Why you should hire a professional to design your logo

Your logo is your small business’s visual identity 

And your visual identity is what separates you from your competitors and allows you to build long lasting relationships with your customers. Professional designers have the knowledge and experience to provide you a logo that targets your audience and conveys to them that your business is stable and reputable. You’ll use your logo on your website, your social media venues and many other marketing platforms and it plays an important step in representing yourself and your business.

Here are a few reasons why you should hire a professional logo designer

A professional graphic designer will take the time to discover their clients

When I begin working with a client I ask detailed questions so I can zero in on exactly what my client needs to target their audience. Finding out what the specific sectors, industries, demographics and special needs are allow me to address any concerns that have been problematic in the past or that may arise in the future. An experienced logo designer will also take the time to discover your competition so you can stand apart from them.

Professionals know the principles of good design

Most individuals are more capable at remembering graphic associations than they are at remembering printed words. A good logo requires quite a bit of problem solving and it is the responsibility of the designer to guide their client into a logo design that is strong and memorable. When looking to hire a professional logo designer, a good question to ask is if they know legendary designer Dieter Ram’s 10 principles for good design. Designing is about helping a client get what they want and what is best for their clientele. Experienced designers will use these ten principles to guide their clients into a logo design that is functional and memorable. Dieter says that all designs need to be: 

• Innovative: A design should be original, creative and develop with technology.
• Useful: The design should satisfy certain criteria, not only functional but also psychological and aesthetic.
• Aesthetic: A good design must be well-executed and beautiful.
• Understandable: The design should be self-explanatory.
• Unobtrusive: The design needs to fulfill a purpose.
• Honest: Good designs don’t manipulate the consumer.
• Long-lasting: A good design is beyond fashionable, it is never antiquated and lasts for years.
• Thorough: Good design doesn’t leave anything to chance.
• Environmentally-friendly: Conserves resources and minimizes visual pollution.
• As Little as Possible: Less is always more when it comes to design. Don’t burden your logo with any non-essential items.

A professional knows what file types you need for your logo

Logos are used in a variety of situations and a professional logo designer will make sure you have a file type that will work for every scenario whether it be a billboard, a website, a business card or even a bus wrap. The bottom line is, whatever the occasion, your logo must look spectacular.

You will need a variety of final formats for your logo, but there are two basic types of files you will need: raster and vector. 

Raster graphics are dot matrices in data structure and are made up of hundreds, thousands or millions of tiny square dots of color information, these dots are referred to as pixels. Rasters are delineated by the width and height of those pixels. Common raster file formats are JPG, GIF, PNG, TIF, BMP AND PSD. Raster images work best for non-scaleable formats and photographs. You won’t need all of these formats for your logo. I always provide my clients with a color and black white logo file of a JPG, PNG, and TIF.

• JPG: JPGs work by eliminating some of the things that the eye is not likely to see or notice. JPGs are lossy raster files which means they lose a small amount of information everytime the JPG is saved. 
• PNG: These files work well with line art images and photographs for websites but can result in really large file sizes. PNGs also offer alpha transparency which is very cool because each individual pixel has its own level of opacity.
• TIF: A TIF is a Tagged Image File Format. This format is not as common these days, but they are good for high-quality graphics.

Vector images aren’t made up of pixels, they are made using mathematical logarithms so that they can be infinitely resized without losing quality or resolution. Vector files are more versatile than raster files. Common vector files are: AI, EPS, PDF and SVG. Clients are provided with each of these formats for their logo design.

• AI: This is an Adobe Illustrator file, this is what I use to design and export logo files. 
• EPS: Encapsulated Postscript files are an older type of vector and don’t support transparency.
• PDF: Portable Document Format is used for the sharing of documents across multiple platforms.
• SVG: Scalable Vector Graphics are great for high resolution displays but because of their mathematical logarithms can also support animation. 

I’ve written about file types and raster vs. vectors in the past, but the having a combination of both raster and vector files will make your logo file collection ready for all of your print and online needs.

A reputable designer is there for you

Logos have a symbolic connection to a human’s memory, so you want your logo to be amazing. It is the symbol of your small business and it symbolizes the heart and soul on your website, your marketing materials and on your social media posts and so much more. A good designer does more than help you with colors, typography, and aesthetics. A good designer is there for you when you need updates to your logo or new file formats. When selecting a logo designer check out their portfolio and read their testimonials to make sure they are reputable and align with your design vision.