How can your translation business benefit from professional logos? Follow this guide step by step and you will be able to create the logo that your business is missing. Explore and discover the benefits of having your own logo and how to create a define logo focused on your business and your prospective clients. You can read more on: http://www.circalingua.com/blog

1. Chapter 1.
Introduction to
logotypes for
translators.
David Miralles Pérez
www.circalingua.com
Mind your words and achieve success
31/07/2014

2. David Miralles Pérez
“Mind your words and achieve success”
www.circalingua.com
Index
 Chapter 1.1: Why should translators get a professional logo?
 Chapter 1.2: What makes a good logo?
 Chapter 1.3: How to define the logo of your translation business?
 Chapter 1.4: 7 tips to create the logo of your translation business.

3. David Miralles Pérez
“Mind your words and achieve success”
www.circalingua.com
Chapter 1.1: Why should translators get a
professional logo?
Welcome to the age of branding! I am sure that nowadays you all have heard about
this concept. For those of you who are starting in this world, brand management is,
without going into greater details, the analysis of how a brand is positioned in the market,
its targeted public and the public reputation of the brand itself.
Today we are going to talk about one of the most visual elements within the
branding atmosphere: logos. Maybe some of you haven not even though about getting a
logo. And why should you? We are translators, not designer. We do not even know how to
draw or come out with a good professional logo.
Here you have 7 reasons on why you should stop thinking like this. Why should
translators and interpreters brand themselves?
1. To be memorable
The human brain can memorise quicker images and colours rather than names
of businesses. So, if you want to remain in your client’s mind, be sure of getting a visual
and appealing logo!
Think about DreamWorks. What? Maybe you can recognise it better like this:

4. David Miralles Pérez
“Mind your words and achieve success”
www.circalingua.com
2. To look professional
Logos add value to our businesses. It is the very first thing your clients are going to
look at; that is why your logo is going to influence the first impression of your clients. Be
sure it looks professional and is adapted to your targeted audience.
Who do you think is the targeted audience of this logo?
3. To make a difference
Do you want your prospective clients to think that you are just another freelance
translator in the middle of a huge translators’ ocean or that you are a business established
translator who stands out of the crowd? A logo can make the difference between your
business and the rest out there, and it is one of the first features your audience is going
to pay attention to.
We should not be “freelance translators and interpreters” any more. We are owners of
our own translation and interpreting business. (And I love it!)
4. To build trust
Investing in a personal identity is a way to make your clients think about the
importance of your business. Remember: trust is the first step to engage with your
audience.
Take a look at these two logos. Both businesses provide a similar product, but which
one would you choose?
5. To attract more clients and endear your company
name to them

5. David Miralles Pérez
“Mind your words and achieve success”
www.circalingua.com
Let’s be honest. Everyone loves logos. It is the most creative part of branding. It is
where you mix your personality with the personality of your business. And you can
use them everywhere!
6. To explain your company name
A visual image always helps to explain why your business is called like that or even the
values that your business promotes. When the text of your logo is combined with a
visual image, it has a greater impact in our clients’ minds.
Maybe not everybody knows the meaning of the Latin preposition “circa” but the arrows
explain it pretty well! What do you think?
And this leads us to…
7. To promote motivation
Once you have created your logo, there is no stop. You have created your own business
“mascot” that you always want to feed and take care of. And how are you going to do that?
By succeeding in your business!
However, not all that glitters is gold unfortunately. You have to make sure that your
logo has been created by a professional. We always get angry when we talk to a client
about a translation project, and after checking our charges, he/she says: “don’t you worry,
my cousin can do it for free”. So, the same applies here! If your logo hasn’t been created by
a professional:
 Your company logo will not look professional.
(Please, don’t use Word to create you logo. Just… don’t.)
 Your logo will not be as original or appealing as it could be.
 It may not work in every size and format.

6. David Miralles Pérez
“Mind your words and achieve success”
www.circalingua.com
 Do your homework!
1. Think and list the benefits of using a logo and how they can apply to your
business.
2. Think about your business and your target audience.
3. Think about your personality.
4. Think of a way you can mix your personality and your business’
personality taking into account your target audience.
5. Write every single idea and sketch down!
Resources
 WantWords
 Allbusiness
 Mplans

7. David Miralles Pérez
“Mind your words and achieve success”
www.circalingua.com
Chapter 1.2: What makes a good logo?
Once we have analysed why do translators need a professional logo in my previous
post, I wanted to talk about what makes a good logo. As you may have found out at this
stage, not every logo out there fits its purposes. If you find yourself wondering if yours
does, keep reading! I am about to give you some guidelines and tips so you can tweak your
logo and make it work.
5 principles of a good logo
The first thing I wanted to talk about is the 5 principles of a good logo. Let’s get
started:
1. Simplicity. Your client will be more likely to recognise your logo if you keep it
simple. There are logos made merely of a simple typography or even a single letter
and they have always been stuck on our brains. Here you have some good
examples:
2. Memorability. This must be one of the main objectives when designing a logo.
Your logo must remain in your target audience’s mind. It is a feature that makes
you different; that is why when your client is looking at your logo, he has to
remember you and your services. And simplicity influences memorability.
3. Timelessness. This may be a tricky one. Do not base your logo (at least, the whole
design of your logo) in a current trend. Why? Because, as you know, trends change
very quickly and we don’t want to get an old-fashion logo by the time the design is
ready to be used. We want a logo that can last in time by itself.
4. Versatility. Only one design is not enough. I am sure that when your logo will be
ready, you are going to publish it everywhere, and that includes your website, your
business cards, stamps, pens, stickers, and the list goes on and on. Make sure that
your logo can be adjusted to different sizes; you can also print it out just to see if it
works on paper as well.

8. David Miralles Pérez
“Mind your words and achieve success”
www.circalingua.com
That is why it is so important to elaborate your logo in vector format. As a
photography-lover, I am familiarised with Illustrator and it works for me. It’s easy
to use and you have plenty of options to tweak your logo. Be creative and explore
every possible design. Take into account that if you don’t know how to use any of
these tools, you may need to hire a professional designer. It would be a good
inversion.
5. Appropriateness. Make sure that your logo match with your business’ brand. For
example, a toy store as Toysrus match its brand with the childish typography of its
logo:

9. David Miralles Pérez
“Mind your words and achieve success”
www.circalingua.com
Chapter 1.3: How to define the logo of your translation
business?
What does it mean that any logo must be defined? It means that it must fit with the
nature of your business and your target audience and this is going to influence the
colours and the style we are going to choose for our logos. Take a look at the following
steps; we are about to define your logo!
Step 1: Define the nature of your business. And by business I mean products (in our
case our translation and interpreting productions), blogs, brands, projects, etc. For
example, let’s imagine that you are specialised in medical translation; obviously, medical
translations take place in a serious and very professional environment, so the childish
style of Toysrus’ logo is out of the question.
Step 2: Define your target audience. We have to take into account the people who are
going to buy from us and think about how the logo can be appealing for any prospective
client. A doctor is not going to be attracted by a childish design (unless he is looking for a
toy for his son); he will likely identify your business by looking at any element which has
something to do with medicine.
Step 3: Think carefully the design of your logo. Steps 1 and 2 will influence the choice
of the design. Here I wanted to talk about colours and typography.
 Colours: I am sure that you are all familiarised with this image.
Personally, I chose blue and grey because of the nature of my services and my
target audience. Now, think about which emotion your prospective client is likely
to look for in your services. What do you want to transmit with the colour of your
logo?
 Typography: There’s no rule regarding the choice of a specific typography.
Advice: keep it simple. Choose a sophisticated or minimalist typography and run

10. David Miralles Pérez
“Mind your words and achieve success”
www.circalingua.com
away from tacky fonts. Do not use more than 2 different styles as it may confuse
our clients.
Step 4: Think about the style of your logo. Once again, review steps 1 and 2. And here I
did some research: I looked for some logos related to my field of expertise and just
observed the style of the logo. Is it minimalist, childish, romantic or formal? Get rid of any
temptation to copy any design! Just look for the trends within your industry and elaborate
something that can be appealing to your prospective clients.

11. David Miralles Pérez
“Mind your words and achieve success”
www.circalingua.com
Chapter 1.4: 7 tips to create the logo of your translation
business.
Once we have followed every necessary step to get our logos defined, it is time to grab
some piece of paper and start drawing and sketching. Here you have 7 ideas that I use to
create my own logo. Bear them in mind before creating your first sketch and implement
then during the process. I am sure that you are about to create the corporate image of your
business!
1. Do your research. Answer carefully these questions one by one:
a. Who are your prospective clients?
b. Where are they?
c. What are they looking for?
d. How can you help them and meet their needs?
e. How your logo can express this idea?
Try to answer them carefully. The more you get to know your prospective clients, the
better. At the end of your research, your mind will be full up with great ideas. Promise!
And most importantly, you will have ideas addressed to your industry and focused on
your client needs.
2. Immerse yourself in the brand. You must think and realise that your brand will
stay with you during every step of your business. Create something that both, you
and your clients would like, something you can be proud of. That is what you need
to keep your motivation from the very first moment. Taking this into account, you
will realise that you are your brand and your clients will like it, hence they will
trust you.
3. Sketch it out and keep all your sketches. Every sketch you draw counts, because
the most insignificant idea can take you to develop an important part of your
brand. Gather every idea, every photo that inspired you, and every piece of
information that may be useful. Sooner or later, those ideas will evolve.

12. David Miralles Pérez
“Mind your words and achieve success”
www.circalingua.com
4. No imitate. I am sure that you have this translator or interpreter or just someone
that you take as a reference, a model you want to follow. However, sometimes you
have to get rid of his/her influence to create your own ideas and this is one of
these moments. Turn off your computer if you need to and be creative. I draw the
first sketch of my logo with a pen and a piece of paper.
Advice: Look for sources of inspiration (I usually read or go out and take some
pictures with my camera, it works for me!)
5. Don’t overdo it. A common mistake when elaborating our logo is thinking too
much. When we think about a single idea for hours (even for days or weeks) we
tend to miss the main objectives.
Advice: Get rid of those extra pictorial elements that may say nothing and keep it
simple.
6. Cultural differences. Translators and interpreters usually tend to target more
than one culture. That means that we have to take into account that maybe we are
missing any cultural nuance with our designs, corporative names or even with our
slogans or mission statements.
Advice: Show your logo around and check it out with international colleagues. Ask for
some feedback. I checked my logo with different English, Spanish and American
colleagues and even with a designer before getting it tweaked by professionals, and all
them mention some value points.
7. If in doubt, leave it out. Again, do not overthink. If you have doubts about any
feature of your logo, leave it out and start again. You will come up with new and
better ideas.
Advice: Leave it out. Go to sleep or work on your translation assignment, just stop
thinking about it. But do not discard any idea because you didn’t like it at the very
beginning, because every idea can evolve.
Let’s keep in touch!
w p l f T G