Big logo equals big ego

When a designer asks you what you would like, content-wise, on your design piece the answer will normally start with “our company logo, contact details, phone number” and then on from there.

Sometimes this is followed by “logo top-left, nice and big”. The problem with this is that you are starting to do the designer’s job. Don’t get me wrong, the design process is a ‘process’ that should be shared between client and designer, very much a collaborative effort, but what you, the client, brings to the table in that partnership should really be information about your company, its target market(s) and the personality traits of the company (not your personality traits). What the designer brings to the table is how to best structure that information in the most clear and informative way, in the right tone-of-voice and to the intended market.

Big logo, big ego

We’ve all seen it, a big logo top-left. Most clients want to see their logo nice and big and in a prominent place, and I can understand why, but it’s important to understand that the logo is not the important piece of information on any design. The important information is what’s in it for the target market. For example, if I want to buy a nice winter jacket I don’t look for the brand’s logo, I look at the technical specifications of the jacket – waterproof, windproof, down, what purpose this particular jacket serves and if it’s the right one to solve my problem. Of course, the brand is very important in terms of it’s heritage and this can all help me trust that jacket a little bit more but the specifications come first, always.

Having a big logo plastered across your marketing materials is like the cheesy person who approaches you in a bar and starts shouting about how much money they earn, what a lovely car they have and how big their ‘ego’ is. We all know that doesn’t work. Be the brand who starts asking questions about you, the one who takes an interest, the one who actually cares about the person they are talking to. Next time you ask for your logo to be nice and big, think about what your market really wants to see, give them that information and then sign-off nice and elegantly, and more confidently, with your company’s logo.