Test: Is Your Logo a Good Visual Brand? (7 Questions)

All great brands have memorable logos. Your thread, positioning statement, or tagline, is REALLY your brand — but a logo is critical in our visual world. That symbol and stylized words quickly attract attention, remind of what you’re known for, and establish a link to an emotion, trend, or style.

So every church needs a logo. Period. But really, you need a GREAT logo. And here are 7 questions to ask about your current logo to know if you need a NEW logo:

1. Is your logo simple? Most things right now are about simplicity. Look at major brands and they have a pure simplicity. Think that makes it simple to design? No! It actually makes it more difficult (since it has to accomplish all the other 6 things below and still remain simple). A great logo should be able to be sketched from memory by a middle-schooler and be recognizable.
2. Is your logo overly religious? You probably already have “church” in your name. Therefore, you don’t need religious iconography in your logo. Plus, most of your community isn’t seeking religion, tone the religious symbols down (or remove them) as part of simplicity. More may be attracted to your brand! And your community might find greater relevancy and attend.
3. Is your logo similar to churches in your community? Another great reason to eliminate religious symbols since it’s difficult to make them unique! A logo should differentiate you from other church logos that your community might know. And, on legal terms of trademarking, a house of worship shouldn’t be copying (stealing) a visual look from another church. You want to be unique.
4. Is your logo scaleable? Whether it’s used very small on a pen or incredibly large on a billboard, the logo should be recognizable and readable. That’s why you want it created in a vector format (.ai, .eps, etc.) and not just bitmap (.jpg, tif, etc.) so it’s also scaleable without resolution issues.
5. Does your logo represent your thread? Your thread is your brand promise. It answers the question “why do you attend your church regularly?”. It’s a description of the emotional aftertaste of a visit online or in person. Often used as a tagline, the thread needs to correspond to your logo. They must go together representing what all your ministries (yes, all of them) are known for.
6. Does your logo have too many colors or fonts? A good logo should have 1 to 2 colors with the occasional 3-color logo also working (but be careful about complexity!) and never incorporating more than 2 fonts. You can never go wrong with 1 font in your logo.
7. Would your community want to wear your logo? This is the ultimate test. If you create a tee, an oxford shirt, or a baseball cap with your logo on it, would your audiences (congregation and community) want to be seen wearing it? Why? Because your brand has to represent your audiences so that they’ll represent you! Your congregation should be the easiest of the two. The goal is to make it so that your community is attracted to it as well! It’s not a sin to be stylish.