Graphic Design and Website Design

Logo Design and Branding

The internet is a lot of things. It is social networking. Online marketing. Websites. Blogs …and more. But did you know that the internet is a great tool for promoting your brand? I’m not just talking about your logo stuck in the top left corner of your website. No. I’m talking about thousands of people seeing your logo every day! Of course to do this you will need a few things, starting with a logo. Next you will need an avatar and logo icon. And finally you will need a favicon. If you are not familiar with an avatar, logo icon or favicon don’t worry, I will show you what they are …just keep reading. As for a logo, I am going to show you why investing in a custom logo is worth every cent. I’m not going to talk about colors, text or symbolism of using blue vs red. For a business person you need to know how and why a professionally designed logo is better than a free logo. So, today I’m going to show you five ways to market your brand online and how a custom logo will increase online branding options in ways a free logo does not. Speaking to the business person, this means more profits. So lets get started.

With the help of a logo the internet can become a conduit for boosting a brand. This is especially true when a logo is incorporated in an avatar, logo icon or favitar. What all this amounts to is more real estate in more places.

To begin taking complete advantage of the internet and online marketing,  your internet branding campaign will require three tools:

1. A LOGO- a logo is the first tool a business needs in order to take advantage of online branding opportunities. With the aid of screen shots I will demonstrate that online marketing can boost your brand to incredible heights. Furthermore, you will see why a logo requires a professional graphic designer whom understands the internet and how a logo design can be applied to an avatar, logo icon and favicon; something a free logo design software does not provide …and this is a huge disadvantage when using free logo software.
2. LOGO ICON and AVATAR – Compared to a logo, the logo icon and avatar are usually smaller. As a professional graphic designer when I design an avatar or icon logo I focus on a small part of the logo that carries over some specific and recognizable element in a usually small area.
3. FAVICON – Simply put a favicon is an avatar for your browser. It is usually very small so it needs to be designed with one recognizable element from your logo.

With this simple explanation of how an avatar, logo icon and favicon are based off a logo, lets go over how they are used in an online marketing campaign, social networking, blog or website.

First, lets start with the website with the logo in the top left corner. This is a common place for a logo since it is one of the first areas the eye will go.

Next, the favicon is displayed in the visitors browser next to the domain name in the address bar. It is also displayed if the website is bookmarked, so when the user opens their favorites, your logo is there too.

Put the website and favicon together and you get some impressive online branding. Imagine your visitor or customer seeing your logo as displayed below!

Using social networking to increase your brand exposure can be done using an avatar. One such method is using Twitter to splash your logo/avatar across the twitter network. Here is a snap shot of my tweetDeck, only imagine your logo being displayed everyday in front of your followers …WOW!

Using Twitter For Online Branding

Perhaps now you are beginning to see the value of having a professional graphic designer create your logo? Specifically, a professional can design with all these elements in mind. This can leave a lasting impression and one that should not be left up to some free logo design software.

If you are still not impressed, let me show you more. Online branding goes beyond Twitter. Another method is one that has been around the internet for years, that’s right …the forum.

A forum is another online branding opportunity to display your logo

Forums also have profile areas where your logo design can be viewed.

Forums also have profile areas to display your avitar or logo

Estetica Design Forum is a great community with discussions around graphic design and website design, but if a forum is not for you, than try to use one of the newer social networking communities. For example, one of the more popular professional social networking groups is called LinkedIn.

Finally, using FeedBurner to syndicate your blog can also be a way to promote your brand by adding your logo to your blog feed.

Branding

I hope you are starting to see the picture and how a professional graphic designer can take your logo and use it to turn the internet into an online branding machine. For a business, a professionally designed logo is more than colors, pictures and text that goes on a website or business card. Furthermore, I only touched on five ways to market your brand online: website, social networking, forums, favicon and you RSS feed (FeedBurner). I did not even touch on a dozen other online branding resources available to boost your brand online; which for all the bottom liners means, increased profits though branding.