I've just launched my very own YouTube channel and needed to record my first video, but what would I talk about?

I've got so much knowledge that I want to share with you all and often therein lies the problem. There is so much to say that you just don't know where to begin!!

Then it struck me, let's begin at the beginning. Get right back to basics with everything and build up the channel from there. One of the most common things I discuss with clients is logos, and so I have recorded a video on one of the most common questions asked.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present to you my very first official YouTube video - What is a logo?

What is a logo?

If you looked in the dictionary, it'll give you the definition. Something along the lines of a logo is a symbol, a sign, or an emblem. That's the definition of a logo. Thanks for watching. No. We do need to talk about it a little bit more than that.

If we went back to Stone Age times, we would see our human ancestors using symbols. We use symbols to get across messages, ideas, concepts and thoughts. We didn't have written languages back then. We may not even have had proper verbal communication. Symbols were vitally important.

If we fast forward to today, we still use symbols to get across concepts, ideas and thoughts. Today, we call them logos. Logos are designed for recognition of organizations, businesses, or groups. They're used to build identity within or around those organizations. That identity, the bigger concept of the identity around an organization is also known as the brand. The logo is the tip of an iceberg in that brand.

A logo should be original. It should be memorable and it should have impact. It should be striking. There are millions of logos out there. You need your logo if you have one or want one, to stand out from your competitors. It needs to be solidly designed. It needs to cover all the bases.

A logo is what most people, and I'm talking the public, will use to identify a brand. They will see a logo and it will instantly trigger a thought or a feeling about that brand. It's basically the larger brands that market a lot. There was a study done with toddlers, two, three, four-year-olds​ who could identify and name well-known brands from their logos before they could even read or write. That's the power of a logo, of a symbol used well.

You will see logos on multiple things from business cards, letterheads, vehicles, advertisements, websites, social media platforms and there's plenty of those. You see logos everywhere. For that reason, logos also need to be adaptable. They need to be able to be reproduced at 16 pixels in the address bar in a web browser. They also need to be recognizable 100 foot high or 100 foot wide on the side of a billboard.

As you can see, logos are important and logos are essentially symbols that convey a message of a larger brand. If you've got any questions, please pop them in the comments below, and I will make sure that I answer any that I get. I really look forward to speaking to you in future videos. We will discuss logos and branding in more depth as well as other design related issues. Thanks for watching.