How your artist logo can influence consumer purchase decisions
Your artist logo is undoubtedly one of the most integral parts of your brand. It gives you a solid identity, illustrating what you stand for in the industry, the type of music you make, and hints at the type of content you create. For example, a lot of dubstep and bass producers have very tribal and animalistic logos which clearly symbolize their artist brand. But how does a logo influence purchase decisions, and ultimately generate more sales? That’s what we’re going to discuss in this article.
Firstly, we’re going to talk about fonts. Believe it or not, they have an extremely strong psychological impact on people due to the style in which a piece of text is written. Just like you’d expect a professional business document to use a clearly readable font, the same applies to an artist brand. Whilst bass producers may use jagged letters and shapes within their logo, a tropical house producer may use soft curves within the letters in order to highlight the relaxing nature of their music.
Likewise, shapes have an extremely important impact on the perception of your brand. Mathematical shapes such as a circle, square, rectangle etc all symbolize something different in a psychological manner. For example, circles understandably represent a sense of eternal life and subtlety. Large organizations such as Starbucks use this logotype in order to convey the message to consumers that the stores and staff are friendly, and that once you try the products in the range, you’ll want to be buying coffee there for the rest of your life. Likewise, rectangles present a sense of power and stability within a logo. Just as bricks are used to create a strong building, rectangles are used in business to subconsciously tell the customer that products are extremely durable and sturdy. For example, Facebook’s logo is often presented within a square or rectangle in order to position the social networking site as a strong community in which you can interact with your friends.
Other symbolic shapes have an extremely important use within the logo of a company or brand. After all, many people associate a broken heart with an emotional moment or stars with fame and the entertainment industry. Likewise, a customer may recognize an arrow with a sense of direction or travel. As an example, the arrow within the FedEx logo makes consumers believe that their items will be transported from one place to another in a safe and sensible manner.
Another important part of logos that can influence behaviour are lines. As well as providing an aesthetic image, they are able to convey a strong message subconsciously to your consumer. Straight lines typically provide a strong sense of structure and reliability. Many large companies such as BMW, Mercedes, and Dominos incorporate this into their logos to ensure that consumers understand their dedication to customer service. If a pizza is late for delivery, Dominos will often refund the purchase. Likewise, Mercedes would want to ensure that their customers feel that their car is reliable and won’t constantly break down. If you take a look at dubstep and bass producers such as Skrillex or Kill The Noise, many have jagged and irregular lines within their logos in order to provide a sense of unpredictability and energy. Of course, this is reflected in the style of their music.
Just like shapes and lines are extremely important within a logo, colours can also provide a subliminal message to the consumer. As they are strongly linked to emotions and feelings, you can use them to your advantage in order to influence purchase decisions and build your brand. For example, monochrome colours such as black and white provide a sense of sophistication and order. But in contrast, a lot of colours in one logo will make your content feel like it’s full of energy. For example, Zedd uses turquoise, yellow and red in his “Happy Now” artwork to make the audience want to listen to it during happy occasions such as a birthday.
Although fonts, lines and colours are extremely important within a logo design, the actual composition of how they are layered is just as integral. For example, size provides a sense of importance towards an object or piece of text. When building a festival lineup, promoters want to attract as many people as possible. Therefore, they will often make the headline acts’ names extremely big on the posters and other campaigns in order to attract attention from consumers. It’s also worth noting that a western audience will read from left to right. Therefore, any important pieces of information should be placed on the left of the content. Finally, scattered words and images across a piece of content can suggest a sense of playfulness and chaos within a brand. As an example, NBC’s bright and colourful logo immediately suggests that the shows broadcasted on the network are entertaining for consumers of all demographics.
Logos are undoubtedly an important part of building your artist brand. With this new knowledge, you can adapt your future branding and design decisions to influence the desired outcome of your consumer/fan.