By Chloe Rehfield
There is no better way to personalize a Bar or Bat Mitzvah celebration than with a great logo. It’s the perfect way to brand your party and make it unique. These customized – often clever — logos, which can showcase your child’s name, initials, or even their passions and favorite colors, can be printed on anything and everything, from invitations to napkins, sign-in boards to decals on the dance floor. And when you put them on the giveaways, guests get to take it home as a memento of the celebration.
Even if you don’t have initials that spell out something cute — think OMG or LOL — the experts can create a logo that’s yours alone.
Mitzvah Market consulted party planning and design professionals about ways to make your logo stand out:
Colors Are Everywhere
In the past couple of years, designers have seen some new requests. “We are seeing a trend towards watercolors, monograms, and solid colors for logos, vs themes,” says Stephanie Feldman from Cutie Patootie Creations. A Knicks fan, for instance, might choose to have his name backdropped against blues and oranges, instead of transposed over a basketball. These colors will tie together the entire party aesthetic and be incorporated into the tablecloths, napkins, and centerpieces, thus letting the party more subtly revolve around the colors, rather than the sport itself.
Stephanie Steinberg from Party Logo Design says she’s noticed the color trend becoming popular particularly with girls. Many are switching from themes like Alice in Wonderland or Dubble Bubble to “more sophisticated and simple color schemes.”
“I recently did a logo for a girl named Lyndsey who started out wanting a dance theme but ended up deciding that she wanted pink and silver with just her name and the date,” says Steinberg, who even made an animated logo to be used in the montage.
“Thirteen is a unique age, as they are walking a tightrope between childhood and adolescence,” Steinberg says. “As their 13th birthday approaches, they decide that they want to embrace a more sophisticated persona.”
Glitter and iridescent colors are top trends, and rose gold is a new fav, according to Ali Weitzman of MitzvahLogos.com. She also says that watercolor designs are hot with teens this Bar/Bat Mitzvah season. “They offer a more sophisticated take on color and allow for an amazing way to brand the party. Watercolor or even iridescent patterns look great both inside the text of the logos or reversed and used as background images.”
Initials and Puns
“Many kids are looking to use their initials in their logos instead of their full name to create cooler swag,” says Weitzman. “We love when kids hop on the design trend and want to create a design using their initials similar to Tiger Woods and Lebron’s logos.”
It’s also “super hot,” she says, to have the design be the main focus. “Think lips or lightning bolts with small initials on the bottom vs. the initials being the main focus of attention.
One of the most popular ways to create a personalized logo is to bounce off and incorporate your child’s name to come up with a witty tagline. Event planner Melisa Imberman, from The Event Of A Lifetime, has done several: Ryan used RYdicidulous Night as the theme and logo for her party and Lauren used the catchphrase SpectacuLAUR Day.
Using initials as groundwork for a great logo takes some creativity. FabuDesigns.com came up with Alex ’s Party to the AM (her initials are AM), Carly’s the siCKest night, and Shayna’s juSt paRty.
Branding
A great logo is the only pièce de résistance you need. “The logo is going to become the centerpiece of your décor,” says Imberman. “When you brand the whole room, you’re making a cohesive statement between décor and giveaways and having your image on everything.”
Imberman worked with one client who went above and beyond in terms of branding his party. He wanted to incorporate sports, but instead of basketball star cutouts lining the room, he went for concession stand-style food with his logo branded on mini pizza boxes, taco holders, hamburger and hot dog trays, cups, popcorn containers, even the napkin dispensers. Who needs the Knicks when you can be your own incredible team?
Multiple Logos
According to Steinberg, a coordinated set of multiple logos takes branding to a whole new level, adding dimension to the party aesthetic.
“I think having multiple logos really makes the party décor more interesting while still giving it the look of being coordinated,” says Steinberg. “Also, it looks great as a step and repeat backdrop for photos.”
A monogrammed logo with a child’s three initials, for instance, could be the party’s main emblem, and then stamped throughout the room would also be a monogrammed logo with only one or two coordinated initials.
The guest of honor can choose a variation of name puns and work those throughout the party as well. One family Imberman worked with had a daughter named Bailey Goodman. The main logo was B Good Man, and from there, offshoot taglines: B Nice, B Creative, B Friendly. Artistically working logos like these can be a special way to convey a message.
In order to seamlessly tie together these logos, static clings come in handy; they’re large, removable decals that feature your child’s logo and can go on glass doors, bathroom mirrors, or even the entire dance floor. Clings are essential if you’re branding the party with multiple logos and you need a big tie-in. These huge stickers are easy to put on and peel off, and they definitely make a memorable statement.
If you’re still having trouble coming up with a creative logo for your child, work with your designer to help get your creative juices flowing. Imberman, for example, sends pictures of past logos to clients who are stuck and asks them to dissect what they like and dislike about them. The company then designs a few logos based on these preferences, and the client chooses their favorite one, tweaking it until it’s spot on.
Sites like mitzvahlogos.com and cutiepatootiecreations.com have a large selection of premade templates you can choose from and then customize with your own colors, name, and date to help you achieve your perfect vision.
Get your FREE copy here.
