Does a small business need a logo?

Its not like I'm Nike or Coca-Cola.

[sun818]

I'm wondering if a small business needs a brandable logo? In the near future, I know I won't be doing enough business where the buyer is going to know my company from an image. I know when look at symbols from major companies I know what company it belongs to. Is my business better served with practical information like web address and contact information embedded into the logo? This way when other web sites use my logo, the contact information is already there.

Any thoughts?

[edited by: sun818 at 2:34 am (utc) on Sep. 12, 2003]

[nativenewyorker]

PatrickDeese said:

Ideally your logo should go on your letterhead, biz card, website, maybe even tattooed to your a$$.

That is hilarious. I remember a guy who did just that with the tattoo, when he got promoted within a company, that we worked for about 8 years ago. He thought it was a good idea to show his loyalty to the company. I'm sure his opinion changed when the company folded a couple of years later.

Ted

[ahsanshami]

The Nike logo, i.e. the swoosh, was created by Caroline Davidson in 1971 for $35.

Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, needed something he could slap onto some unbranded shoes he was importing in to the US from Japan and she was a a design (or advertising, can't recall) student in some Washington (state) college.

I think she was working with Nike for a brief while and that may have been when she did the logo.

I'm sure this can be looked up on Google to get a more definitive story. I read a Nike book several years back and the above is what I remember from it.

I do know that the $35 sum is accurate, because I often wondered who had created it.

[PatrickDeese]

The Nike logo, i.e. the swoosh, was created by Caroline Davidson in 1971 for $35.

http:*//xroads.virginia.edu/~CLASS/am483_97/projects/hincker/nikhist.html

That is hilarious. I remember a guy who did just that with the tattoo, when he got promoted within a company, that we worked for about 8 years ago. He thought it was a good idea to show his loyalty to the company. I'm sure his opinion changed when the company folded a couple of years later.

Yah, I know someone who did it too, but then again, he is self employed ;)

http:*//www.electrondesign.com/images/tattoo.jpg

please be nice, mods.

[Robert Charlton]

The Nike logo, i.e. the swoosh, was created by Caroline Davidson in 1971 for $35.

Where is Caroline Davidson now? I tried looking for Caroline Davidson designer on Google and didn't find anything.

<offtopic> The search for Caroline Davidson nike logo brings up this thread as #1. There's some sort of Law of Search operating here, that if you discuss a subject enough, you'll bury the original material. </offtopic>

The great success of this logo certainly does suggest that simplicity is a virtue in logo design.

[running scared]

I would warn against doing a DIY unless you have a good graphics skill yourself. For my first company I designed my own logo. I went simple thinking that would be good. I based it slightly on a well known logo. It was still poor even though I liked it initially. It took me ages to do it.

It was only with time that I realised that it was not flexible enough to be multi purpose. It looks fine on the website but looks terrible when put against anybody elses logo in a joint proposal or similar. The proportions of it didn't work if it got too small, it would not fit in a rectangle...

Yes I'm not a great designer but for a relatively small amount you can get something that will last and can convey what you need it to convey. As far as i am concerned the saving in swearing is worth the money.

[logoguy]

I would have to say developin your own logo can be very tricky. Unless you have the software necessary to produce it in a vector graphics program, because a vector file is best for getting your logo on merchandise, stationary, etc..

As for the original question, yes. I think anyone that starts a business of any size should have a recognizable icon, that way if your business grows, you have it to fall back on and don't have to start from scratch.