1. Keep it really, really Simple.

Find your business message, and distill the idea into a symbol over and over till there’s nothing left but the single message. Try to stick with one central meaning. You have 2 seconds of someone’s attention. By the end of that 2 seconds, they either understood the meaning of your logo, or they got confused and shut you out forever.

2. Use symbols, Not Pictures.

Firstly, a symbol is easy to identify at different sizes, from giant billboard signs to tiny business cards. Secondly, symbols are more universally understood, especially if you managed to distill the brand idea into a proper symbol.

3. Make your symbol look Rock Solid.

Use font and symbols that look strong. Even feminine logos can have gracefully strong lines. But if it looks too fragile or undecided, your logo will get lost in the sea of crappy logos.

4. Use Less Colors.

Colors are part of your brand image, associate your brand with a color that will appeal to your target market. And the less colors you use, the less it cost for printing. Designing first in black and white will help with this.

5. Test it Hardcore.

Move the symbol around to different sides of your business name. Place it over textured graphics, place it over different colors. Zoom way out. Zoom in big. Rotate it. Put it in the middle of other logos. Is your logo still looking awesome? Great. If not, work on it some more.

There you have it, the quick and dirty on determining if a logo is good or bad. Got any other essential tips for good logo design?

That’s where I come in. Over a series of posts, I will be discussing how to improve your brand image through intelligent marketing and design. In a way that anyone can easily understand of course. So please check back often and you can also subscribe to my RSS feed here.

What Makes a Bad Logo?

There are many ways to make your logo irritating, unmemorable or downright wrong. I’ll save the details for another time, but here’s everything summed up into one piece of advice. Don’t over-complicate things. That’s right, it’s that simple. Many people tend to add a billion little meanings into their logo or company name. Or they think they are smart by basing their company name on an inside joke that should be kept at the dinner table. And I’m using logo and company name interchangeably because they are similar enough in their function.

Many people don’t realize that there are other companies out there trying to dig into the same piece of pie. When your company logo or company name is on a big list of choices,  you want something simple and direct. Because people do not have time to research every single one of the options available, so any logos that give a vague sense of purpose will be skipped entirely.

Does your Logo tell the story within 0.5 Seconds?

Pretend you are a stranger to the market and to your business. If you, as a stranger, were to see your logo and business name, would you instantly know what the business is about? The consumer’s mind can be sorted into several piles. The “Seems Interesting and Relevant” pile, the “Completely not relevant to me” pile, and the “It is too vague and I’m getting confused” pile. The first 2 piles are straightforward, but if you end up in the Confused pile, it will automatically be sorted into the “Not relevant” pile as well. Simplify, communicate your business function, and do it within 0.5 seconds.

Sounds like I’m screwed, what can I do?

Don’t worry, rebranding can be done to fix it, and it starts with the logo. If you’re stuck with a vague business name, then you will have to fully utilize the power of the logo. Make the logo stand out. Simplify it. Simplifying it some more. Use a symbolic representation that can strongly communicate your business function. And it better be good because it will have to cover for the weakness of the business name. You might want to consider hiring a identity designer at this point, preferably one with typography and branding skills as well.

I will get into far more detailed solutions later on, so please check back often for those. How do you feel about your current business name and logo? Do you feel that there can be room for improvement?

1. What is your Identity?

You must first ask yourself, what does your audience see your blog as currently, and in the future, what do you want them to see it as. That’s Branding. This is one of the most important aspect of planning any blog or business because the perceived value is often the deciding factor. For example, Coca Cola may taste similar to other pop sodas, but their cool brand image makes it taste extra good.

Your identity must not be vague. If I were to ask you, what is your blog about, you should be able to tell me in a few short words. While covering every single topic, and targeting the entire planet is a nice wish, it is not feasible for the most part. Even with mega corporations like Google, they have many sub-brands to keep the purpose of each unit distinct and clear in people’s minds.

So ask yourself, which chunk of the market you want to capture. Then present yourself in a way that creates a clear visual image of your purpose, in the minds of your audience.

2. Set new Post Categories

With your target set, it is time to set your posting categories. I found it extremely useful to preset your posting categories because it helps you to stay within your preset topic boundaries. They are by no means set in stone, but it can guide you when you are stuck for an idea as well. Nothing kills creativity like having unrestricted choices.

If you are going to create more than 6 categories, and if your blog design allows it, group them up with subcategories. This makes it easier for readers to find the information that they are looking for, rather than go down a list of 10+ categories where the topic categories jump wildly from one subject to the next. For example, I’ve placed Branding, SEO and Social Media under the Marketing category, because I don’t want to mix them up with my Design topics.

With a focused set of posting categories, both you and your audience will now have a clear idea of what the blog is all about. Any vagueness or confusion will be automatically be dumped into the ignore pile.

3. Picking your Blog Theme Template

Content is important, but even before reading your blog, they will see the design first. A good theme design is one that is easy to read, comfortable colors, and convenient links to other parts of your site.

There are many great free wordpress themes out there, but choosing the right theme isn’t easy. When I choose a theme, I consider many factors such as structure, convenience and customizability. That is where a good premium theme is probably a better choice. While I know enough about themes to build one from scratch or customize a free one, premium themes start off with a very clean code base and optimized user experience. Fixing up a free wordpress theme properly can be weeks worth of work, so why not start off with a more solid foundation?

I researched various premium theme template companies but found major flaws in one area or another. I needed a theme that already has most of the essentials and will allow me to customize easily. Make sure that you’re not adding in so many features that it causes clutter though. I found Woothemes to have the most consistently good themes. Both their free and premium themes are very solidly designed. Good user experience, clean interface and relevant placement of site links. They also have themes for different purposes including Personal Blog, Image Gallery, News Blog, Portfolio Blog etc. Definitely a good place to start your theme search.

4. Maintain the New Posting Schedule

Now that you’ve settled on your posting categories and optimized your theme, it is time to set your posting schedule. It should be on a regular interval so that your readers will know when to come back, whether it is once a day or once a week. If your content is good, people will want to come back regularly to read what you have to say, and then eventually start to comment on your blog.

If you have trouble choosing what to blog about every day, one suggestion is to have themed days, kind of like Meatloaf Mondays or Chicken Thursdays. You can choose a topic with an unlimited amount of content, such as Graphics Icons or Tips on Cooking.

5. Advertising your New Blog

Once you have some decent content published on your blog, it is time to let everyone know about the new Rebranded you! You can post on forums and invite people to comment on your new branding. Or you can write a blog post about your rebranding, then comment on blogs with the CommentLuv plugin installed. When you comment on a blog with CommentLuv installed, it will display the name of the last post you made on your own blog. You can also post on Twitter, Facebook, Myspace etc about your Rebranded blog and create an exciting relaunch.

Following these 5 steps will help you towards a new and exciting blogging experience. Just remember to always ask yourself, if I was a visitor, what would I like or dislike about the site? Got any more good ideas on rebranding a blog?

I did freelance web design and flash banners before, but now I’ve gone beyond that with a deeper and more cohesive understanding of user interface design, social media strategy, SEO, trending etc. Like many people, I fell into the trap of over expanding my range of discussion topics, some of it inadvertently, some as a testing platform for bigger projects.

The range of topics here will be refocused to pull more from my experiences, on subjects such as marketing, branding, design, SEO, user interface etc. The unique selling point will be an experience that will be presented in an integrated approach based around the designable aspects. Leveraging my broad range of experience across different sectors.

Design is a broad word, but also can be taken as a problem that can be solved through a creative and intelligent plan of action. That will be the new premise of the Creativeherb.com. You will see changes over the next few weeks as I phase in new categories, completely new theme, new post topics.

Behind the scenes, SEO will have more of a design focus based on the categories mentioned. I will keep everyone updated and post about my methods as well. I’m very excited about the upcoming changes, and I think it will definitely be getting more interesting for everyone too.

EDIT: In case you were wondering, yes I will still keep a sub-section for misc. helpful tools/tips like the Melamine Food List or the Canadian Google Flu Trends I’ve been keeping updated.