From time to time, radio stations decide that it’s time to freshen up the logo. But when reviewing ideas with your graphic designer, you’ll keep in mind how the logo will be used online:
1. Make sure your logo works as a square.
Your radio station will need a square version of its logo in many places across the web. Social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, use squares images for their icons. Podcast artwork is square. So are mobile app icons. You don’t want to create a horizontal logo that can only be turned into a square by shrinking it with whitespace above and below.
In some cases, you may be able to use a piece of your logo as the square image. For example, here is our Jacobs Media Strategies logo:
When we need a square image, we use just the “O” from our logo:
2. Figure out how your logo will work horizontally.
There will also be times when you want to use your logo horizontally. For example, when you create a header image for your email newsletter or YouTube channel, you may not want to use a large square image. In an instance like this, can you take a square logo and add it to something else, such as a cityscape, to create a horizontal image? Or do you need a horizontal version of your logo?
3. Think small.
Frequently, you’ll need an image that is recognizable even when it is shrunk to a small size. For example, an icon for a mobile app or a favicon in the tab of a web browser will use tiny images.
If your logo is too complex, it may not be recognizable at a small size. A simple logo may prove to be more functional.
4. Make a list of places your station’s logo might appear.
Before committing to a design, brainstorm a list of all the different places where your logo might appear, and consider how it will look in each of those contexts. This list will include:
- Banners
- Business cards
- Car dashboards
- Email newsletter header
- Facebook icon
- Facebook page header
- Instagram icon
- Invoice header
- Laptop stickers
- Mic flags
- Mobile app icon
- Mobile app header
- Mobile website header
- Podcast artwork
- Streaming artwork
- T-shirts
- TuneIn
- Twitter profile header
- Twitter icon
- Vehicle wrap
- Webpage header
- YouTube channel header
- YouTube icon
Adopting a new logo is a big commitment. You don’t just want an image that looks cool; you also want one that can be easily adapted to a variety of different circumstances. Think it through carefully.
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Seth – great points, everyone needs to think multichannel now. I think the same goes for audio branding and imaging: these need to be designed for a world where an audio brand is as likely to be experienced over a smart speaker or via app as it is in the car.
Definitely. Thanks, Andrew!
Perfect timing, thanks for this piece as I was able to share it to some in our organization who weren’t quite catching my drift. We’re looking at rebranding an existing leg of our organization, and the name/logo they want to use is not only a poor one in my opinion, but also very horizontal. Always helps to have an ‘outside expert’ say something to make it sound like a better idea!