed this form needs to presented with the Memorandum & Articles Of Association and be signed by a Solicitor, Justice Of The Peace, Notary Public or Commissioner Of Oaths. You can download this form direct from the Companies House website or you can get it from here:

Form 12

Cost and What To Do

It costs £20 and cheques should be made out to Companies House. It takes around 8 to 10 working days before the company is formed. There is a same day formation service but that costs £50. Once you have completed the four forms above you should post them to either of these regional offices dependant of where your registered office resides. Mark your envelope clearly addressed to New Companies Section:

Wales (Main Office)
Companies House
Crown Way
Maindy
Cardiff
CF14 3UZ

Edinburgh
Companies House
37 Castle Terrace
Edinburgh
EH1 2EB

London
Companies House Executive Agency
21 Bloomsbury Street
London
WC1B 3XD

Before posting your forms make sure you check first to make sure the name is available to be incorporated. You can either use the name search above or you can call this number +44 (0)303 1234 500.

Most of this information and some additional guidance can be found on the Companies House Website

Don’t Forget Your Logo Design

No matter what type of business you set up you should give it a competitive business advantage by looking better than your competitors. A professional logo design from Logo Quality can give you this. Logo Quality specialises in logo design and marketing material design and print for small to medium sized companies. Our service is fast and affordable and all work is guaranteed or your money back.

To give you an idea of our quality you should see some logo design examples in our logo portfolio here:

Logo Design Portfolio

If you would like to discuss your company image and the benefits of a professional logo design please contact one of our business advisors on 01753 20 80 22

What is a trade mark?

The words “trademark” and “trade mark” are often used interchangeably.

A trade mark is a logo or a name associated with a business, product or brand. It can be an image, words or combination of both of these.

Who can have a trade mark?

Anyone can trademark their logo or name. There are criteria for this and as long as you meet the criteria the trademark status should be granted.

Your application may fail if your logo falls foul of this criteria:

It is offensive or illegal (promoting an illegal activity)
It is a recognised customary mark in your industry
It is a protected emblem like a coat of arms or flag etc.
It is deceptive. This could mean that it depicts something about your product that is not true.
3D shapes that have a function or look like the product you are interested in.

There are other criteria too and you can read more about that here:

Trademark Criteria

Why should I have a trade mark?

You should register your mark to stop others in the UK using it. You can add the ® symbol to warn others that your mark is protected. It is illegal to use the ® symbol if the trademark is not registered.

If you don’t register your trade mark, you can still protect it under common law. There is an action in common law called passing off. As long as you can prove the trade mark is yours, you have built a reputation up using it and you have suffered harm by someone else using it then you may be able to win a case of someone passing off. This is not an easy thing to prove in court and can prove to be very expensive to follow through.

Registering your trademark means that you can send in the police or trading standards if someone is copying your mark on their goods and services. It becomes a property that you can sell on or license people to use and it acts as a deterrent against anyone thinking about stealing your design.

Registering your design makes it easier to defend in court rather than relying on the difficult to prove common law of passing off.

Before you apply for trademark status

There is government advice and booklets that you should read (see the PDF’s resource at the end of the article) to make sure that your design meets the criteria for registering it as a trademark. It is important that you read this and also check to see that the design is not already registered by someone else.

You should read this page here:

Before You Apply For A Trademark

Applying for your trademark

The cost is currently £200 to apply yourself. Trademarks are applied to different classes and should your mark be registered in another class in addition to it’s main class the cost is currently £50 per additional class.

You can search the different classes to see what you should register for here:

Trademark Classification Search

You can check that the design is not already registered or has been already refused here:

Existing Trademark Search

Once you are ready to register your design you can do that online here:

Register For Your Trademark

If you want to fast track the registration it will cost you £500 instead of the £200 already mentioned. Once you start the process online you have 28days to complete it. There is a save function that allows you to pick up where you left off.

You can also use a lawyer to complete your application. This will cost you considerably more but may well help you cover all the classes you need to protect yourself in. The lawyer may also help you protect your mark overseas. A good place to look for a lawyer that can help you with this is here:

The Institute Of Trademark Attorneys

How long does my trademark last?

In the UK your trademark needs to be reregistered every 10 years.

A bit of fun

Take the trademark quiz to see if you have taken in all the information presented to you.

Take The Trademark Quiz

Resources

Sites:
UK trademark Website
European Trademark Website
Trading Standards

Must Read PDF’s:
Trademarks Essential Reading
Applying To Register A Trademark
Examination Fact Sheet

Go festive with your brand

If you have a website that sells to consumers you know that the Christmas rush can make a big impact on your bottom line. Why not get your shoppers in the mood by jazzing up your website with a Christmassy theme. You can make this really simple by giving your logo a makeover. Add a Santa hat or have a Santa leaning against your logo with a sack of prezzies next to it. What about a snow covered logo or a nativity theme. There are loads of things you can do to give your logo a Christmas makeover. Get your customers in the mood today.

See these examples of festive makeovers we have done recently:

We are providing this seasonal logo design makeover service for just £80:

Add To Cart

Once we get your order through, your designer will call you to discuss some ideas. We will have the logo finished and ready in a couple of days.

How A Logo Design Studio Works

Logo design is just a single part of what a graphic design studio does. It is the most important part though because the rest of the corporate identity spans from the logo design. It is the keystone in terms of the corporate identity that the rest of the marketing materials build upon. This is why many internet graphic design studios call themselves logo design studios as opposed to graphic design studios.

The Team

Lead Designer
At the head of the team is the lead designer. Sometimes called the design supervisor or design director. This is the boss and they are usually a very accomplished designer in their own right. No design leaves the studio without being signed off by the boss. This person is responsible for looking after the clients and coordinating the designers. If the design studio consists of just one person then the boss will also be the designer.

Designers
The design team will consist of a mixture of talents. Designers specialise in differnt areas of design. For instance it is not uncommon to have an expert in type working alongside an expert in illustration. Or an expert in layout working alongside several other designers. A good studio will play well to the strengths of the team and work in small specialist teams to maximise the creativity for the client.

Quality Control
This consists of one or two senior designers with an eye for detail. They will make sure that best practices are being followed and that the work is suitable for the media it has been designed for. They will have an in-depth knowledge of printing processes and will be required to work closely with the printing department to iron out any production issues.

The Process

The first thing to do is understand the clients design brief. Understand what the client is trying to achieve with the design. Once the brief is understood and the client agrees to the scope of the work, the creativity can begin.

Brainstorming
The team is assembled by the boss. This will be a hand picked team of designers that have the required skill set strengths to accomplish the project goals. A meeting will take place where ideas are thrown into the pot. All ideas are welcome no matter how absurd they may seem. Often an absurd idea will lead onto something else that will be a real winner so it is important that people speak out and say what they see. Ideas are then refined down to two or three different concepts. It is these concepts that will be explored further.

Concepts
Designers sketch out the concepts on paper (see fig.1). This is crucial to a successful design because it will show how the design can play out in colour and black and white. It will also show weaknesses in the design early on before any computer work takes place. This stage can make or break a concept and so it must never be missed. It is no good committing something to the computer without having first played it out in sketch format. Doing so often ends up in a nice looking design that has a lot of weaknesses discovered too late to change. Sketch first, then commit to digital design. That is the correct sequence.

Digitising The Design
Once the concepts have been ironed out in sketch format and black and white and colour examples (see fig. 2) are created, the design can be computerised (see fig.3). For a professional design they will use a vector drawing tool like Adobe Illustrator. This will get the logo design onto the computer in a format that can be used across a multitude of different mediums. The finished image will be able to be resized and edited as required without any loss of quality. It can then be output into a massive array of different file formats for use on all sorts of applications.

Quality Control
The quality controller for the project will check back to make sure that all procedures have been carried out and that there is a traceable history of the project which has been catalogued. This is important not only for the good housekeeping of the design studio but because this work may well be called on in the defence of a trademark argument. The studio need to prove the work is genuine. The designs themselves will also be scrutinised for quality and any potential printing or media issues will be addressed and corrected.

Sign Off
The boss signs off the project for delivery to the client. Anything that may have been missed by the quality team will almost certainly not make it past the head honcho. The boss takes full responsibility for the project and can be legally held accountable for the work being genuine.

How Can You Tell Real A Logo Design From Fake?

It is almost impossible to tell the difference between a stolen logo design and a genuine logo design. Unless you have seen the original design how can you possibly know what’s real and what’s fake? Even seasoned designers can’t tell the difference (see fig. a) so what chance has a business person got of knowing the difference. If you read the article mentioned above you will stand a very good chance of avoiding the hidden pitfalls. With modern computers and graphics software that almost design for themselves, pretty much anyone can set up designing and selling logos for next to nothing.

About The Author
http://www.LogoQuality.co.uk is the internet brand of Graphic Design Ltd. A graphic design studio based in Slough near London. Graphic design Ltd follows the design procedures and processes laid out in this article. All genuine designs depicted (CHOU Logo) are the work of Graphic Design Ltd or the trademarks of their respective owners.

If you would like to order a logo design from www.LogoQuality.co.uk you can do that here:

Order Logo Design - £149

Free Logo Design

We are conditioned from an early age to believe that there is no such thing as a free lunch so I am always amazed when people think they can get a genuine, unique logo design for free. The key words used here are genuine and unique. You can make your own logo for free, that’s true. If you search Google for “free logo design” you will get a list of four or five free logo maker tools. Some are really basic and just add drop shadows and the like to a standard font. Others are far more sophisticated and provide outputs in vector file formats like eps and svg. Here is the result of my Google search. I have listed the top 3 sites.

Logo Ease
Logo Maker
Logo Design Engine

The three free logo design tools above all look like a god send to anyone looking for free logo design. They all offer a free option for something that should cost well over £100 to have done professionally.

Logo Ease is the best of the bunch as it really is free and you get a vector output too. Logo Maker has a catch. You can have a free logo design for your website and it must link back to them. Logo Design Engine Seems to be fairly simple that you choose a badly designed icon and add text. There is little if any customising.

So should we be wary of these and why? Where is the catch?

Is Free Logo Design a False Economy?

How can something that is free be a false economy?

Trademark

Anyone that says you can get a trademark issued for a template logo design without any trouble is not telling the truth. First of all there is no guarantee of getting a trademark even for a unique logo design. Whilst it is very likely to be granted for a unique logo design the actual granting of the trademark is not automatic. It makes it much less likely that you can trademark a template that other businesses will also be using. Even if the font, name, layout and colours are changed from the basic template, the actual icon part of the template logo will be identical to others in use.

In addition to it being more unlikely that you will be granted a trademark for a template based logo, you will find that the terms of use of the free logo maker software prohibits the trademarking of the images anyway. The owners of the software own the images outright and although they allow you to use them, you will never be able to build and protect your brand using a logo design made up in part of one of their images/icons.

Not Unique

One of the main reasons of using a logo design in your business is to build your brand and distinguish your offering from everyone else’s offering. The logo design should give you a unique identity that will represent your business. This has been so since logo designs were first used thousands of years ago by traders in ancient Egypt.

Using a free logo design to represent your business means that you sacrifice the reason for having a logo design in the first place. Your logo will not be a unique image that you want people to associate your business with. Thousands of other businesses will be using exactly the same image that you have selected for your company. This can be obvious to people who view your logo, including your customers because they may well have seen your logo used by another business in the past. Even if they haven’t seen it now they may well see the same logo used by another company at a later date. This can cause confusion for your customers and possibly lead to a loss of trust.

Low Quality

Graphic designers are trained formally in working with images, text, colour, layout and balance. All the free logo maker does for you is provide you with the raw materials. It’s like having delivered all the bricks and wood which are perfect for making a house extension and then doing the construction yourself. You have all the basic ingredients but you are lacking the know-how of how it all goes together.

Designers are experts at choosing a font and laying out the text so that it works for your business type. Graphic designers are experts at choosing colours that work well together in your industry or niche to portray the right moods and feelings. Logo designers are experts in creating a unique icon or symbol that can be used separate from the text. The finished image will reflect the qualities you hold dear in business. Designers are experts at taking all these individual elements and putting them together so that your logo has balance and harmony. You might get lucky putting a couple of these elements together but most people without a formal design education will struggle to get all the individual elements working together, if at all. This will show through and whatever you create for yourself will often look low quality.

Applying Your Free Business Logo Design

You want your logo to represent your business and to do that you need to apply it to all manner of marketing tools. Business cards, letterhead, brochures, web site etc, etc.

There are templates all around the web that you can use for free. Have a look at the Microsoft Office website as a start. Here you will find all manner of free stuff. Again, there is nothing unique here and many thousands of people will all be using the same designs.

Free printing will be a problem for you because you will always have to pay something for this. The lower the price is, the lower the quality and that is a fact because the raw materials themselves have a cost. Use cheap raw materials and you will pay less. This will translate into how you are perceived as a business by your customers. Even if you pay for your printing and use a good quality paper stock, the finished product will lack visual appeal and quality because the logo image used was made using a free logo maker tool. You may argue that this is not important for a small business starting out on a shoestring budget. On the surface this looks like a good argument, afterall you want to keep as much money in the business as you can whilst you build up. What you really want to do is stand out from your competitors and look like the best option for your customers.

Images have a powerful part to play in the way we perceive things. A strong, well thought out, designed logo design will look much more professional than a template logo design and will appeal to a far wider audience. With regards to the cost, this is a tax deductible expense for your business and should cost you less than £200. Some things are just worth investing in to give your business the best start possible.

If all your business comes from recommendations and you are happy with the amount of work you have then you do not need a logo design for your business at all. If however, like most businesses, you have stiff competition, then a professional logo design is an essential marketing tool to give you a business advantage.

To Conclude

Free logo design is a false economy because you can’t trademark it. It will more often than not look poor quality and you can be perceived as cheap. As you build your business and develop your brand using a free logo design, you will eventually want your own unique identity. You will have to start building your uniqe identity from the ground up. This means you will need to start with a new professional logo design and all the marketing materials that you use to promote your business with. You will end up paying more long term to get your new brand recognised so that people no longer associate you with the free logo design you have used in the past.

Professional logo design is not expensive. If you are in a competitive market, value your company image and are serious about building a robust brand for your business then you should invest in a unique, custom, professional logo design.

Beware of professional logo design under £100. This can come with a nasty sting in tail. Here is why.

See what a professional logo design should look like here: Professional Logo Design

Logo Quality offer professional logo design starting at just £149. All work is original, unique and guaranteed. If you would like to talk about your plans for your brand, please call one of our experts on (01753) 208022 or email logo@logoquality.co.uk.

If you like to order your logo design you can do that here:

Order Logo Design - £149

Many of our clients go on to add their corporate logo design to work uniforms or their corporate workwear. This is a great way of increasing the profile of your brand. Each of your employees becomes a walking, talking, advertisment for your business. It makes your team look smart and professional too.

Popular logo wear clothing items include polo shirs and baseball caps. For a very small price you can make your business look better established and more professional by just adding your logo design to one or two items of clothing.

Have a look at these professional looking corporate baseball caps and see how the logo really stands out and promotes the business.

Add a baseball cap with a really smart polo shirt and you have the makings of a great corporate identity. This looks so professional and business-like. You can have the logo either embroidered (great value for money and very classy looking) or printed on the clothing. Embroidery is a little more expensive but you really benefit from the high quality look. Have a peak at this polo shirt. The logo comes to life and gives a great businesslike look to the polo shirt.

Let Logo Quality help you apply your new logo design to your corporate workwear. We are experts in getting your logo onto all manner of workwear items so just drop us a line on 01753 20 80 22 and speak with one of our experts about your requirements.

Qualities

Strength, reliability, honesty, safety, authority are the key qualities of any security business. The security industry covers many fields of expertise but you will find these qualities reflected throughout the whole industry. Be it guard services, door security, survielance, protection or corporate security.

Logo Ideas For Security Business

Designing logos for the security industry can be a challenge. Many security companies like to use their company logo design as the badge for their uniform too. The badge will often depict a shield like design. It is important that the badge gives a feeling of authority and of safety.

Example Security Logo Designs

Here are some logo designs that we have created for security businesses recently. www.LogoQuality.co.uk are experts at designing logos for the security industry.

If you would like to benefit from our expert logo design skills for your new security business or you are looking to update an existing logo please get in touch. You can call us from 9am to 9pm Monday to Friday and speak with one of our branding experts. You will be sporting your new security logo in just a few days. Call 01753 20 80 22. If you like we will even call you back.

You can order your security industry logo design here too:

Order Logo Design - £149

Develop Your Own Logo Design Ideas

Thinking about how you want your company logo to look, can draw a blank. You may conduct your business as a tradesman or retail outlet or any other type of business for that matter. Many business owners feel that they don’t have a creative bone in their body. That’s not unusual at all. You are good at what you do and can’t be expected to be good at graphic design as well. Developing great ideas for your logo design can be quite a simple task if you know what to look out for.

The Creative Juices Start Here

Here are a few cruicial areas to focus on that will guide your thought process and allow you to come up with some great logo design ideas for yourself. let’s take it one stage at a time.

1. Colour

a) Moods and Feeling

Do you have a colour scheme already or in your mind that you are happy with? Does that colour scheme work well or do the colours clash? Do you even know?

Colour science is the study of colours and the impact they can have on our everyday lives. Colours can drive our emotions positively and negatively. You don’t want your logo to give people a negative feeling about your business so it’s important to understand at least the basics.

Here is a link to a US university site that explains in very simple terms what colours can do to our moods. Bloomberg University Colour Info

Another link here picks out some more moods and feelings associated with common colours.

b) Balance

Once you have selected your colours you need to know if they work together. It’s important that your logo is not an eyesore but something that looks as if it is well balanced. A good choice of colours will make your logo appear stronger and help to give it meaning. Ideas will begin to flow about how you want your logo to look once you are happy with your choice of colours.

Many designers cheat when it comes to selecting colours that work well together. I use the word cheat a bit “tongue in cheek”. They use tools like colour wheels and colour matching charts and swatches. You too can learn from the professionals by using similar tools that are meant for the pro’s. Colour wheels are great for selecting complimentary colours in graphic design but you can also use them for selecting colours that work well in your house. This tool is one that can be used for free. It is a free colour wheel that will aid you in putting together ideas for your logo design. Free colour wheel.

2. Text Font

Do not underestimate the power of a good font in a logo design. If you choose well you can solve one of the biggest problems in logo design. The selection of a great font. Some fonts work better in certain situations and for different purposes. Let me give you a very clear example of what I mean. Let’s say you have a high-tech electronics company and your logo design idea is to have an image of an electrical circuit with the words High-Tech Electrical Co next to it. Have you got the mental image so far?

The font you imagine next to the image of the circuit would not be whimsical in appearance or cartoon like. Those font styles will never work with a high-tech image. So already, you can see in your mind how important the choice of font is to make your logo idea come to life and have credibility. The electronics company will have a modern “san serif ” (the ones without hats and feet) font that has a high-tech feel to it.

Designers spend years studying fonts and working with them to convey emotion and feeling for given situations. The good news is that there are tools available to help you choose a particular font for a specific need. Using font tools can help to develop further your logo design idea.

Adobe, one of the leading font and font tool companies in the world have a very easy to use tool on their website that makes it simple to select a font that should work well with your logo idea. You can find this great logo design tool here: Free font tool

3. Style

Most logo designs fall into three different categories. Text based logo, Iconic or Emblem and Illustrative. These three logo design styles can be considered for most companies and the choice can often depend on your personal preference. Each one of these styles does have pros and cons associated with it though so lets take a quick look at what they are.

a) Text based logo design

Text based logo designs are usually preferred by large companies. Companies that have already built a brand or that have so much marketing spend behind the brand that the logo itself does not need to have any specific meanings or symbolism. Take for instance the Microsoft logo or the Nike logo (text, not tick, although either can be used). IBM have a text based logo too as do hundreds of other companies found in the FT 500 companies list.

Small to medium sized companies, although tempting to make themselves look much bigger find it hard to pull off a text based logo due to the marketing spend required to make the brand memorable. In small niches this may work better.

Pros:
Can make your company look bigger in a small niche.
Low cost to brand due to the simple nature of design and application of the logo across different media and applications.
Logo does not follow fads and fashions which means it can have greater longevity.

Cons:
Hard to make it work for small to medium sized companies without having a large marketing budget.
Can look pretentious if used by small to medium sized companies.
Does not portray a businesses personality well unless backed up by a large advertising spend.

b) Iconic/Emblem Style Logo

This is the preferred design style of modern and old businesses alike. Favoured by new businesses and those looking to update their existing logo design. Often used by larger companies too. This style of logo design is the most popular and has been since logo design came of age back in ancient Egypt thousands of years ago. The emblem or icon can be abstract or explicit to portray a companys’ personality. The emblem or icon is used to show the viewer what the company stands for. It may well indicate the type of industry or be more personal like a set of initials.

Used in conjunction with a well chosen font and powerful colour scheme the emblem/iconic logo can ooze professionalism. The emblem or icon can be placed in various positions in relation to the text. Popular positions of the icon/emblem are to the left or above the text. Not so popular are the icon/emblem placed to the right of the text or below it.

The icon/emblem can be separated from the text too so it can be used on it’s own as a symbol of the business.

Pros:
Easy to brand across different media and applications.
Relatively low cost applying the brand.
Works well for most types of business.
The emblem/icon can be used on it’s own or with text in marketing materials.
Easy to portray personality with a well designed icon/emblem.
Can have a long life time.
Easy to remember.

Cons:
Can be based on fads and fashions. Take for instance the swoosh or the ball designs favoured in the 90s. These now look very dated.
Can be too abstract and give the wrong impression.
A high level of skill is required in matching an icon/emblem to a suitable font.
Often require more than 2 colours which increases printing costs.

c) Illustration Logo Design

This design style looks the most value for money when viewed for the first time because it has a massive WOW factor. This style works well for consumer goods and food stuffs because it is easy to paint a picture with an illustration. These designs do not need to be clever or subtle because they are designed to be to the point.

Pros:
Massive initial WOW factor.
To the point and descriptive.

Cons:
Expensive to brand if gradients and shadows used in the design.
Usually more than 3 colors so printing is expensive.
Not easy for the viewer to remember due to complexity of design.
Hard to brand because of complexity of design.
Short lifespan of design if illustrating products.

4. Tag line/Strap line

Many companies have a strapline that adds a company message or marketing statement or lists a service. It is not compulsory to have one and is a matter of personal choice. Some companies have a logo design idea to use 2 logos. The same logo actually but one with and one without the strap line.

Here is an example of what I mean. Let us say that you are a logo design company. Your logo design firm has a logo that is iconic with text next to it. Under your business logo text you have a strap line. Here are some things you could say for your strap line. Low cost logo design, or what about Logo Design : Brochure Design : Stationery Design. You could even say “The Corporate Identity Experts”. So you see, there are different ways of doing it but each way has it’s merits.

When you are thinking about ideas for your logo why not try some different things for your tag line. Try listing services. Try a marketing message and try a unique selling point that you want to be known for. Once you have a few different ones worked out, run them past your friends and family.

Things to watch out for when coming up with a strap line:

Keep the number of words down to a minimum. The fewer the better. If it turns into a sentence. Try again.

Make sure that the text you are using is not in breach of someone’s trademark. You may need to seek legal advice here but if your words are common, everyday words, then you should be OK no matter what you use. If in doubt check with a solicitor.

If it sounds familiar, you may have subconsciously heard it before. In that case, you should definitely check to make sure this is not trademarked.

The Best Option

If you value your business and the image it has you should always seek the services of a professional graphic designer to design your logo. The professional designer will guide you and make difficult choices for you based on what is known to work and what does not work. The professional designer will also take care to provide a unique image that you can build a brand around and be proud of.

IMPORTANT: You are legally responsible for any graphic design that you use to represent your company so please make sure you use a real design company where the designers respect copyright and trademark law. If you mess up here it can cost you a lot of money down the road in legal fees and fines. This is a “must read” for avoiding the pitfalls of using an online logo design company and staying within the law.

Graphic Design Ltd
http://www.LogoQuality.co.uk
(01753) 20 80 22

Give Your Logo Motion

Add movement to your logo design.  This is great for websites.  Animated logo designs give your online presence a massive WOW factor.  Even though they look really expensive, the cost is very affordable.

Take a look at these flash logo samples provided to a client recently.  These different animation transitions make the logo come to life in different ways.  The one thing they all have in common is the smoothness of animation.

Right mouse click on the individual images and select play to see the full transitions from start to finish.




You can have an animated logo design created from your own business logo for as little as £120.  We will give you several different choices too like the examples above. You need to have an existing logo in a vector file format. If you do not have that already, we can create your logo design for £149 and then animate it for £120.

Bring your website to life and animate your logo design today.  Call us on 01753 20 80 22 and speak with a designer now.

Certificate Of Copyright Ownership

I get asked from time to time what the certificate of copyright ownership looks like and what it’s for. Well the what it’s for is very simple to answer. It is for your peace of mind. It is proof that we designed the logo for you and that we have handed over all the rights to you. It is your cast iron guarantee that the work is unique and we certify and testify to that fact in writing.

The Certificate

Here is an example of the certificate that we provide to every client on completion of their logo design project. Many of our clients go on to have this printed and framed and hang it proudly in their offices.

You will receive a certificate like this one for your custom logo design once your corporate logo project is finalised.

It is supplied in a print ready format ready to adorne your corporate board room or reception area. If you are giving a logo design as a gift to someone else then this really is the final touch to prove you have bought a quality logo design and really care about the success of their business venture.