As graphic designer, one of the most important things I have to understand is what works and what doesn’t in logo design.
Logos are everywhere… without moving from my desk I can see Apple, Facebook, Royal Mail and Sharpie. Wherever you are, you are probably surrounded!!
So every business has one, but what makes a good one? …
5 Things a good logo should be
Simple
One of the biggest mistakes people make is trying to fit their whole story into a logo, it ends up over complicated and messy. Your logo should be simple, a reflection of your company in its simplest form. Your brand should tell the story, not your logo (more on this later). Think about famous brands like Apple, McDonalds and Nike, none of their logos actually tell you what they sell…
Relevant
Your logo must be relevant and appropriate to the audience you are trying to reach. Colours and fonts used in the design will all depend on who the target audience is.
Adaptable
This one is key. You should be able to use your logo anywhere, wether its the size of a postage stamp or on a huge billboard, it’s got to work! For this to be the case, your going to need a logo in raster format (JPEG or PNG) and vector format (AI or EPS), your designer should be able to supply both! If your logo is not designed in a vector programme such as Adobe Illustrator, you’re going to hit problems when you want a 6ft banner printed (blog post on this in more detail soon!)
Memorable
If your logo isn’t memorable, what’s the point? Through its form or type there needs to be something about it that makes it stick… it will also help build your brand recognition… do you think there’s anyone out there who wouldn’t recognise the Coca-Cola logo?
Timeless
It can be very tempting to follow current trends. That’s fine if your in the fashion industry, but you don’t want to be rebranding every year. They will need changed before you have built up that brand identity and all important customer base. The Coca-Cola logo was created around 1885…it’s barely changed!
Your logo and your brand
It’s not always easy to create the prefect logo, you’re going to need a designer that is willing to get to know you and understand what your company intends to do. Your logo is an important step towards creating your branding but is not on its own ‘brand’…
Your brand is a collection of values, how your audience views your business, how they connect with the business, what your employees value about the business and what you want the business to stand for. Your logo and colour palette will help portray this brand, a designers role is to advise and help you create an identity that reflects this. Consistent use of colours, fonts and design elements will help to build up the identity, reflecting your brand its values.
Where to start
Really think about your target audience and their interests, what other brands would they be likely to use or follow already and why?
Don’t overthink the ‘look’ of your logo
Write a list of keywords or phrases that would sum up your brand
How would you describe your business to someone who knows nothing about it?
Lastly, a brilliant way to start thinking about your logo and your brand is to think about how you would describe your business to someone who has absolutely no idea what you do. It’s so easy to get so fixated on the intricate details of your company when you’re an expert in your field, you can simply overlook the basics.
If you had only 15 seconds to describe your business what would you say? I ask clients to do this a lot and most of the time 15 seconds just isn’t long enough… but be persistent, keep cutting it down until you get to that 15 seconds and your description is clear, concise and effective. Bingo! Thats where you need to start with your logo design…