First, let us confess. The actual title for this post is ‘how to make a logo relevant’ but because many are usually more interested in the creation of the logo, we thought we should arrest attention with a title of interest.
When building a new brand, the logo is one element we put foremost in our considerations and we lay so great an emphasis on it. “Make it bigger!” “We need it to pop!””It has to reflect all that we do.” All familiar lines we communicate during the creation process of our logo. We deem it has the one object that will spearhead all our business conquest.
However, the truth is, as gargantuan the importance we want to attach to our logo, a logo is no more than a signature. Just as a signature does not give importance to a person; the person gives the signature its importance, a logo does not make a brand. The brand makes the logo. No one adheres importance to a signature just because of its aesthetic appearance or sophisticated construction. The importance is created by the position and achievements of the person signing it.
A president’s signature will command more attention and compel the people who come in contact with it to eagerly take action way more than that of an average citizen. The signature becomes that more important because the president has developed his person from average through the ranks and process up to the position of leadership.
The same goes for our brand. If we want our logo to command value and compel people to eagerly take the actions we desire, say, buy our product, we should build our brand to a position of leadership; exceptional product/service delivery, impressive brand experiences, creative identity design, consistent advertising and other best branding practices.
Yes, just as a signature should be written in thin lines that are easily identifiable, consistently replicated and only in certain colours for it to be effective, a logo must also follow certain principles of good design for it to be effective across various media otherwise it will not stand the test of time. But as regards making the logo relevant enough to command value and compel people to take the desired actions we require just by seeing it either on a physical product or a communication material, we have to develop the brand behind it to a position of leadership.
