Correct Physical Therapy Logo
Do not let designers add a shadow effect to your logo like this.
While it is okay to have a logo with a bevel effect, designers should not add a bevel effect to logos that were designed without the effect.
Surrounding the logo with another design element has a strong potential of changing the logo in the minds of your customers.
Customers perceive black and white as the absence of color, so changing a color to all black or all white will not change the color of the logo in the minds of your customers. Because one-color printing is sometimes necessary, a well-designed logo will look good when converted to one color.
When used correctly, your logo enhances the memorability of your agency or practice. There are a number of things that rookie designers will do to undermine the effectiveness of your company logo. Know what the common errors are, so you can manage the people who are managing your company logo.
Blending Effects:
“Blending effects” is the designer’s term for the various effects they can put on your logo to change the way it interacts with the background of a design – how the logo blends with the background. Blending effects include shadows and glowing. Diffuse outer glow effects that don’t seem to be attached to the logo are sometimes acceptable and good. One of the worst effects a designer will add to your logo is the stroke. A stroke is an outline that goes all the way around the logo, and it can be a line that outlines every letter of your text. When designers add blending effects to your logo, they are mildly changing the logo. They might as well be making minor changes to the name of your company (e.g. Designer says to you, “In this brochure, I changed your company name from ‘A+ Home Care’ to ‘A+ Homecare’ because it worked better with my design). To work well for company’s branding, your logo should look the same everywhere.
Surrounding the Logo:
Designers often like to put your logo in a circle, put your logo in a rounded rectangle, put a swoosh under your logo, or otherwise surround your logo with some design element. This is a dangerous game. If customers or referral sources see your logo surrounded by the same design element a few times in a row, they will begin to perceive the thing surrounding your logo as part of your logo. Then, when they see the logo without the surrounding element, it will look wrong to them. Consistently surrounding a logo with a design element can change the logo in the minds of your customers.
Crowding the Logo:
Logos need space to be noticed and memorable. Putting text or other design elements too close to the logo not only makes the overall design cluttered and uncomfortable, it also lessens the importance of the logo in the minds of your customers.
Changing the Color:
Do not let designers change the colors in your logo to suit their tastes or temporary needs. However, there are three color changes that are acceptable.
- White: Sometimes, an effective design will require a logo to be placed in a dark colored area of the page. In these cases, you may allow your designer to change the color of your logo to white. White is perceived as a lack of color rather than an actual color. Therefore, your customers will remember the shape and words of your logo without mentally assigning a color to your company. Bear in mind that color is part of the effectiveness of a logo, so taking the color away may temporarily strengthen a particular advertisement at the expense of weakening the effectiveness of your logo.
- Black: Just as customers perceive white as the absence of color, they also perceive black as the absence of color. For some promotional printing such as putting your logo on a pen or a steel mug, it may be necessary to print the logo in black. This will not hurt the logo overall, but it will reduce the effectiveness of the logo in that one instance.
- Color Shifting: Some color shifting between media (i.e. internet, printed pages, billboards, TV) is unavoidable. Sometimes, color shifting occurs because different media render color with different technologies. On the printed page, mild color shifting can occur using the exact same print method. Variability in the condition of the printing equipment and even ambient humidity can cause mild color shifts. Some colors such as blues that are very close to purple are more prone to color shifting than others. A printing technique called spot color can prevent color shifting (in theory), but spot color typically costs more, and we rarely recommend it for home health agencies or physical therapy practices. Where color shifting is involved, the best the practice manager can do is watch the designer closely and make sure that color errors are not built into the design.
Making the Right Hire
Most designers are trained to make artwork. Formally trained marketing professionals, however, are trained in a form of applied psychology. Marketing professionals are trained to understand how words and design elements will affect your customers’ memory and emotions. With Brazzell Marketing Agency, you get more than just design work. You get design work guided by an understanding of marketing.
