Tucked away among the million moving pieces of marketing your practice is your firm’s logo.
Sure, the importance of your logo is easy to overlook; however, even the subtlest design decisions can have a huge impact on how potential clients perceive your practice.
For starters, consider the implications of your logo design:
- Your logo is the visual representation of your brand (for example, does your logo help your build your firm’s sense of credibility and professionalism?)
- Appearing on everything from letterheads to email signatures, your logo follows your firm everywhere it goes
- Representing your brand at a glance, practices need to do everything they can to make sure that their logo design sticks out in the minds of potential clients
Although the importance of your logo can’t be overstated, the question remains: what makes a proper logo and how do we go about crafting one that will leave a lasting impression?
Thankfully, logo creation doesn’t have to be rocket science.
We’ve uncovered the common threads between the best lawyer logos and how to integrate your own practice’s personality into a logo when it comes time to go to the literal drawing board.
What Do the Best Law Firm Logos Have in Common?
Nearly all attorney logos stick to the following principles without fail:
- Minimalist design in terms of text and imagery (in other words, nothing too flashy or potentially distracting)
- The “billboard rule” of copywriting: that is, to feature approximately seven words or fewer
- A professional, straightforward tone
But how can your practice’s logo stand out from the pack when everyone else seems to be adhering to the same sorts of guidelines?
Believe it or not, you have plenty of breathing room when it comes to law firm logo design, even when sticking to the previous principles.
Let’s start with perhaps the most basic aspects of any logo.
What Are the Best Fonts for You Firm’s Logo?
If you don’t have a graphic design background, you may not think twice about typeface: however, your choice of font impacts the readability of your logo at a glance.
Considering that you should do everything in your power to grab your readers’ attention, you can’t afford to ignore even the smallest of details.
Fonts can effectively be broken down into two categories: serif and sans-serif.
To summarize, serif fonts (such as Times New Roman) have small lines or strokes attached at the end of each letter:
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Sans-serif fonts (such as Arial or Calibri) do not:
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The debate of choosing serif versus sans-serif fonts for maximum readability is rather fierce amongst designers.
Traditionally speaking, traditional advertising has relied on serif fonts, while modern digital publications suggest sans-serif, especially since such fonts are typically easier to read on smaller screens.
The fact remains that both fonts are acceptable for your logo and your choice mostly comes down to personal preference. In fact, some logos incorporate both, as noted in the example below.
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Granted your typography is clear and presented in an appropriate size, either type of font is fair game.
Obviously, avoid cliché or “off the wall” fonts such as Comic Sans or Papyrus in an attempt to stand out from the crowd.
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Remember: when it comes to logo design for lawyers, the name of the game is professionalism.
How Do the Best Legal Logos Use Color?
The psychology of color has a subtle yet significant impact on the way that we interact with brands. The same holds true for your practice’ logo.
You may notice that many attorney logos employ no color whatsoever, perhaps attempting to tap into the classic “white on black” look popularized by the legendary David Ogilvy.
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As an added bonus, colorless designs can easily be printed on business cards with few or no alterations.
On the flip side, incorporating color is a subtle way to grab the attention of potential clients and stand out from the pack.
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Based on the color schemes of most conventional attorney logos, keep the following in mind for your own:
- Stick with muted colors versus bright colors: your attempt to be flashy may distract from your sense of professionalism
- Most firms only include one or two colors within their logo
- Consider tones of blue, green or purple: such colors are associated with trust, wealth and sophistication, respectively
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to choosing a color scheme for your logo; however, start by considering the current colors used in your marketing as a starting point.
Lawyer Slogans and Imagery
Slogans and imagery are optional elements to your logo that can help solidify your practice’s brand.
As far as images go, they need to be simple enough not to serve as a distraction; meanwhile, you need to also make sure that you don’t use intricate imagery that will degrade at a lower resolution.
Basic geometric shapes or vectors, silhouettes and stylized acronyms are all fair game.
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Law firm slogans can also be integrated into your logo, granted that they aren’t too wordy. Again, keep the billboard rule of copywriting in mind: when in doubt, “less is more” when it comes to words on your logo.
Don’t Forget to Get the Files for Your Law Firm’s Logo
Very often, when we bring on a new marketing client and ask for their logo files, they look at me like I have two heads.
They say “Can’t you just take it from my website?”
The truth is, sometimes we can extract what is on their website and use it for the new website, but often, that is all the logo file on their existing website is good for.
If you want to print the logo anywhere else, you’ll need the source files used to create it.
Upon delivery of the logo, the designer should provide many different viewable formats, including,
- .jpeg
- .jpg
- .png (with a transparent background)
The designer should also include source files, which may have an extension of
- .ai
- .eps
- .psd
It is vital that you receive the files so you can make changes to the logo in the future, or use the logo for printing.
Tips on Finalizing Your Logo
With the aforementioned tips in mind, you need to have a good idea of what you want prior to approaching a designer.
Although there are many logo templates out there which designers can work with, be prepared to give examples for inspiration and provide some background information regarding you practice and what it stands for. Be sure to provide as much input to your designer as possible and request feedback during the design process.
Be sure to provide as much input to your designer as possible and request feedback during the design process.
Remember: your logo ultimately represents your brand and you should strive to get exactly what you pay for. In other words, don’t settle.
For example, services such as 99designs and 48HoursLogo.com are ideal for lawyers looking to only get what they pay for in regard to their logo.
As these services provide multiple options and flexibility for attorneys on a budget, you avoid the hassle of back-and-forth haggling and spec work. In short, the creative legwork is done for you and the get the design that best suits your brand.
From standing apart from the competition to giving your practice a solid brand identity, it’s crucial that you give your firm’s logo your full attention and don’t skimp on the small details.
If you have any questions, shoot me an email at andy@socialfirestarter.com.