4 Keys To The Perfect Catering Logo

As a caterer, your logo communicates who you are and what your business is. Everything from the font to the style of the emblem to the layout. As you develop your logo, you are establishing a brand that your clients can connect with and, more importantly, a brand that feels similar to the brands they already trust. It's so important that clients have a consistent brand experience from your website to your catering software for proposals.

As you aim to develop a visual identity that is as unique as you are and market your business, keep these 4 keys to the event caterer logo in mind. 

Key 1: Simple

Far too often, businesses--especially small businesses--try to develop a unique logo by making it busier than it needs to be. They add a variety of visual elements that may look good, but do not help distinguish them from every other business on the block. Often, the busier the logo, the less professional it looks and the more likely potential clients are to turn away before ever seeing the quality of product that can be delivered.

Logos should be kept clean and simple in order to be recognizable, timeless, and versatile. When a logo is simple and memorable, people can easily recall what it represents, which is key to surviving in such a competitive market. 

This logo from Sugar Beach Events of Hawaii  is an excellent example of how elegant a simple design can be.

Key 2: Versatile

You'll want to use this logo multiple places. One of your tasks should be to identify every place your logo will be used. Every. Single. Place. Business cards? Website? Your proposals? Pull up your note app or a sheet of paper and list these out. Your final design should be legible in the smallest and largest of presentations. A logo that is too vertical or horizontal will become difficult to read when enlarged or reduced in size. It doesn’t matter how amazing your logo looks if it cannot be easily seen. 

This logo from Kitchen 435 is a great example of versatility as the emblem can be easily used and recognized in every format, even images as small as a favicon.

To ensure versatility, a logo should be designed in vector format. This will ensure that the logo can be scaled to any size without compromising image quality. A good tip is to use Adobe Illustrator to design your logo, not Photoshop. 

Worried that your new logo might not be very versatile? Download our logo checklist to analyze everywhere it might go before it's designed!

Key 3: Style Matches Your Target Audience

Every aspect of your event catering logo needs to be geared towards your target audience. If your target audience members are high-end brides, your logo should not include overly bright colors, a “fun” font, or an emblem that screams “DIY.” However, if your goal is to help clients with more intimate budgets develop delicious menus for their special day, you may be able to have a logo that is a bit more whimsical. Whatever your target audience, it is important to know what design elements will resonate with them before you develop your logo.

We love how this logo from our friends at Simply Delicious Caterings resonates with their target audience perfectly.

Key 4: Single Color

Keeping your logo to a single color forces you to look at the effectiveness of the overall concept and shape of your logo rather than considering how much “better” it would look in a different color. This is the ultimate test of a logo’s strength and versatility. 

 

A good logo will also use negative space as a type of additional color to keep the design interesting and dynamic. While the logo can use multiple colors, the core shape should still lead to looking great in situations where only one color can be used. This means the logo should be very carefully designed to make sure its detail does not disappear on smaller screens. Having a single-colored logo prepares you for one-color printing for business cards, letterhead, packaging, and black and white copies. It also frees you to create rubber stamps, foil-embossed labels, embroidered merchandise, and laser-cut products.

 

While you could choose your favorite color, you need to do anything with caution as certain colors will resonate within different communities and different client demographics than others. The color you choose should be carefully selected to resonate with your target audience and be selected to optimize the level of trust between yourself and potential clients.

 

This logo from Morin's Catering and Events is a terrific example of a single-color design that resonates well with their target audience and can be used in a variety of ways.

 

 

While developing a logo for caterers can be a daunting task, the best logos observe these principles and have seen tremendous success in doing so. 

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Curate is the platform for full-service catering companies that saves time on the proposal process and helps increase bookings. Unlike Word documents and PDF invoices, Curate elevates the client experience with modern technology and interactive proposals.