Logos 101: What Makes a Bankruptcy Attorney Logo Effective?

10 things to consider when designing or redesigning your logo

Your potential and hired clients see your logo everywhere: on your stationary, website, ads, business cards, and more. This poses the question, how effective is your logo as a marketing tool? The more powerful your logo is, the more you will gain the trust and attention of your customers.

What are the goals of a logo?

Logos are not saviors by themselves. Even a great logo, combined with poor marketing, cannot turn potential clients into paying customers. However, a logo does function as a part of your overall marketing strategy by:

• Defining your brand identity and setting the direction for all other design elements
• Communicating trust and value to your customers
• Helping you stand out from the crowd of other attorneys

10 tips for designing and using a great logo

Designing a great logo requires creativity, an understanding of your business and customers, and the technical know-how to turn your vision into a reality. Remember these 10 tips as you consider your logo design:

 

1. It should reflect your brand identity. What kind of brand do you have? Are you bold, innovative, experienced, successful, unique, interesting, competitive, etc? Your logo should demonstrate the feel of your law firm in the way it is designed.

2. It should help you stand out from the crowd. If you are caught in the trap of using the cheesy justice scales icon that most other attorneys are using, you are blending in to the crowd. Instead, do something different! Be creative and tell the world, “I’m not like the other attorneys down the street, trust me.”

3. It should use color effectively. Color is at the heart of your brand and should be at the core of your logo. Choose colors that reflect your brand identity. For example, red and blue feel more bold, while brown or grey feel more conservative.

4. It should feel modern. Ask yourself, “Does my logo look like its from 2013 or is it from 1998?” If your logo looks outdated, you’re likely losing customers’ trust and attention. A modern logo on the other hand, says, “I’m a law firm that is up-to-date with technology, processes, and trends that can deliver high quality results.”

5. It should look good in black and white. Since you can’t always use color, make sure that your logo looks good in black and white

6. It should be memorable in the eyes of consumers. After briefly looking at your logo, customers should remember it. If your logo is stale, boring, or generic, customers won’t remember it, and consequently are less likely to remember your law firm.

7. It should be simple. Logos don’t have to be complex. In fact, some of the best logos, like Nike and Apple, are as simple as you can possibly get!

8. It should avoid using cliches. How many attorneys use the wonderfully overused justice scales as a part of their logo? Not only do customers not relate to this imagery, but every other attorney is using the same feel, too. Instead, do something different and stand out!

9. It should set the tone and direction for all other marketing materials. Your website, brochures, direct mail, stationary, business cards, and online ads should all follow the design and feel of your logo to create an integrated, unified message for your customers.

10. Use your logo on everything. Make sure to use your logo prominently on everything that customers see. The more your logo is visible to the customer eye, the more brand recognition you will get.