Avoid logo design failure – find the best logo colors, fonts & overall design

Do you have a logo design that requires a refresh, or are you commissioning a new logo design? If yes, then you will find at some point that you need to decide between alternative logo designs. Avoid the mistake most people make, don’t choose it based on your own opinion or even the opinions of colleagues and family; because in all likelihood you’ll get the wrong feedback. Not only are they probably not representative of the broader market, they also have a relationship with you which influences feedback, and this might be entirely unconscious. It is far better to get feedback from a larger group of consumers who have no connection to you or your business.

Getting a logo or a brand name wrong can be costly, both in terms of design costs and in terms of reputation; not to mention customer confusion over constant changes.

Acentric provides an easy, low cost solution in the form of the Logo Screener Survey module. Up to seven alternatives (including your existing item for comparison) can be included in the survey.

The survey is templated and ready to go. Your survey is sent to survey participants who then rate your logo alternatives. Survey participants are recruited from a survey panel within the country you specify. They are shown in random order to eliminate order bias.

The report you’ll receive ranks the logos, from best to worst, allowing you to screen out the worst designs. Analysis and report production is mostly automated to speed-up turnaround.

While logos are only one aspect of marketing materials, they do have an impact on the rest of the colour schemes used, and the font and design itself has an impact, sometimes unconscious on purchase behaviour. As a result, the report includes a comparison of purchase intention for each new alternative versus the existing alternative, making it easy to see whether the new item is likely to improve purchase interest or worsen purchase interest.

For example, a survey of alternative logo designs was conducted for the panel, as it was felt that the original logo (Design 1 in the image below) may have the wrong colouring. The green might be associated with autumn and dying plants, rather than healthy plants. As a result 6 alternatives designed and included with the existing design.

The survey result showed that indeed the existing logo was one of the poorest performers, nearly ranking last. While alternative 6 was ranked in first place, alternative 3 was a very close second place - lifting the average rating by 1 point (see below) - versus the existing logo. It was felt that while alternative 6, with the cartoon palm tree, was ranked slightly higher, it might be too different from the existing design (which could affect recognition) and the novelty of the cartoon design might wear off quickly; so ultimately option 3 was preferred, as it scored nearly on par.

In addition, survey participants provide three key diagnostic ratings: uniqueness, liking and brand fit. The scores for each new alternative are compared to the existing menu item on each diagnostic. In our example above, design 3 scored better on uniqueness and brand fit than the existing design.

So what steps are involved if you want to do this yourself? Setup is easy. Simply click on modules, find the logo screener survey module, click on details to read more, then click on create now to provide a few details, select the country you want your survey participants to reside in and attach your alternative menu items as image files (ensuring the first one is the existing or benchmark design). This is easily done in a tool such as PowerPoint, where you can save each items text and price on a separate slide and then save all as images (jpg format) in one batch. If you need help, please reach out.

So what are you waiting for, visit the modules page and improve your logo design today!