A strong visual identity will set your blog apart from the others


Visual Branding

As the saying goes, first impressions last. Online, those first impressions come in the form of a visual look and feel, and having a strong visual identity will immediately set your site apart as a publication worth (or not worth) reading. The basic elements of a visual identity online are a logo and consistent website design. It's best to get these done by a professional graphic and web designer with a solid reputation.

Strong visual branding usually makes a statement about the site's personality. It might set the tone as modern, friendly, hi-tech, classic, personal, or any number of other traits. This look and feel begins with the logo, so it's a good idea to get that designed first. Here are some considerations for getting a logo and brand designed:

Simplicity

There shouldn't be too much going on in a logo. As a general rule, you should only have one main concept in the logo. For example, if you have an interesting icon, you should have relatively straightforward text set in a classic font, and vice versa.

If you're unsure of how simple is good, have a look around at logos of magazines, famous blogs, and even common retail brands. If a logo is too busy, it tends to look really amateurish. Simple generally is better.

Versatility

You want to get a logo that works well on both a light background and inverted onto a dark background. The logo should work at small sizes and big sizes and still be legible. The aim being to ensure your logo will work in a variety of places and situations.

Online Use

It's important to think about how your logo will look on a website. For example, a very tall and thin, vertical logo, might run into problems on many website designs, as they tend to favor horizontal dimensions. Similarly if you had a logo that had a big icon and some small text underneath, this might cause problems online because in small sizes the text underneath could be difficult to read.

Don't be Afraid of a Plain Text Logo

When you are spending money on a logo, it's tempting to feel like a plain text logo doesn't deliver value. After all, plain text logos don't look like there is much to them. Nonetheless, these types of simple logos often work really well provided there has been a lot of care put into typeface selection, spacing, color, and small touches to make them unique. Examples of text only logos include TechCrunch, Google, Borders, Sony, and most magazines. Look around and you'll realize that many logos are actually very, very simple.

One place that a plain text logo doesn't work so well is with longer brand names. With short names the words often become the shape of the logo. Whereas with a longer name you can't escape the feeling that you are reading words. That said, if you have more than three words in a name, you should probably consider changing the name, not the logo!

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This article was sent to us by: Cynthia Simmons at 02152011

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