NatOnline,

Logos are the basis of starting a company branding. I work with many of my small business owners and explain to them, you want to have a symbol/icon/logo that people see somewhere and say "oh wow, I'm thinking of Jean-Luc." McDonalds is a notorious example. You see double arches, it may not be McDonalds, but suddently you have a craving for an Angus Third Pounder with Bacon and Cheese. (sorry if this went off track, lets get back to the point) Company Logos are a necessity in the marketing and presentation of a successful small business. I recommend them and may be able to help you with developing one when the time comes.

Best regards my friend,

CC08

I made millions of dollars in several businesses and never had a logo designed.

I have several web sites that make money and I never had a logo designed.

I had some associates whom spent thousands on getting a great logo, I really liked it. It was beautiful.

Made me feel like they were such a bigger company than they really were.

They lost everything and were out of business in less than a year and ended up losing everything.

That is my experience.

Logo is usually the first "visual" contact any visitor to your website, is gonna form with your company. Just imagine Amazon being without a logo! However, in web space, a "readable" word-based logo (in fonts) may have a far reaching impact than a geometrical figure or just a visual. If you notice, most of the web portals have their name styles as their logos. A logo speaks a lot about the website and its "quality".

My 2c,
Rohit

NatOnline's response above makes a lot of sense from the perspective of business fundamentals (from which the long term sustainability of a company is more dependent on). The DotCom era of the late nineties saw a "boom" in what is known among grahic design circles as "identity systems" even though many of these businesses had nearly non existent business models that eventually led to their demise.

Having said that, there is such a thing as "brand equity". Strictly speaking, logos are not limited to symbols or icons. Some are based out of what are known as logotypes (example: IBM, Xerox, Coca-Cola).

Nat, to offer an unscientific explanation, the brain essentially treats a company name as a word or phrase, and a company logo as a picture. It attaches and links different information to each, and stores and recalls each in a different way. Having both a name and logo simply gives consumers more ways to recognize, remember, and recall your brand or business identity.

In general, names are mentally linked to thoughts and factual data, while logos are linked to feelings and sensory information (repetition over time blurs that distinction, however -- for example, just the name "Enron" can trigger strong feelings and facts now, and so can the Nike "swoosh" which, for all you trivia buffs, was created in 1971 by a freelance designer in Portland, Oregon named Caroline Davidson for a fee of $35).

It seems logical to extrapolate that the less your business relies on emotional or sensory responses from consumers, the less a logo matters. In other words, if the predominant elements that trigger people to do business with you are fact/logic-based, it probably doesn't matter if you have a logo or not.

On the other hand, can you imagine a NASCAR racer without any logos? In a number of comprehensive studies cited by NASCAR FactExpert, it has been shown that NASCAR spectators (live and television) purchase considerably more of the product brands that are advertised on NASCAR vehicles than they do of competing product brands that aren't advertised there -- and, of course, the advertising is always just a logo alone, because the available space is small and the time for viewing may be brief (not unlike a web page with a new visitor).

Nat, My logo is my name done in a custom font that represents my business of making puzzles. Check it out on my website at www.namestool.com,

I think that your products line and name have a definite tie in with Hawaii. When I think Hawaii, I think palm trees, pineapples, leis and beaches. My opinion is to create a logo using these items for the letters. for example, palm trees for "t", leis for "o", have a beach under or behind the whole name. Something like creates a visual like people mention above and also is your name.

Here is the link to the guy direct for the $3 logos and his portfolio. I think they look pretty good.

http://jamessdesigns.wordpress.com/

Just FYI to finish that off.

Good Luck

Kathy

Yes, very important as it serves to immidately brand your website.

faceebook and myspace don't have logos....

A picture is worth a thousand words. Essentially, a logo is a picture. It not only describes your business, but also describes you. Satisfied and happy customers tell their friends to look for the logo. Can you think of any large businesses and corporations that do not have a logo?

Not only is a logo important for your website, like others have stated, it is important for your brand. Do you recognize what companies are related to specific logos or brands? ie Golden Arches, the Swoosh, etc...We provide custom logo'd apparel that gets you noticed, by your brand or logo! By wearing a garment with your logo, you get advertising wherever you eat lunch, when you are out shopping or getting gas. It is an affordable way to Get Noticed! Check out the name brands that we carry in our online catalog and contact me for more information.

Online Catalog - www.GetNoticedUSA.com

Thanks!

_AL

MOST DEFINATELY! IT IS A PART OF YOUR COMPANY'S BRANDING! WWW.FAITHLOGOS.COM

NatOnline--

Absolutely important to have a logo, since it instills trust. Just look at any major ecommerce site-- although there are exceptions such as Craigslist. When you're THAT big, the rules don't apply to you!

With gratitude,
Dennis Yu
http://www.blitzlocal.com