Logos and branding are super important to a company, large or small, because it’s the first thing a customer sees. It’s your brand. Your identity. It’s your name for Pete’s sake. Of course it’s important.

So why would you not devote the appropriate amount of energy into getting your brand presented the way it should be? It’s been said that you have 6 seconds to make a first impression. Hi. Meet my logo. (Start the 6 second clock now.) Get it? The same goes for your website or any design or promotional piece you send out. The impression created by that piece of marketing or promotion is one that leaves a lasting imprint on the end user’s mind.

Did this company seem professional? Trustworthy? Do I have any confidence in them at all that they could deliver the product I’m asking of them?

Surely these are the kinds of questions that cross your mind when considering a new vendor or service provider. Imagine for a moment that AT&T had a cruddy looking logo, a shoddy looking website, unprofessional looking print materials and so on. Forget whether or not they can actually provide the service you need. The question is: Do they LOOK like they can provide the service you need.

Like it or not, appearances matter, and people DO judge books by their covers. Especially when that “book” is a company. And especially when it comes to branding.

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Of course one could argue that it’s all subjective and hence no one really knows what makes good design, and therefore it’s all unknowable and why should we bother with this debate? On the other hand, one could argue that there are some general guidelines that make for attractive design, especially from a usability standpoint on the web, which narrow down the argument to a matter of what works best for your product.

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