Your reflection, of course. That image looking back at you is what other people see more often than you do. (At least I hope you aren’t looking in the mirror that much.) The impression you make is displayed through your appearance, smile, attitude, gait, language, etc. and when you look in the mirror, typically you want to see the best version of yourself.

Same goes for your brand. What do you want your brand to “see” when it looks in the mirror? More importantly, what do you want your customers and potential customers to see? How do you want that reflection to appear and does your staff, product/service offering, price, quality and everything around your brand stand up to your mirror test?

That mirror’s reflection is your brand.

The best way to create this desired reflection is create your own Brand Mirror. WebSolvers invites you take a walk through a revealing process that helps you articulate a true and detailed description of your brand. It’s something that your team can use as a filter and guide to define what you do and how you do it.

The Brand Mirror is a dynamic document that is primarily for internal use that acts as a foundation for your brand. It includes such things as the elevator speech, firm personality, distinctive visual themes, culture, values and more. The common and sanctioned language throughout the Brand Mirror provides confidence at every level to properly articulate who you are and who you are not. This unified front provided by the Brand Mirror is a game-changer for capturing the true spirit of your brand.

This process is enlightening and inspiring, even sometimes uncomfortable, and it’s best done by a third party like WebSolvers to help see it from an external point of view. We all know that looking in the mirror isn’t always fun to do. However, clients that work with WebSolvers to create their own Brand Mirror consistently walk away feeling like they have the clarity, direction and words that they have been searching for to describe their brand.

They no longer need to wonder what should be staring back at them in the mirror because they can see it for themselves. And most importantly, it’s what the rest of the world sees.

“Make our logo bigger”

This is frequent client comment after seeing  a Web design concept. It is so common that there are several YouTube spoofs that make light of the matter.  “Easy enough change,” you say? Well, this seemingly innocuous request, typically tendered to increase visual impact, can sometimes have the opposite effect.  A seemingly small directive to pump up the size of your logo may actually damage your Web site’s new design.

What’s the big deal?

You are proud of your business and you want to promote it. Your logo is a visual representation of your business. You want to make sure all of your visitors know who you are so you can start to build brand recognition and increase your sales. Designers understand this.

Your logo, however, is not your entire brand.

A brand, according to some definitions, consists of the sum of all points of contact with the company. That means the entire site design should be an extension of your brand. All site elements (copy, headings, images, etc.) should work together to achieve your goal.  While the logo might be the cornerstone of the brand, it shouldn’t be asked to bear the entire weight of a company’s identify.

So if after viewing your new site design you want your logo to be bigger, it may be a sign that the overall design doesn’t fit with your brand or that the brand message is not clear enough.

Keeping your audience’s attention

The site’s design needs to engage your audience very quickly.  You have less than 2 seconds to grab your users’ attention and give users the information they’re looking for. If they don’t find it, they will look elsewhere and you’ve lost a possible relationship.

In order to achieve your site’s goals, designers work to emphasize the most important page elements. One of the tools to do this is the design principle of contrast.  Contrast can be achieved by using a difference in size or color between different design elements. Making the logo bigger may de-emphasize the most important sections, like the call to action, which will result in less conversions, and a less effective design.

Take this example from the popular photo sharing site flickr

Your eye goes directly to the photo in the center. This entire page clearly focuses on that main piece of content.

Now this is the same page with the logo enlarged:

The logo and the image are now competing for that attention. It’s much more distracting and could leave the user a little less satisfied with their experience on the site.

Your site’s content should be the focal point of the page, not your logo. If your visitors are interested in your product or service, they will find the company behind it.

Turning negative into a positive.

Negative space is another important principle that designers use to drive attention. Negative space or white space is the space around an object. Leaving white space around the logo and other elements generally makes a page easier to scan and locate the information your users are looking for.  Using a smaller logo in addition to negative space may also create a sense of hierarchy, subconsciously telling your visitors which sections to look at first. Making your logo bigger can cut into this white space which weakens that delicately crafted hierarchy.

Smaller logos can be just as effective as larger ones. Look no further than big brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, or GE.  All use what some would consider small logos instead of “in your face” branding; they focus on the most important things they have to offer, their products. The entire pages communicate the brands’ respective attributes, not just the logo.

So, the next time you think your logo looks too small, instead consider whether the message of your content is too small. Maybe your call to action just needs a bit more emphasis or you need to tone down your background colors. Spending more time focusing on your content will improve your site’s ability to get customers interested in what you have to offer.

As with all design, none of these assertions are stated as hard and fast rules. Always remember your target audience.  It may be completely appropriate to enlarge a logo in certain situations.

Further reading:

http://www.andyrutledge.com/designpsych.php

http://www.digital-web.com/articles/principles_of_design/