Sponsored by Wix
“Design is the silent ambassador of your brand.” – Paul Rand
It’s hard to oversell the importance of a well-designed and user-friendly website. Chances are that you have entered a website that was lacking any semblance of design, and it immediately turned you off from learning more about the site and what they have to offer.
Nowadays, people are expecting websites that stand out and give a top-notch performance. Plus, as the majority of businesses have shifted to the online world and we are spending less time meeting face-to-face, we need to be even more mindful about how a website is used to represent us. Your website may be the first point of contact between your business and prospective clients, so you need to be sure to create a beautiful site that makes a great first impression.
Your website is the face of your brand. It has to quickly and clearly convey who you are, what you do, and why they should rely on you – which is why one of the most critical elements of any successful website is its design.
Communicating Through Web Design
Communicating who you are through a website is not entirely the same as in person. For instance, we cannot establish eye contact or extend a firm handshake, or connect through our shared interests and commonalities, or to finish a meeting with a memorable business card. Rather, a website needs to replicate these forms of communication through other methods.
Eye contact is a crucial aspect of communication for both face-to-face and online. Your website should capture the eye of your audience through the use of pleasing colors, uncluttered content, and the right types of fonts and headings.
You can also imagine your clickable content as being similar to a handshake in the sense that it acts as a point for engagement. Your website needs to have clickable and interactive content and call to actions like ‘learn more here’ and ‘start now’ buttons.
Since you can’t chat about your hobbies and interests, a different way to share about yourself and connect with your website visitors is with an engaging “about me” page. Your “about page” can be used to establish a personal connection with your audience – as they may learn something that they can relate with about you.
The last point of contact that you usually share during a business exchange is your business card. Your business card should stand out, create trust and encourage people to reach out to you. Similarly, your website’s logo should communicate the same elements as your business card – trustworthiness, engagement, and uniqueness.
Your logo is one of the most important aspects of your website’s design, and you are going to want to invest in the right one for your brand.
Creating the Perfect Logo
You don’t need to be a professional designer to create the right logo. You can find lots of great services online that will help you instantly build the best logo for your brand. The website builder Wix.com recently launched their logo creator tool that can help you to create a beautiful and customized logo.
The process is quite simple: you just need to visit the Wix logo maker page, answer a few questions about your brand and personal style, and the logo maker will generate a customized selection of logos to choose from.
Wix’s logo maker tool is an excellent option for anyone who needs a bit of creative help, but you can also take on the challenge of creating a logo from scratch!
Logo Design Tips
Before you start to build your own logo, you are going to want to consider these foundational design questions that were shared by Wix’s logo experts. You should ask yourself whether your design has the following:
Simplicity: The perfect logo needs to be concise and memorable. The simpler you keep the design, the more likely that someone is to walk away remembering your brand name and style.
Timelessness: It’s always tempting to choose something trendy, but if you don’t plan on updating your logo over time, you are going to want to pick something classic. Check out some of the brands that have remained loyal to their logo and try to figure out what stands out amongst them – color, shape, and size.
Targeting: A logo doesn’t need to reveal everything that your brand does, but it should speak to your target audience. Figure out what your audience likes, and try to create something that speaks to them.
Versatility: It’s hard to know all of the different applications that you might use your logo for in advance, but you should try to make sure that no matter where you place your logo it is going to stand out. Keep in mind how the size of the font or colors that you choose may impact visibility.
Once you have checked off all of these items from your list, you can move onto one of the essential design questions – what type of colors should you use?
Color Psychology
Color is an excellent way to grab attention and convey meaning. There is a broad base of research that explores how human behavior is influenced by color. Your logo should utilize colors that best communicate your brand.
Here is a breakdown of some of the underlying meanings of the core colors, which you can use to express your brand identity:
Yellow: if you want to channel positivity and optimism – you should choose yellow. Yellow wakes people up and gives them happy energy. Plus, it grabs attention and really focuses the eye.
Blue: use blue to communicate calm, peacefulness and tranquility. People associate blue with trustworthiness and wisdom – you can use this color to build confidence in your brand. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the color blue may even contribute to reducing crime rates.
Red: one of the most widely used colors in advertising – red invokes power, desire, and love. People are naturally drawn to red, like your gaze to a fire. You can use this color to stimulate an immediate and strong response.
Green: we tend to feel calm and relaxed around the color green. Green makes us feel safe and connected to our environment. People also associate wealth and money with green – linking to ambition and growth.
Purple: much like in the past, we still tend to associate purple with royalty and prestige. Use purple to communicate nobility, luxury, and sophistication.
Black: use black to convey class and elegance. While black is not technically a color, it can be used to portray timelessness and classiness – it is a strong, authoritative, and domineering.
If you create a logo that answers all of the fundamental questions – is it timeless, versatile, simple and targeted, and uses the right color scheme, you are going to be able to communicate your brand much more effectively.
Investing in your Brand
Communicating yourself in the online world is slightly different than face-to-face communication. Always do your research and invest in your branding. If you want to succeed online, you need to set yourself apart from your competitors and give yourself an edge.
If you create a well-designed website that is engaging and easy to navigate and design a logo using the perfect colors for the first impression you want to make, you will be on your way to success.
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Stacey from Pixie & Palm
Such a great article. It’s amazing how many people think branding is just a logo. I mean its everything! Your colors, your tone, your presence. It’s crazy how important the color of your brand is and how it can repel or attract customers. I think some people jump right into designing their logo and colors and wonder why their business isnt getting any traction. It’s nuts but it’s all about the first impression.
Holly - The Work at Home Woman
Hi Stacey,
I’ll admit I was totally clueless when I first started out. But my graphic designer was brutally honest with me about some of my choices, which I appreciated.
Thanks for stopping by!