It’s Your Logo, Protect It.

Your company logo and product logos are an important part of your brand. Logos are a terrific way to reinforce your communication. When it appears in advertising, emails, your web site, letterhead, faxes, etc. the logo leaves an impression in the viewer’s mind. One key to exploiting those impressions is repetition; the more often someone views your logo, the better. In order to take full advantage of a logo it must be easily recognized and clear. Once the logo design is complete, it must be consistent.

I sold products to Ford Motor Company and requested permission to use the Ford logo on the “Key Customers” section of our web site. Ford sent me their logo guidelines in the form of a 165 page binder full of restrictions and requirements. All the information in the binder was valid because Ford saw the necessity to protect the appearance of their logo. If Ford does it, so should you.

Especially in small companies, it’s easy for people to design their own fax templates or email signatures. Sometimes in the process they change the color of the logo or stretch the height or width. The result is inconsistency; that’s dangerous. Select the exact color(s) according to the Pantone Color System. In case you haven’t heard about it, the Pantone Color System establishes specific numbers to specific colors. So if you specify to a printing company that your logo should be Pantone 282, for example, it will always be that same blue. When selecting the color shade talk to a printer. One may be easier or less expensive to print. Avoid exotic colors like metallics. They look great on the printed page but cannot be reproduced on a web site. Remember, keep it consistent regardless of the medium. So, once selected, cast it in stone.

The logo dimensions must also remain consistent. If the original design is 4” X 2” keep the 2:1 ratio the same. Don’t allow any deviation. It’s easy to stretch or shrink it to fit on a fax cover sheet or email signature. That’s okay, as long as the ratio remains unchanged. Publish you logo specs and provide a file or files to everyone with specific instructions as to its use. Include sample email signatures and provide a template for fax cover sheets.

By all means, encourage your people to use the logo whenever possible. It’s all about exposure, recognition and (I can’t say it too many times) repetition.