When it comes to a brand, standing out is the primary goal.

A company brand is past, present and future. It is what they are now, what they want to be in the future, and what they are representing to potential and devoted clients currently. Properly branding a company helps them to not only stand out from competitors but also helps them realize their potential. It also lets the consumer know what to expect from that company. Branding can be a promise of quality, trust or service.

Brand Identity: Recognition and knowledge of a logo or business based on the customer’s experience.

Brand Meaning: Defining the company beyond just an image to include product or business features, reliability, value and expertise.

Consumer Relationship: Helping to shape the ultimate attitude of a customer toward a company.

Making Your Brand Promising

By defining what your brand is up front, you help establish your company as an industry leader and key influencer. And making sure that your logo balances your brand at the top can be quite the process. Many businesses use networking as a key factor in their marketing plan. It helps to develop a strong feeling of trust between those involved and plays a big part in raising the profile and brand of a company.

From Nike to you, using your brand is what makes you stand out.

And, in the name tag world, a personal brand comes when you wear a name tag with your name to identify yourself as an individual and to stand out in a crowd. By wearing personal identification products, one makes themselves more visible to others and opens the door to better experiences at large events. Most often you can see this type of brand at large corporate meetings or conventions where the individual needs to stand out from others.

Logos and Branding

Branding only works when you use your name tags and other personal identification correctly with logos, titles and names. Make sure that your logo is the same for everything you use. A common mistake is not sticking to a particular color. If you’re using blue, make sure it stays the same shade on all of your products.

While this may seem like a no-brainer, blues often print out with a purple look to them. Not only do these colors pertain to your company’s printed materials but it is something actively considered in personal identification. Utilize name tags, name plates and other products by using the same colors, logos and styles on everything.

Your name tag reflects who you are and humanizes you to others. Most people tend to judge on first impressions, especially when everyone in the room is a stranger. But, if you have a way to make yourself stand out, your brand will become recognizable. And, it helps to make others more at ease around you.

What makes a good logo? And how do you use it in your company branding?

Many customers struggle with their company’s branding when it comes to making their name tags. A logo designed for use on the internet or printed media doesn’t typically look as well when you try to fit it onto a name tag.

Assuming you already decided to use your company logo on your name tags, consider these few things.

What process will you be using to create them? A full color printed name tag can hold more colors and detail than a hot-stamped one. Laser Engraving will limit possibilities even further.

Keep the size of the tag in mind. In most cases, logos will be much smaller than what you usually see, and little details won’t be as visible.

Remember that you may have to be flexible in the colors associated with logos. If you choose a yellow tag and your logo is yellow, consider changing the logo to black so it shows up. If you choose a hot-stamped logo, colors are very limited. You may have to compromise with a basic shade of your colors.

When placing a logo to fill the allowable area on a name tag, the smaller the logo, the larger it can be. For logos that incorporate an image as well as text, consider using one or the other.

Keep in mind that the primary purpose of a name tag is to convey a person’s name. Don’t make the names harder to read in favor of a bigger, fancier logo.

There are additional ways you can help logos look their best on name tags:

Try to limit the amount of detail in logos. Smaller sizes will not be visible. And many processes will have a hard time duplicating it. You only need enough detail to make logos recognizable.

Even if you generally use logos on the internet or printed materials, single color logos are best for name tags. Laser engraving and one color hot-stamping need an image that is black and white only. Most logos can be converted into a single color image. But some will require extra effort to maintain the visibility of all of the logo elements.

Logos that are short and wide, such as a company name spelled out in fancy lettering, generally look best at the top or bottom center of the tag. Logos that are square or taller than they are wide will occasionally look good on the left or right side.

Another option you can consider to make your logo look its best on your name tag is to try a custom shape. Design your name tag with a shape that follows your logo, with an extra area to hold names and titles. Custom shapes are only available for laser engraved or hot-stamped logos, but can make any name tag stand out!

Hopefully, these tips can help you out as you design your company name tags. They should give you a big forward step on the road to brand recognition!

Tips and graphics provided by guest author Melanie Bunch, Graphic Artist at Coller Industries.

Tag: logo

Getting Your Brand Noticed