Cynthia Oswald

Surface Design, Fine Art + Branding for Creatives

logo design

Why Your Logo Should Make Them Feel Something (Not Just Look Good)

Your Logo, Your Story: Making an Emotional Connection Through Design

Why Your Logo Should Feel Like You: Design That Builds Trust and Connection

Your logo isn’t just a design. It’s the face of your brand, the first impression you make before a single word is spoken. Think about it: when someone visits your website, spots your ad, or even notices your product in the wild, what’s the first thing they look for? Your logo. It sets the tone, tells your audience who you are, and begins to build that all-important connection.

But here’s the thing—your logo isn’t just about recognition. It’s also about emotion. A great logo creates trust, sparks curiosity, and invites people to feel something meaningful about your brand. And that feeling? It’s what turns a business into a brand people remember, rely on, and champion.

In this post, I want to explore why your logo should be so much more than a “pretty design.” Whether you’re creating a new one or thinking about refreshing your current logo, let’s dive into what makes a logo resonate on a deeper level—for both your audience and you.

What a Logo Truly Represents

At its core, a logo is a visual representation of your brand’s identity and purpose. It’s the bridge between your business and your audience, creating recognition and trust while reflecting the values that make your brand unique.

One of the biggest misconceptions about logos is that they’re all about aesthetics. Yes, a logo should look good—but more importantly, it should feel right. A well-designed logo inspires pride and confidence in you as a business owner, serving as a tangible symbol of the work you’ve poured your heart into.

Think of your logo as the “welcome mat” for your brand. When it aligns with your story and speaks to your audience, it sets the stage for meaningful connection and loyalty.

Crafting an Emotional Connection Through Design

A logo’s design elements—colors, typography, and shapes—are more than stylistic choices. They’re tools that evoke emotion and communicate meaning.

  • Colors: Every color tells a story. Blue often evokes trust and reliability, while green symbolizes growth and renewal. Red sparks energy, and yellow feels cheerful and optimistic. When choosing colors for a logo, it’s about aligning those emotional associations with the story your brand is telling.
  • Typography: Fonts set the tone, too. A serif font feels timeless and traditional, while sans-serif fonts feel modern and clean. The thickness, spacing, and even the curves of the letters can influence how people perceive your brand.
  • Shapes and Symbols: Shapes are surprisingly powerful. Curved lines can feel friendly and approachable, while sharp angles might suggest precision or innovation. Symbols, when used intentionally, can communicate ideas that resonate deeply with your audience.

By weaving these elements together, your logo becomes more than a mark—it becomes a feeling. It’s about using design to speak to your audience’s emotions and create a lasting connection.

The Story Behind the Logo

Every great logo is rooted in a story. It’s not just a graphic—it’s shorthand for your brand’s mission, values, and personality.

When I work with clients, we always start with the story. I ask questions like:

  • What problem are you solving for your audience?
  • What values drive your business?
  • How do you want people to feel when they encounter your brand?

These answers guide every design decision, ensuring the final logo reflects both the heart of the brand and the needs of its audience. Storytelling is a natural part of branding—it’s what makes your logo more than a design. It makes it a connection point.

The Emotional Payoff of the Right Logo

When your logo feels right, everything changes.

For you, the business owner, a well-crafted logo is empowering. It boosts your confidence, motivates you to show up, and gives you a visual identity you’re proud to share with the world. It’s like putting on a perfectly tailored outfit—it just feels good, and you carry yourself differently because of it.

For your audience, the right logo builds trust and familiarity. It creates an emotional connection that grows stronger with every interaction, turning your brand into something they recognize, value, and recommend to others.

I’ve seen this transformation firsthand. When a client sees their final logo and says, “Yes, this is it. This feels like me,” it’s a moment of alignment that goes far beyond the design. It’s about capturing the essence of their brand in a way that resonates with their audience and empowers them to step confidently into the future.

Moving Beyond the Pretty Design

If your logo doesn’t feel like it’s telling your story, it’s worth taking a closer look. 

Ask yourself:

  • Does my logo communicate what my brand stands for?
  • Does it evoke the feeling I want my audience to experience?
  • Does it reflect the quality and care I put into my work?

Your logo should evolve as your brand grows. It’s not about starting over—it’s about building on what’s already working and refining it to align with your current vision. Sometimes, even a small tweak can make a big difference.

Building a Brand That Feels Right

Your logo isn’t just a design. It’s a feeling. It’s a story. It’s the face of your brand and the bridge that connects you to your audience. When your logo aligns with your mission, values, and vision, it becomes so much more than a graphic. It becomes a symbol of trust, loyalty, and connection.

If your current logo doesn’t feel like it’s doing your story justice, take a moment to reflect. What’s working? What’s not? What small changes could bring it closer to the brand you’ve built and the impact you want to make?

And if you’re ready for support, I’d love to help. Whether it’s a refresh or a complete rebrand, let’s create a logo that feels as good as it looks—one that tells your story, connects with your audience, and inspires pride every time you see it.

Do you have a logo in mind that embodies your business or vision, or are you looking to create one? I’d love to hear from you. Share your thoughts or reach out for a consultation to bring your vision to life. And if you’re a designer, why not take these principles and apply them to your next project? Let’s create logos that don’t just exist but make a resonant and lasting impression.

Bring your logo to life

What Makes A Good Logo(type)?

What Makes A Good Logo(type)?
The Art and Science Behind a Memorable Logo
What Makes a Good Logo?

Imagine starting a garden. You carefully select the seeds, considering what will flourish in your space and climate. You plan the layout for visual appeal and growth potential. Every detail, from soil choice to watering schedule, affects the outcome—a beautiful garden with a fruitful harvest. Or you could just be winging it, hoping it’ll all work out. A little of this and a little of that. But your garden becomes overcrowded, your dog destroys the plants, and your left with a dismal harvest. 

Designing a logo is strikingly similar to these processes and their outcomes. It’s about selecting the right elements, arranging them for maximum impact, and nurturing the design until it bears a symbol that encapsulates a brand’s essence. In the world of design, creating a logo transcends basic aesthetics; it’s a blend of creative expression, scientific principles, and strategic thinking. 

Let’s explore what it takes to grow a logo from a seed of an idea into a flourishing brand emblem. 

Brand Alignment

At the very forefront of your logo design are the company’s mission and values, target audience, core messages, and the solutions your brand provides to the audience it serves. To kick off any brand project, you want to ensure that you’ve done a thorough analysis on the following:

  • Mission/Values: Ensure the mission and values are clearly defined and speak to the ‘why’ behind the business origin. Essentially it’s the driving force behind the brand.
  • Target Audience Analysis: Identify and understand your target audience’s needs and preferences to ensure your logo resonates and connects effectively.
  • Unique Selling Proposition: What makes the brand unique? How and why do they do what they do differently? Which brings us to …
  • Brand Positioning: Define the unique position your brand holds in the market, distinguishing it from competitors and clarifying its unique value to the audience.
  • Competitive Analysis: Assess the competition to ensure your logo uniquely stands out, reflecting a clear edge in your brand’s visual identity.
  • Understanding The Offers: Ultimately what is the customer journey? And how can the logo and brand assets speak to the customer journey quickly and succinctly? 
  • Personal Preferences: Know the likes and dislikes of the person or brand and how they relate to the visual aesthetics they are hoping to achieve in the branding process. 

Utilizing Basic Design Principles

Every well-designed logo starts with an understanding of the fundamental design principles. Much like building a successful garden, an awareness of what you actually need to make it thrive is at the very forefront. While you may not adhere to every gardening rule, having an awareness around what works and then applying it to your own garden empowers you to make informed decisions. This is the same for branding. You might even intentionally decide to be a little rebellious, but having an understanding gives you the edge:

  • Hierarchy: Consider the focal point of your logo. Which element should grab attention first? This isn’t just about size; it’s about understanding the visual importance of each component. 
  • Contrast: Contrast isn’t limited to colors; it encompasses a range of design elements. Contrasting textures, weights, lines, etc.
  • Repetition: Consistency in elements like style, colors, and forms not only makes a logo cohesive but also reinforces brand identity.
  • Proximity and Balance: These principles help create a logo that’s harmonious yet dynamic. A well-balanced logo provides visual comfort, while strategic use of space can bring an element of intrigue.
  • Color Psychology: Leverage the science of color psychology to evoke desired emotions and align with brand values. Strategic color choices can significantly impact perception, influencing how your audience feels about your brand.

Specific Logo Design Considerations 

Beyond the basics, there are specific attributes that make a logo stand out:

  • Kerning and Tracking: Attention to the spacing in letterforms is crucial for legibility and aesthetics. If there is an odd space the viewer will pick it up whether they realize it or not. 
  • Uniqueness: A one-of-a-kind logo sets a brand apart in a crowded marketplace. What does that mean? There is an element of customization—not simply clip art or swapping out the colors of a font. 
  • Scalability: From a tiny favicon to a billboard, a good logo maintains its integrity and impact. Often this means creating a logotype and multiple cohesive secondary logos and emblems that represent the logo.
  • One-Color Adaptability: Essential for various applications, a logo must look good even in monochrome. 
  • Meaningful Symbolism: The best logos are infused with meaning that emulate the story of the brand and resonate with the target audience.
  • Versatility: Understand the main applications that this mark will have for the brand. Think about how it will be represented throughout digital, print, merchandise, etc.
  • Accessibility: Your logo should be easily interpreted by a broad audience, considering factors like color blindness. 
  • Timelessness: A timeless design ensures that your logo doesn’t become obsolete as trends evolve. 
  • Memorability: A simple yet unique design, relevant to the brand’s essence, is likely to stick in people’s minds and become easily recognizable.

As with a garden, the true beauty of a logo is revealed through the process. Through care, refinement, and a deep understanding of the environment (or market), it matures into an emblem that’s not only recognized but also loved and admired. A great logo, like a flourishing garden, stands the test of time, evoking feelings of familiarity and trust. It becomes a landmark in the landscape of its industry, a testament to thoughtful design and enduring appeal.

Crafting a logo that strikes the perfect balance between form and function, creativity and clarity, uniqueness and understanding, is no small feat. It requires a deep understanding of design principles, the brand’s core values, and the audience it seeks to engage.

Do you have a logo in mind that embodies all these qualities, or are you looking to create one? I’d love to hear from you. Share your thoughts or reach out for a consultation to bring your vision to life. And if you’re a designer, why not take these principles and apply them to your next project? Let’s create logos that don’t just exist but make a resonant and lasting impression.

Bring your logo to life

Demystifying (logo) file types

Do you know what type of logo you need?

So you had your logo designed and you are ready to share your new brand with the world … and then you send your business cards off to the printer, fantasizing about what it feels like to hand out these new, professional, branded cards… You finally receive the box in the mail only to feel disappointed when you open them and see a fuzzy-looking, crappy business card—to put it nicely—and you are left feeling defeated, confused, underwhelmed. Hopefully, the printer warned you of this prior to making the print run (as any good printer would). But if not, I wrote this for you.

I receive inquiries about recreating logo files often. And usually, it’s because a client doesn’t have all of the logo file types they need. So, I created this to help you get the files you need right from the start. (If you’re working with another designer, I suggest running the below list of file types by your designer to ensure you have each of them in the correct format as a final deliverable.)

Let’s start with the type of file the logo should originate from: AI or EPS

An AI file is short for Adobe Illustrator. If you’re paying someone to help you create a logo it should be created using a vector-based application, like Adobe Illustrator. A vector file is a file created using points and paths to render a shape in a mathematically and infinitely scalable format (imagine your logo on the moon!). This means that you can print them on a large sign, add them to a billboard, have them turned into embroidery, an animation, a special stamp, or perhaps a wax seal—the sky is the limit with vector files. You’ll want your designer to save the AI file as an EPS—that’s the file you’ll need for future printing projects. An EPS file stands for Encapsulated PostScript. It’s basically a fancy way of saying a vector file—or a mathematical formula that establishes points on a grid. Have I lost you yet?

Ask for a vector-based PDF file

While your designer is at it (still in Illustrator) ask for a PDF file. EPS files are needed for your brand library and future use, but chances are you won’t be able to open them from your computer (unless you have Adobe design programs). PDFs can also be vector-based files when saved from Illustrator or other vector-based software. Have your designer save the vector art as a PDF so you can view it from your computer. What is a PDF anyway? It stands for a Portable Document Format and was originally created by Adobe to enable users to open up different files across operating systems, programs, and now devices.

One more Illustrator-based file you’ll need: SVG

Next up on your list of Illustrator files is an SVG file. This happens to be my personal favorite file type because it has so much information packed into a small file size. This file type enables logos to come across crisp and clean across devices on the web. SVG stands for Scalable Vector Graphics—and is an XML-based vector graphic that can scale and be manipulated using code. Creating this file is as easy as hitting File > Save As > Format > SVG and, voila!, you will have the perfect file type for your web designer to render your logo online.

The final two file types to request: PNG & JPEG

These two files are good to have for your use on social media and other platforms that aren’t currently supporting SVG files. Both are rasterized files—meaning that they are converted into pixels. Pixel-based files cannot be scaled up/enlarged. It’s important to request a specific dimension for these files. For instance, if you are using a 50 x 50 pixel (px) JPEG file but the requirements are 250 x 250 px the image will be scaled x5 and will look pretty awful in return—in other words, pixelated. I like to send logo files that are 1000 px or more for the client’s library. That way they can reduce the size if needed but they are working with a larger file type to begin. Why do you need a PNG and a JPEG(JPG)? PNGs have the ability to save a transparent background. JPGs are similar to PDFs, in that anyone can open them. I use them as a last resort. Whatever you do—do not save over the files sent to you—get into the practice of “saving as” so you don’t lose that original quality.

Let’s recap …

If you are printing or rendering your logo in a tactile medium, it’s best to use an EPS file (it’s good practice to include the vectorized PDF file for viewing purposes). If you are sending your logo around to your social circles to celebrate the beautiful design, send along a PDF. If you are passing your logo off to your web designer, send them an SVG file. They may request a PNG or JPEG but ask them why they can’t use an SVG… after all you just spent time and money on your new logo design. Showcase it in the best possible light. Finally, when you add your brand to all of your social media and email marketing platforms, upload a PNG. On the odd occasion, you might need a JPG file, but this can usually be a last resort if you have all of the other file types listed above. (I anticipate that SVGs will be supported by most social platforms very soon, so once that happens, I would use SVGs instead.)

And here’s a quick cheat sheet for you:

AI/EPS: A Vector-based file that is scalable and can be used in a variety of formats (and sizes!) while still looking crisp and clean. It’s the most important logo file type to have!
Vector-based PDF: A vector file you can open on your computer if you don’t have Adobe Creative Suite programs
SVG: The best file type to use on the web
PNG & JPG: Rasterized files used in specific sizes for social and other small-scale places

I hope this helps. Here’s to beautiful logos, and having the right file types to showcase them! 🥂

Do you have a logo in mind that embodies your business or vision, or are you looking to create one? I’d love to hear from you. Share your thoughts or reach out for a consultation to bring your vision to life. And if you’re a designer, why not take these principles and apply them to your next project? Let’s create logos that don’t just exist but make a resonant and lasting impression.

Bring your logo to life

Five questions to ask your graphic designer before hiring them

Top 5 Questions To Ask a Designer

(before you hire them!)

When I was in my early twenties I started embracing my femininity. I started to get my hair professionally cut and styled. I relied heavily on the expertise of the salon owner, she was hip and fun. I gave her full reign on creativity. It started off well, then as time went on I noticed that not only was the salon owner passing off drinks to her customers, she was also consuming a little herself on the side. When I left the salon my hair looked different each time. She was always adding some new technique or using a new tool. It wasn’t until my then 8-year-old nephew said, “Aunt Cindy, why do you have a mullet?” that I decided it was time to go elsewhere. That’s when I started taking a little more interest in the final result. I did have a style I just hadn’t defined it. I can tell you right now it didn’t consist of rocking a mullet! I like a little layering but this was extreme.

I swear it wasn’t this bad!

When you’re working with a designer it’s important to also get clear about your goals for the end result. If that’s not a process you’re familiar with you’ll want to find a designer that can help you arrive there. If you’re paying a minimal fee and the designer hasn’t put systems and processes in place to ensure you’re happy with the final result, you’ll end up having to pay someone else in the near future. Maybe you already know exactly what you’re looking for and therefore prefer to pay someone only to execute your ideas. There are so many different scenarios to consider about your own personal preferences before you even begin your “Graphic Designers Near Me” search. Let’s get started by looking at my top 5 questions to consider before hiring a designer:

1. How do you ensure that my brand comes through in the final result?

If you tell a designer that you aren’t sure what you’re looking for and that you’re open to whatever they come up with then be prepared to see anything—including the latest trends. That could look like a mullet, bushy eyebrows, or fanny packs. Do any of those resonate with your brand? Some of you are resonating with bushy eyebrows. I personally love a good fanny pack! In all seriousness though, you do have preferences and that should come through in your brand materials. An experienced or well-versed designer will have a system or process set in place to ensure that your preferences and brand shine through in the final result. Ask them what this looks like. If they don’t have an answer for you, that’s a red flag. Save yourself time and money by continuing your search.

2. What is it like to work with you from start to finish? What does your process look like?

Now that they’ve shared a little of their process with you ask them to expand on this. Simply ask them to talk a little about their process and see what they offer you. While they are talking, listen for clear direction and guidance on what type of schedule they will put in place, how much involvement from you will there be, and what systems they have in place to ensure you both stay on target. Does their process include enough time for you to adequately make changes? Are the changes included in the cost? Will they give you a notification when your feedback is due? These are all important aspects of the process that you will want to know they have defined.

3. How do you prefer we communicate throughout the process?

This one can be tough. Some designers will work directly with you from start to finish. Others prefer to start a project by working directly with you and then direct you to a Project Manager once the job is in motion. This can feel uncomfortable for the customer, leaving you feeling unimportant even if that truly isn’t the case. The idea is to find out how the communication will work throughout the life of the project so that both parties are clear. This process is 100% acceptable if it’s conveyed upfront. Inevitably, communication issues do happen. They are less likely to happen when both parties are clear on their expectations upfront.

4. Do you prefer to have full reign on the creativity or is it a collaborative process?

Generally, the customer-designer relationship can be broken into three groups: Some designers look to the customer to provide direction, others feel it should be collaborative, and the third party would like to have full reign on the creative process. If you are coming to the table with a lot of creative ideas, some resources for inspiration, and your favorite fonts or a style guide you are probably in the first group. If you have an idea of what you’d like but would appreciate insight, direction, and professional opinion from your designer then you are in the second group—the collaborative party. Finally, if you aren’t sure exactly what you need and you are truly looking for a designer to come to the table with ideas, direction, and strong visuals then you are in the third party. There isn’t a right or wrong way to go about this. It’s important to acknowledge that you have a preference and find a designer whose workflow aligns with your own.

5. What exactly is included in my final deliverables?

Look for clarity in your deliverables. If you haven’t made your way through all of the project details you can simply ask, “How will I know what exactly is included in my deliverables?” The designer should have a process for outlining this in the original agreement. By listing out the deliverables it should be extremely clear what is and what is not included. If you don’t see something on the list you should assume that it is not included. You’re looking for someone that has strong communication skills and is willing to be transparent throughout the project, from start to finish. Transparency is key when working with any contractor. If they aren’t able to inform you in a clear and concise way then you should continue your search.

Do you have a logo in mind that embodies all these qualities, or are you looking to create one? I’d love to hear from you. Share your thoughts or reach out for a consultation to bring your vision to life. And if you’re a designer, why not take these principles and apply them to your next project? Let’s create logos that don’t just exist but make a resonant and lasting impression.

Bring your logo to life