Feng Shui Business Logo Design Tips

The ancient art of feng shui has numerous applications in the modern world—from business feng shui to the feng shui of a garden—all focused on creating better quality energy. In business, feng shui is applied for a good flow in the office to strengthen the well-being of the employees and attract more business success. While these are the most popular feng shui applications, there is another area where feng shui can help create the best results—in the design of the business logo, business cards, signage, and other business marketing materials. Feng shui can even be applied to the design of a website, as it is all about the expression of the energy of a business, its identity, and goals, just in different media.

Before we look into the Feng Shui business logo design guidelines, be sure to find out the main feng shui element of your business, as this is a helpful starting point in the design of your business logo. There are four main feng shui guidelines for Feng Shui business logo design and other marketing visuals. These guidelines are based on essential feng shui principles such as the five element theory, the yin-yang theory, and the harmonious combination of various elements to best express specific energies.

Color

The first one is the choice of color, as a human’s reaction to color is stronger than the reaction to shapes and words. Feng shui-wise, each color represents a specific feng shui element, and it is chosen with care.

Color is followed by choice of specific shapes, as shapes are also expressions of the five feng shui elements. Even though a combination of colors and shapes, images and symbols are the next categories, followed by signage directions and auspicious measurements.

Let’s examine these four main categories in more detail to see how feng shui can help you create the most auspicious Feng Shui business logo design and other marketing materials.

Either you are familiar with feng shui or not, you know that color is light, and color deeply affects human behavior. This knowledge is successfully used in various businesses as the human response to color is more or less predictable (minus culturally specific responses).

For example, red is always a stimulating, active color that calls to action, while green and blue are calming colors with soothing feng shui energy. It is common sense that one would avoid using the color red in the logo design of spa business, for example, as this color will bring an active, yang quality feng shui energy that goes against the calming yin essence of a spa.

Feng shui adds a deeper dimension to color use, as each color belongs to a specific feng shui element. In successful feng shui design, color is always chosen according to its expression of one of the five feng shui elements.

As each business also belongs to a specific feng shui element, it is highly advisable to choose harmonious colors for feng shui business logo design. The best colors are the colors that strengthen the feng shui element of the business because they express either the same or complementary to the business feng shui element.

For example, a gardening business obviously belongs to the Wood element, so the best colors for its logo design are either of the same element (Wood colors: brown and green) or of the elements that nourish Wood—Earth (earthy colors) and Water (blue and black colors).

Red or purple colors (as main logo colors) will be a bad feng shui choice for a gardening business because these colors are the expression of the Fire feng shui element that is destructive to the gardening business element.

You might find helpful these feng shui tips for business logo color design:

Read: Are My Business Logo Colors Good Feng Shui?

Shapes

Next, let’s look into the feng shui choice of shapes for business logo design.

When you know the main element of your business, you have a good starting point about the choice of logo shapes that will best express your business’s energy.

In feng shui, each shape is an expression of a feng shui element. The relationship of shapes (and colors) with specific elements are easy to understand if you associate them with their presence in nature.

For example, the Wood feng shui element is best expressed by rectangular shapes because this is the shape that most resembles the upward growing energy of a tree, a plant, a flower, etc. The Fire feng shui element is represented best by triangular shapes, stars, etc., because it is the most precise visual expression of the flaming feng shui energy of the fire.

To help you with the best feng shui choices for your business logo design, here is how the feng shui elements are expressed in shapes:

• Earth: Square
• Metal: Round
• Water: Wavy
• Wood: Rectangular
• Fire: Triangular

To illustrate how these feng shui shape guidelines apply to a specific business, let’s look at the example of a daycare. The feng shui element that best expresses the essence of a daycare business is the Wood element.

The Water and Earth feng shui elements nourish Wood’s element, and the Fire and Metal elements damage it. So, in choosing the best shapes for designing a daycare business logo, you will consider rectangular, square, or wave-like shapes. You will be wise to avoid the feng shui shapes and colors of Fire and Metal elements.

Of course, many business logos have a combination of shapes; you always have to use your creativity and your sense of balance and proportion to see which feng shui logo shapes the best express the nature of your business.

Images and Symbols

Next, let’s look into the guidelines for images and symbols in the business logo design.

The feng shui use of images and symbols in the design of a business logo and other business marketing materials can be a lengthy and complex subject.

Even though the word logo originally means word, many business logos are a combination of symbols or images with words, most commonly the business name’s expression. The basic feng shui level in the business logo design is using a symbol or an image to illustrate what your business does.

So, a happy pet’s image for a pet daycare business logo or a bunch of flowers for a floral shop logo makes perfect sense and is all easy and good feng shui. It creates good energy, and it expresses clearly what the business does. No guesswork is needed.

However, even in this category, some very bad feng shui choices can be made. Many of you might remember the logo of a large paint manufacturing company. It shows a can of paint pouring over the globe. Very, very bad feng shui.

Other business logos work mostly by association with the feng shui energy the symbol carries. The apple in the Apple Inc. company is a perfect example; a memorable symbol with great energy. It’s the “an apple a day” energy that the Mac computers have certainly become nowadays! The Nike swoosh symbol is another example of excellent feng shui, very energizing, uplifting, crisp, and clear feng shui energy.

Basically, when you want to use a symbol or an image in your business logo design, you can go either by illustration or by association. Still, you have to be very careful with either choice. Be sure to always connect to the feng shui energy of the image or the symbol. Ask other people how they feel about it. Feng shui is all about good energy, and good energy always feels good. Be mindful of the “feel-good” factor when you incorporate images or symbols in your business logo design.

The main feng shui guideline for using images and symbols in the business logo design is to always go for the highest feng shui energy. Be sure to test and check all the possible emotional reactions and associations that your business logo colors, shapes, and images will create in your target audience.

Be sure to check the feng shui element of your business and choose images and symbols that will work harmoniously with your business element. The good feng shui choices can get more complicated when lesser-known symbols have to be used. In this case, the feng shui shape rules will apply to help you balance and emphasize the needed feng shui elements for a business logo.

Directions and Measurements

Finally, we are looking into the best feng shui directions and auspicious measurements of business signage.

If you want to apply feng shui in a project that includes the business signage design, many additional elements come into play while considering its good feng shui.

At this stage, you most probably have already chosen your logo. So, the colors, shapes, or symbols and your business name express in a congruent way in your business signage.

There will be many choices to be made, from the size and shape of your signage to the feng shui direction it will be facing and the most durable but also attractive materials.

Many feng shui consultants use special measuring tapes that indicate auspicious measurements for any project, designing a coffee table or business signage. Suppose you do not have access to this info. No need to worry. Just be sure that your business signage has abundant energy that works harmoniously with your business’s outside presence. The other important feng shui criteria are the business signage’s direction according to its harmonious feng shui elements. From studying the feng shui Bagua, you know that each direction has a specific feng shui element that needs to be nourished and protected.

So, for example, you would do best not to place a fiery red (fire feng shui element) business logo/signage on the east side of your business space, as this will tend to create a damaging effect or bring the energy of conflict.

Just a quick note to conclude our feng shui business logo design and other marketing materials exploration. While you are ordering marketing merchandise, such as pens, t-shirts, and what-not, please avoid the option of a doormat with your business name. I am not kidding here, as I have seen this so often, especially in small businesses.

Please do not have your name on the floor so that everybody can wipe their feet on it while coming in. It is the worst feng shui move one can do for his or her business. Always have the business name and signage up in a very respectful, high place, not on the floor for people to walk all over it.

We hope this five-part article on the basics of feng shui for business logo design gave you some food for thought. And here are the good feng shui directions for business signage as expressed by the predominant feng shui element of the business logo/signage.

Directions for Business Signage in Harmony With Feng Shui Elements

THE FENG SHUI ELEMENT of BUSINESS LOGO	GOOD DIRECTIONS
FIRE	South, Southwest, Center
EARTH	Southwest, Northwest, West, Northeast, Center, East, Southeast
METAL	Northwest, West, North
WATER	North, East, Southeast
WOOD	East, Southeast, South