By Amari, Founder, Luxbranding
Why your logo should not be a bee
The worker bee has been an emblem of Manchester for over 150 years, and it is everywhere now: street furniture, murals, shop windows and a great many tattoos. That makes it a strong symbol for the city and a weak one for a business. Manchester City Council also holds registered trade marks for various versions of the bee and decides who may use them. A plumber with a bee in the logo looks like a Manchester souvenir, and sits beside every other firm that had the same idea.
We keep the bee for businesses where it is the actual subject, a honey producer or a beekeeper. For everyone else we find the mark in the business itself: the shape of a tool, a letter from the name, a detail of the trade. If you want a Manchester nod, it can live in the descriptor line or the colour, where it supports the brand instead of replacing it.
Red, sky blue and the colours in between
In a city split between United and City, colour carries a meaning it does not carry everywhere. A bright red or a sky-blue van is not a problem in itself, but some customers will read it as a side before they read the name, and a trade that works inside people's homes has no reason to start a conversation about football.
So we choose palettes on purpose. Deep greens, navy with copper, charcoal with a warm accent, or a red that is clearly brick rather than shirt. If your business is proudly on one side, that is your call and we will draw it well; if it is not, the palette will not decide for you.
Read next: What logo colours say to customers · A free brand colour palette guide
Manchester or Greater Manchester?
Greater Manchester is ten council areas, and a lot of the work happens outside the city boundary: Stockport, Salford, Trafford, Bury. A roofer based in Wigan who puts Manchester in the logo can lose the customer in Bolton who wants someone local, and a firm in the city centre that names one borough limits itself the other way.
Our advice is to keep place names out of the main mark. Put the area you cover on the van, the website and your Google Business Profile, where it can be precise, and let the logo stay the same when you take on a second van in another borough.
Working with us from Manchester
We are an online studio, so working with us from Manchester is the same as working with us from anywhere: a short brief online, first concepts within 48 hours of your completed brief, revisions by email until it is right, and the files delivered by download. You do not need to book a meeting or travel into town, and the price is the same £129 it is everywhere in the UK. See everything included in Logo Design.
Identities from our studio
Frequently asked questions
Should a Manchester business use the bee in its logo? +
Only if bees are the business. The worker bee is the city's symbol, and Manchester City Council holds registered trade marks for various versions of it and decides who may use them. It also appears on a great many logos and signs, so it makes yours look like everyone else's. We would put a Manchester nod in the descriptor or the colour instead.
Will my logo look like a football club? +
Not unless you want it to. We choose colours with the red and sky-blue divide in mind and will suggest palettes that carry no allegiance, or draw it in your club colours if that is your choice.
I work across Greater Manchester. Should my logo say Manchester? +
We would leave place names out of the main mark. Put your area on the van, website and Google Business Profile, where you can list the boroughs you cover and change them as you grow.
Can you meet in Manchester? +
We do not hold meetings in person. Everything runs online and by email: the brief, the concepts, your feedback and the final files, so you can work with us between jobs without travelling.
Will the logo work as a hand-painted sign? +
Yes. Every logo includes a single-colour version, and we keep the shapes simple enough for a signwriter to paint at full size. You get the vector files a signwriter or vinyl cutter works from.
Logo design in other cities: London · Bristol
Amari · Founder, Luxbranding
Founder of Luxbranding, a UK online creative agency since 2019. Specialising in brand identity, web design, SEO, and digital marketing for clients in the UK and internationally.
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