Remember in high school when you would have a substitute teacher? It was generally a great thing. You’d walk in to class, see this stranger standing there, and think that you basically would be taking that time off. There would probably be some movie to watch so you could kill the time. It was almost like having a sick day but you were actually in school. It was nice because you knew that this person wasn’t up to speed on where your class was with the lesson plan, probably didn’t specialize in English literature and was only there so people wouldn’t roam the hallways.

Well, that was the average substitute teacher I had in high school except for one. I don’t remember her name but instead of just popping the video tape in (that’s right – I went to high school before DVD and Blu-ray technology was adopted by my local school district), she would go on and on about the meanings of your dreams. She would spend an hour going around the class and asking people what kind of dreams they had the night before, and then would analyze them and tell everyone what it meant.

I have no idea if she had any training on the subject (what high schooler asks to see the substitute’s credentials?), but she would come across as knowledgeable with her in-depth explanations as to why you were dreaming about being in school naked. Her other area of self-proclaimed expertise was knowing why certain colors were used in marketing and advertisements. She would tell us the reason that all the fast food chains had red or orange in their color schemes was to subtly portray being quick or fast (kind of like a red race car). She would tell us that marketing using pink was trying to illustrate love or femininity. On this subject, not the dream analyzing, it turns out this substitute was actually making some sense. There is a whole psychology dedicated to the understanding of how colors impact people.

In fact, choosing the right color scheme is crucial to the image that you portray to your customers. Combine color scheme with your actual company logo and you are saying a lot about your business without using any words. Your decision as a business owner, when selecting a color scheme and a brand logo, are more important than you might think!

Here are some other items that you should consider when selecting your brand logo:

Go Professional

The advertising industry is a large and complex one. There are also a lot of quality and experienced members of this community all across the country. So when you are in the process of choosing your brand logo, or redesigning your old one, seek out some professional assistance. Even if you believe that you’ve developed the perfect logo and color scheme to represent your business (for example, what about WePay’s logo?), running those ideas past someone who deals with advertising and marketing for a living would be wise. They can help you talk through what type of message that you want to send to your customers when they see your logo.

What does your business stand for and what types of customers are you trying to appeal to? These are important pieces of information that need to be factored into your brand image because your brand will subconsciously appeal to certain individuals or companies based on the characteristics of your logo and color scheme. The other reason you want to go professional; your brand may be the first, and last, thing a potential customer sees when being introduced to your company. Wouldn’t you like to know from someone who does this type of thing for a living how they will interpret your logo?

BIG or small?

The brand logo that you ultimately choose will be on all types of things for your company. The logo will be on your website, business cards, email signature, company softball uniforms, letterhead, nametags, pens, stickers, bus signs…You get the point- it will be on a variety of different items. What one thing do all the above things have in common? They are different shapes and sizes. This is important because what your logo looks like on your website may look totally different than what it will look like on letterhead, or something else.

Before settling on a logo, play around with the size of it. See if you like it when it is enlarged and see if you like it when it is tiny. The orientation will also help you identify sizes that don’t present your logo in the best light, and you can make sure to avoid using in such places (sorry, beer bottle cap advertisers).

Don’t Lose Yourself In The Process

At the end of the day, this logo is about you and your company’s mission. You will hear all sorts of advice about your logo needs to be “simple, timeless, distinct or versatile” – whatever the heck all of those things mean. The piece of advice that most important to follow is the logo should represent you! When you look at it can you say, “that matches my business”? Think about all of the iconic logos in today’s business world. All of them, when you study them hard, are a great portal into a company’s values and mission. You took the time to create your company, build on an idea and make it happen…make sure your logo reflects that!

Check out this article on how to make your logo’s color scheme match the brand image you are going for.