Website Logos
Founder and president John Williams literally wrote the book on brand standards for leading companies like Hewlett-Packard and Mitsubishi. An entrepreneur and former owner of many successful small businesses himself, John has served as Entrepreneur.com’s branding columnist for over 5 years. Below are some of John’s published articles:
The power of your logo and website can put money in your pocket
The look and feel of your logo and website can put lots of green folding money in your pocket, but the way the dots connect may surprise you.
Start with the idea that your potential customers don't really know you. They don't know if you are well established or fly-by-night. They don't know if you are honest or not, and if you treat your customers well. They don't know whether or not you are a solid professional.
People pick up clues from the way your logo, brochure and website look. This is just human nature. Think about going to the office or to a party: you can tell at a glance if a new arrival is someone you'll want to get to know, just by their dress and body language. In an eyeblink, you've formed your first impression.
This human habit evolved over millions of years to let your many-times-great grandparents stay alive long enough to bear children. If you could tell predator from prey at a glance, you were more likely to eat and not be eaten. Today this highly evolved at-a-glance sense is used less for physical survival than for making purchase decisions.
Visual branding is about harnessing this at-a-glance sense to boost your business success. It’s about using your business’s “dress and body language” to attract more customers. Here’s an example. Think of an amateurish, overly complicated website for a used-car lot versus a more clean looking approach that still gets the value message across. What does each website tell you about the business? At a glance, you know where would you rather shop and which business are you more likely to trust.
Trust means your future customers believe you are likely to be honest and competent and will deliver a good experience. Sometimes trust comes from friends telling friends they had a great experience. But most of your future customers won’t have word-of-mouth to rely on. They’ve got to decide on their own whom to trust. That’s the mission of your logo, website or brochure—your business dress and body language. Your visual branding.
To underscore this idea’s importance, take it a step further. Gaining your potential customer's trust and belief can also be called credibility. The more credibility you build, the more likely they will buy from you. The word “credibility” comes from credo, Latin for "I believe". Not coincidentally, the word "credit" also comes from credo. You can obtain lots of credit when lenders believe in you and your ability to repay. That’s not all. The green folding money in your wallet is backed by “the full faith and credit” of the US Government. If it wasn't for this belief, greenbacks wouldn't be worth the high-tech paper they're printed on. So our entire economy, and your business in particular, are built on a foundation of credibility. Belief. That's how important visual branding is, and your expression of it in things like your logo, website and brochures.
Here are a few basics to help your business look credible:
1. Go for simplicity and lack of clutter. (Think Apple, the master of simplicity in branding.
2. Create or demand a clean, well balanced graphic design.
3. Use one or two basic colors that go well together, not a hodgepodge.
4. Choose one font and stick with it. You can express almost anything by using variations within a single font family: size, weight (boldness), Italics, etc. If you really must, choose a second font for major headlines. But first try it with one font.
5. Coordinate a single look—design, colors, etc.—across everything you do including your logo, website, brochures, ads and signage.
Give your business the dress and body language that will tip off your future customers that they can believe in you. Harness their highly evolved at-a-glance sense to build instant credibility. Credibility equals credit, and that can put lots of green folding money in your wallet.
The look and feel of your logo and website can put lots of green folding money in your pocket, but the way the dots connect may surprise you.
Start with the idea that your potential customers don't really know you. They don't know if you are well established or fly-by-night. They don't know if you are honest or not, and if you treat your customers well. They don't know whether or not you are a solid professional.
People pick up clues from the way your logo, brochure and website look. This is just human nature. Think about going to the office or to a party: you can tell at a glance if a new arrival is someone you'll want to get to know, just by their dress and body language. In an eyeblink, you've formed your first impression.
This human habit evolved over millions of years to let your many-times-great grandparents stay alive long enough to bear children. If you could tell predator from prey at a glance, you were more likely to eat and not be eaten. Today this highly evolved at-a-glance sense is used less for physical survival than for making purchase decisions.
Visual branding is about harnessing this at-a-glance sense to boost your business success. It’s about using your business’s “dress and body language” to attract more customers. Here’s an example. Think of an amateurish, overly complicated website for a used-car lot versus a more clean looking approach that still gets the value message across. What does each website tell you about the business? At a glance, you know where would you rather shop and which business are you more likely to trust.
Trust means your future customers believe you are likely to be honest and competent and will deliver a good experience. Sometimes trust comes from friends telling friends they had a great experience. But most of your future customers won’t have word-of-mouth to rely on. They’ve got to decide on their own whom to trust. That’s the mission of your logo, website or brochure—your business dress and body language. Your visual branding.
To underscore this idea’s importance, take it a step further. Gaining your potential customer's trust and belief can also be called credibility. The more credibility you build, the more likely they will buy from you. The word “credibility” comes from credo, Latin for "I believe". Not coincidentally, the word "credit" also comes from credo. You can obtain lots of credit when lenders believe in you and your ability to repay. That’s not all. The green folding money in your wallet is backed by “the full faith and credit” of the US Government. If it wasn't for this belief, greenbacks wouldn't be worth the high-tech paper they're printed on. So our entire economy, and your business in particular, are built on a foundation of credibility. Belief. That's how important visual branding is, and your expression of it in things like your logo, website and brochures.
Here are a few basics to help your business look credible:
1. Go for simplicity and lack of clutter. (Think Apple, the master of simplicity in branding.
2. Create or demand a clean, well balanced graphic design.
3. Use one or two basic colors that go well together, not a hodgepodge.
4. Choose one font and stick with it. You can express almost anything by using variations within a single font family: size, weight (boldness), Italics, etc. If you really must, choose a second font for major headlines. But first try it with one font.
5. Coordinate a single look—design, colors, etc.—across everything you do including your logo, website, brochures, ads and signage.
Give your business the dress and body language that will tip off your future customers that they can believe in you. Harness their highly evolved at-a-glance sense to build instant credibility. Credibility equals credit, and that can put lots of green folding money in your wallet.
Fortune 500 Clients
Our clients come from a variety of industries, including technology, energy, communications, biotechnology, real estate, industrial & manufacturing, retail and education. We have hundreds of successful projects to our credit. See samples below:
Our clients come from a variety of industries, including technology, energy, communications, biotechnology, real estate, industrial & manufacturing, retail and education. We have hundreds of successful projects to our credit. See samples below:
Brand management, print collateral, creative development
Brand management, advertising campaigns, print collateral, specialized sales literature, brand identity development
Brand standards creation, advertising campaigns, print collateral, specialized sales literature, brand identity development
Brand standards creation, advertising campaigns, print collateral, direct mail campaigns, brand identity development
Additional Fortune 500 Clients
