The Question Budget-Savvy Malaysian Entrepreneurs Are Asking
When you are about to start a new business, there are a thousand things to think about: finalizing your product, finding a reliable supplier, setting up your social media account, and attending to about forty other pressing concerns—all while keeping an eye on your ringgit reserves. Your logo, you think to yourself, can be settled with a simple solution for now, and can be upgraded later when the business is already earning money.
This may not be such a bad idea after all. The harsh truth is: yes, you can start with a simple logo and upgrade it later if you want to. But only if you know what you are getting yourself into, what simple means, and how to avoid pitfalls that can turn this simple solution into a costly problem.
This article will give you the whole picture so you can make an informed decision, not regret it later.
Why Starting Simple Can Be Smart—When It Really Is
Let’s face it: sometimes, having a simple logo isn’t such a bad idea after all. Not only that: it can be the right decision, not just a compromise. Here are the circumstances when having a simple logo isn’t such a bad idea:
– You are testing a concept rather than building a permanent brand. If you are in a very early proof-of-concept phase of your business—testing to see if people want what you are offering before investing in a full-scale build—then a simple visual brand is perfectly acceptable. Once you’ve proven your concept and the dollars are flowing in, you can think about investing in a professional company logo design in Malaysia when it’s more affordable and you know more about what you are doing.
– You are saving your initial investment dollars for product or service quality. For businesses where the quality of the customer experience is a key differentiator—food, handmade products, custom services—customers will accept low-quality branding if they are wowed by your product. A simple logo will not hurt you if your product is exceptional.
– You already have an upgrade strategy in place. While it’s perfectly acceptable to start simple with a clear strategy to upgrade to a professional company logo design in Malaysia in a year or eighteen months, it’s very different from starting simple with a vague “we’ll get around to it someday” attitude.
You are in an environment with low competition or relationship-driven competition. If your initial customer base is derived from personal referrals and your current network, then a simple logo does not carry as much significance as it would in a competitive environment where you are being judged against unknown competitors.
The common thread in all these cases is intention. Having a deliberate intention to start simple works very differently from starting simple by default and then hoping it will all work out.
More: Give feedback to your designer the constructive way – here’s how.
What Simple Means to Me: What Simple Should Not Mean to You
This is where most Malaysian business owners go wrong and end up paying for it in the end. Simple does not mean low quality. Simple does not mean sloppy in any way.
A simple logo done correctly is a well-designed logo that is easy to read, industry-appropriate, and comes in the necessary file formats to be used professionally. It may not be unique or strategic in its design elements, but it will be well-made.
A simple logo designed poorly resembles a fuzzy PNG file from a free application, a font and clip-art hybrid mismatch, or a generic icon set with your business name and a default font. This isn’t simple; it’s a bad first impression, and it’s a lack of credibility.
Even a simple logo needs to meet the following bare minimum criteria:
- – Vector file format — Ensure your logo is delivered as a vector file, meaning it doesn’t become fuzzy or distorted when scaled up. A logo delivered as a JPEG or PNG file isn’t a professional logo and will give you trouble when you need to get it printed somewhere.
- – Color and Black versions — Ensure your logo includes a color version and a black version, as there are places where color printing isn’t feasible.
- – Font file or font identification — Identify the font or fonts used for your logo so you can ensure consistency.
- – Ownership — Ensure you own the file and the intellectual property rights to the logo. This must be stated outright, regardless of the cost.
If a simple logo from any Malaysian logo-making provider or application fails to meet these basic criteria, then it’s not simple; it’s inadequate, and it’s going to cost more to fix than the initial savings would have been.
The Real Cost of Waiting to Upgrade Your Logo
The important thing to grasp about launching with a simple logo is that you are setting yourself up for a hefty price tag when you upgrade your brand in the future after you are established.
As a pre-revenue startup, your brand presence is very small. The logo appears on a social media page, a basic website, and a handful of other initial marketing materials. Changing it now costs you virtually nothing in terms of hard costs.
However, after 18 months of growth, you now have a number of places where your logo appears:
- – On a website designed with a logo integrated into it
- – On business cards and other printed materials
- – On storefronts or other physical signage
- – On product labels or other branded merchandise
- – On social media profiles with an established following
- – On email signatures and other email stationery
- – Possibly on company uniforms, company cars, or other merchandise
At this point in time, changing a logo is no longer just a matter of designing a new logo. It’s now a matter of changing all of this collateral. For an established Malaysian SME, this could mean a rebranding cost that is five to ten times what it would have originally cost to get a solid, professional logo done in the first place.
But there’s also a cost in terms of brand recognition. If you’ve spent 18 months building a certain level of recognition for your brand, a significant change in your logo now resets that clock. A customer base that’s now begun to equate your visual brand with your product now has to relearn this association.
Planning a Smart Logo Evolution
Having now seen the potential costs of a simple logo, you might be convinced that a simple logo is in order for your company. The next step is to plan a smart evolution to a new logo when you are ready to upgrade.
Here’s one way to think about upgrades in a straightforward, no-nonsense way:
- – Establish an upgrade trigger. This means that instead of “I’ll upgrade my logo when the time is right,” you should decide on something like “I’ll upgrade my logo once my revenue target is reached.” The more specific you are, the more you’ll be reminded that upgrading is something that’s happening, not something that’s always in the future.
- – Take some time to jot down what your brand means to you, even though you are still unsure. Before you hire a logo designer in Malaysia, try to write down what your brand values are, what kind of customer you want to attract, what kind of personality you want your brand to have, and what makes you unique compared to others in the same industry.
- – Avoid basing your brand recognition on items that will not be around once the upgrade is complete. If your current brand logo is only temporary, then you should not invest too much into signage, packaging, or merchandise that carries this logo.
- – Choose your original logo with the upgrade process in mind. A temporary logo should at least have some hints of the direction that your brand is going to take. It should have the right industry colors, the right level of formality that your market demands, and the right personality that you plan on carrying over into your final design.
What the World’s Most Recognisable Brands Can Teach Us
Some of the biggest brands in the world have changed their logos over time, even the ones that have become synonymous with the design.
Let’s look at Apple as an example. Apple’s logo started out as a detailed drawing of Isaac Newton under a tree way back in 1976. In 1977, the Apple logo changed to the rainbow apple, and then in 1998, the Apple logo changed once more to the sleek black and white apple that we know and use today.
Nike’s famous swoosh wasn’t always that way. In fact, it was originally accompanied by the word “Nike” when it was acquired in 1971 for 35 dollars from graphic design student Carolyn Davidson. However, over time, the swoosh has become iconic enough to stand on its own.
The lesson to be taken from this isn’t that you should aim to launch with an imperfect logo and hope things work out. It’s that logo development is a part of the process of developing your brand, but it should be done with intention, not unintentionally.
When to Choose the Right Move for Your Business
Can you start with a simple logo and upgrade later? Yes, with conditions.
These conditions are: your simple logo must meet professional standards, you must understand the true cost of upgrading, you must know when you will upgrade, and you must be choosing simplicity with intention, not because it’s the only option you know how to do.
If you can meet these conditions, then it’s not only acceptable to start simple, it’s an acceptable business decision. However, if not, then you are not only choosing to start simple, you are choosing to put off a critical decision with potentially larger future implications.
When you are ready to invest in the logo that your business has earned, a logo that reflects the brand you’ve developed and the future you envision, then working with a professional logo design firm in Malaysia will not only get you a better logo, it will get you a better brand asset that will grow with you for years to come.
An upgrade is worth it in the end. Just make sure you’re ready to do it right when the time comes.
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