Logos: A Branding Essential
Reality Of Business In 2020
It’s no surprise that this year has been unmatched for businesses both worldwide and local. Small business store fronts have been permanently closing all around us, and massive companies are seeing their sales skyrocket online as we’ve all seen ourselves through at least one lockdown thus far. It may be through some eyes, the worst year possible to start a new business, but at the same time ecommerce is truly booming this year like never before.
When The Time Is Right
For those of you like me who decided to take the plunge into creating there’s been no better time! Many of us have been laid off, stuck at home, and not knowing how to fill our days with motivation and accomplishments. The reality is if I had continued working my flight attending job throughout all this, I never would have lifted a finger or given a proper thought to starting a business when it’s really been in the back of my mind for a few years just waiting to be acted on. Our lives are so jam packed and careers are often placed at the forefront of our days and priorities. After that all our energy goes into chores, followed by family or friends, and finally, if we’re lucky, some time to relax. Not many people out there have the time, energy, or commitment to add much else on top of all this, let alone start a second career. So for me, it has been a true blessing to be given this break and honestly be capable of following my dreams without becoming overwhelmed, exhausted, or unable to give 100%.
Diving Into ECommerce
It had always been my goal to create a business mainly online, where I could be both time and location independent so this explosion of ecommerce traffic couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time for me. Now branding is important in all businesses of all types, but when you or your product aren’t physically in contact with customers, making your story and personality heard and understood is far more essential. That’s where the logo comes in! The first thing people see online is your logo and/or slogan so it is imperative that what customers see describes your company and your personality to the best of your ability. This will help catch a potential buyer or follower’s eye and reel them in, so getting your logo to be perfect for you is such a big step in starting your business.
How I Got My Logo
For me, just starting out and of course starting amidst a pandemic, along with being 21 years old, I really didn’t have much money to spare let alone have start up capitol for a business. I was and still am constantly torn between buying the best quality and trying to save money in certain aspects. That’s where 99designs comes in. It is an awesome site where you are able to get a logo, website, business cards, etc. and you can choose to either work directly with a designer, or run a contest. I chose to go with the contest option and couldn’t be happier. This platform allows for graphic designers all over the world to view your brief and design for you immediately. There are designers who are new to the craft and others who are seasoned professionals so you get a wide range of people to work with which is wonderful. What’s cool about this is that it’s the artist’s choice on whether or not they want to submit based on their connection and ideas for the brief. You explain any ideas you have of your own, fonts, colours, styles, and slogans, along with a rundown of your business, and this allows for designers to really get to know what you’re looking for. From there artists have four days to submit ideas and you are able to comment and message them throughout the whole process to give any adjustments or ideas you have based on what they submitted. At the end of the four days you are allotted an additional seven days to choose up to six finalists that will be able to further their designs to really narrow down what you are looking for and what you like. With these finalists selected you are able to run a poll for up to fourteen days and have your family or friends give feedback before choosing the winner. This is awesome as it allows you to see what best catches the viewers’ eye and which one best describes your company. Once you choose a winner the graphic designer is able to go even further with the final adjustments are refine anything before you give the final say to get the files sent over to you. When the design has been perfected the artist sends over the files to you in many different formats such as JPEG, PNG, PDF, etc. Having all these options is wonderful as it makes sure you will be able to use the logo anywhere you need such as on a website, social media platform, or to be physically printed. At this point the copyright is handed over to you and is then all legally yours! This portion can be up to five days if you need. You are able to do all this for as little as $400! This is an awesome deal as many professional graphic designers cost thousands! I was able to complete all of this in just over two weeks and the result was fantastic! An awesome feature is that though they do have timelines for each step, you can move on to the next as soon as you are ready so that you are able to get your logo finalized as fast as possible. Not to mention the whole idea of being in charge of every concept and decision as well as run your own contest and have designers come to you rather than the other way around is quite unique, and I really enjoyed every step of the way.
Is It Right For You?
If you are:
a new business owner
planning/creating a company or;
looking to revamp your current look
I highly suggest 99designs. You truly won’t be disappointed and you’re guaranteed to have fun while going through the process. Eliminate the stress about time, money, and quality, and head on over to 99designs’ website to get started! Simply click on any of the underlined titles above.
Until next time ☺️
