You never get a second chance to make a first impression. This phrase has been uttered countless times, and nowhere is it more relevant than in the launch of your new business. During a time when everything is moving so fast, how do catch your target audience? You may have only a fraction of a second to get them to stop what they are doing to focus on your business.

Creating a top-shelf logo is essential while trying to capture the attention of your potential clients. From a branding perspective, the logo you create for your new business is just as important as the name of your company ? if not more so. Like the business name, the logo needs to be unique and memorable. Your logo needs to clearly represent your brand ? the overarching mantle for how you envision your company.

Logo design: on your mark, get set, go!

You will want to connect with the right branding service to help you take your ideas and sketches to a professional level. However, before consulting an outside source, it?s good to do your homework. Similar to the process for naming your business, contemplating your logo should inspire you to get introspective. Review your company?s core product or service. Think back on your target market?s demographics and how they spend their time. Most important, focus on what your business will do for your target market. With these pieces, you are ready to start brainstorming.

For most people, the first thing that comes to mind when considering a product?a new car, a new piece of clothing, a new piece of furniture?is the color. In creating your logo, you need to consider what colors mean to different people and what colors will say about your business.

Here are the attributes of different colors as well as the feelings that they might evoke:

• Red (intensity): emotion, aggressiveness, passion, love
• Pink (femininity): love, sweetness, warmth, nurturing
• Orange (happiness): creativity, enthusiasm, determination
• Yellow (energy): joy, being alive, energetic
• Green (nature):?harmony, calmness, relaxation, peacefulness, hopefulness
• Blue (depth, stability):?comfort, understanding, trust, clarity
• Purple (luxury or royalty):?glamour, power, nostalgia
• Brown (earth, nurturing): reliability, support, dependability
• Black (formality, mystery):?boldness, luxury, seriousness

?[data from financesonline.com]

Keeping your target market top of mind, you can research color preferences based on many factors, including geographic location, age, and education level. In addition, here are some gender-related factors to keep in mind:

• Men:
  • In the western world, it is not rare for men to be color-blind so use red, green, and brown carefully.
  • Typically prefer blue to red and orange to yellow.
  • Are becoming more accepting of pinks and purples.
• Women:
  • Typically prefer red to blue and yellow to orange.
  • Are more willing to try new colors.
• Both genders:
  • Can be marketed to most effectively with blue, turquoise, green, red, yellow, black, white, gray, and silver.
  • Look for darker colors for a more serious business: dark blue, dark green, dark red, indigo, black, and gray.
  • Look for bright, light colors for a more casual or light-hearted business: red, orange, yellow, bright green, bright blue, pink, and purple.

[data from empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com]

Your logo is the symbol and long-lasting representation of your company and its product or service. It should be simple but stylish, memorable and enduring. Above all, your logo should be flexible to suit the needs of your business? it should be formatted and colored to allow for reproduction anywhere ? on a screen, in print large or small, and in the memory of members of your target market. This is essential as you will want your logo to be readily available for all marketing opportunities. It is important for your logo to be attractive, but even more important that it is suitable for all platforms. After you have created an attractive logo, consider consulting a professional to ensure that you have covered all bases.

Take the time to create a logo that will be the best representation of your business both now and in the future.