Tips and failures in Corporate Identity of Startup companies. Scalable business models need scalable CI. The best and worst in logo design. Checklist for successful briefings included.

1. Gos & Nogos
For Startup Logos
How to design a scalable Corporate Identity
Berlin, 2 August 2013

2. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
The 5 best tips for a
guaranteed
launch failure
Logo Nogo

3. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
1. Crowdsource your logo.
Because any one of the 100 crowd-
designers wouldn´t spend more than 5
minutes on your brand.
It´s better 1 designer spends 100 minutes
on it to fully understand your business
model.
Logo Nogo

4. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
1. Crowdsource your logo.
Because a designer can´t understand
your brand in 5 minutes (and they
wouldn’t spend more!) and 100 designers
cant either.
It´s better 1 spent 100 minutes at it to fully
understand what you want.
Happy business people who
crowdsourced their logo
From 166 designs, that
was the most remarkable
but it looks like a million
other logos for anything.
I have no taste, so without
consulting, I chose the
most ridiculous logo for my
brand.

5. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
2. Ask your cousin – he can
make nice doodles when he´s
on the phone ....
Get it: Designing logos is a profession.
Holding a pen doesn´t make anyone a
logo designer.
Logo Nogo

6. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
You wouldn´t ask a designer to cut
your appendix just because he can
hold a scalpel.
Logo Nogo

7. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
3. Let the intern do it.
Get it: Branding is something for the
executive board or the managing
director. Sooner – or later.
Logo Nogo

8. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
4. Let´s just write the name in
Helvetica.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Logo Nogo
ANYBRAND"

9. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
4. Let´s just write the name in
Helvetica.
No: your start will be the best chance for
publicity and your biggest appearance
ever.
Don´t make it your last!
Logo Nogo

10. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
5. I have this brand and logo
left from my last start-up.
Don´t even think about it! A brand has to
be tailor-made. It shows what you do and
sell. Your logo and CI have a well defined
job to do!
Logo Nogo

11. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
Logo failures
Logo Nogo

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Beware of negative hidden meanings.

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Check the name in any language.

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Think of what people might do to the logo.

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Look again at your logo.

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Check your logo from all angles.

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Check for sexual connotations.

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Try to see what someone else might see.

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Take your name and mission seriously.

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Be consequent. Do not use more than 3 fonts.

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Don´t bore people to death.

22. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
• A brand is like a friend
• What if your friend is a business guy
one day and a punk the other?
• Logo, font, layout, language, feeling
should be consistent
• Trust has to be earned
The first impression of a brand

23. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
5 tips for a
successful start
Logo Go

24. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
1. Think big!
Think about your brand, about what is
special about it, about what you want it
to be. Think big, very big.
Think of it as the definer of a new
category.
Logo Go

25. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
2. Start simple!
Start with a circle, start with a square, with
a rectangle, something known and
striking. Simple basic forms catch our eye
and brain.
Logo Go

26. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
3. Make it special!
There must be something special about
your logo, a bite (Apple logo), a twist, a
disruption.
Logo Go

27. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
4. Give it the right feel!
Does your brand feel extravagant or
cheap, laid back or aggressive, common
or distinctive, smart or straight forward,
posh or Porsche?
Logo Go

28. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
5. Talk to your target group!
Is there something in the mind of your
target audience, that you can trigger? A
picture, a metaphor, an angst, a desire?
The more we can trigger, the less we
have to say.
Logo Go

29. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
Have an idea!
Because ideas
are scaleable.
And the most important:

30. See the a – z?

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See the tire around the o?

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See the arrow between the E and the x?

33. See the bear for the Swiss city of origin „Bern“?

34. See the hand in „My“?

35. See the “C“?

36. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
Scalable test
Imagine your logo in two common situations: first small,
then big.
• Place your logo in the logo bar next to the others.
• Place it in the magenta box on time square
Does it stand the stand out test?

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39. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
Names or symbols that identify the
unique source of a product or service:
• A promise to the customer
• A trust mark
• A unique value proposition
• A meme to remember
Why CI?

40. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
It takes understanding to make an outstanding logo
• What is the core of your company.
• What is it your doing and selling? The one thought.
• What is it? One Metaphor.
• Crucial: What is your promise?
• What kind of actor would impersonate your brand best?
• What does aour product or service feel like? Choose
max. 3 keywords out of the following list:
Trustworthy Authentic Relevant Unique Revolutionary
Progressive Popular Appealing Likeable Admirable
High quality Innovative Service oriented Cute
CI Questionaire

41. glow I Gos & Nogos For Startup Logos I 02.08.2013
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