Logos are the ubiquitous faces of companies spanning all across the globe. Some are complex and colorful, others simple and monochromatic and a unique few are unforgettable. Logos do not define your company, but they work in tandem with a quality product. They can help to build trust in a company and allow consumers to purchase products with confidence. Have a small business or thinking of starting one? A logo is a great place to begin. Designing your logo early will allow you to build your website using the fonts, colors and tone of your new creation. So follow these steps to get started on your logo design today.
Simplicity is King
There is no better advice for fledgling designers or entrepreneurs than to stay simple. Staying with a simple design will allow your logo to be web friendly. You may have to scale and crop your image to different sizes on the web, and having an overly complicated logo will make this very difficult. Also, having a simple logo means that you can reduce your logo to an icon (think Instagram or Twitter). An overly complex design will not scale down well to fit on business cards and uniforms either. Simplicity is king here.
The Utility of Versatility
In line with keeping your logo simple, you want it to also be as versatile as a Swiss Army Knife. This has to do with the scalability of your logo. Is it intriguing enough to pull people into your website, professional enough for your business card, or powerful enough to be plastered on to a billboard? Creating a versatile logo means having a simple design that is interesting enough to be relevant, but not so rigid that it cannot ever be updated or tweaked. You may want to build advertising campaigns using the elements of your logo design (think Target), or need your logo to appear on white and black backgrounds. Companies with complex logos with lots of text have trouble being versatile.
Less Color, More Satisfaction
Monochromatic and dichromatic designs tend to withstand the tests of time best. Yes, there are exceptions to this rule, Google for example, but most highly colorful designs tend to become simpler as time goes on. That is not to say use dull colors. Bright colors are a great way to stand out amongst the competition (as long as it is still in line with your company’s brand identity). For example, Shell Oil Company chose its signature red and yellow for just that reason when it first entered the crowded Californian petrol market.
No Gimmicks or Clichés This one seems self explanatory, but in reality we all fall victim to one of these at one time or another. Gimmicks can be used in business to grab people’s attention and to spark interest, but if you use this same approach towards designing your logo, you will find that it will neither be memorable nor timeless. Clichés are the bad ideas you had when first designing your logo, the first thing that popped into your head. Which is precisely why they should be avoided. Your company wants to appear innovative, don’t include a light bulb. If your business involves social media or discussions, avoid speech bubbles at all costs. If your venture involves solving problems and finding solutions, then it should not involve puzzle pieces. These are clichés that bad designers pass off on uniformed entrepreneurs. Logos speak for your product, and you want them to speak to your individuality and uniqueness.
… Or Trends and Fancy Fonts
Trends are best left for fashion and Facebook. A trendy logo will have a short lifespan and will not deliver the brand recognition down the road, unless that recognition you want is of an out of touch business. Trends come and go, well-designed logos last. Fancy fonts are to be avoided for a number of reasons. To start, a logo is about recognition and if it is hard to read your brand name, then it will be forgotten in a heartbeat.
Do Your Homework
It is up to you as an entrepreneur to check out the designer that you are hiring. Ask for prior designs they have done for other clients, check reviews, and be clear in what you want. A good designer should have a website with prior work available to view and positive testimonials from happy clients.
Pass The Test
If you have created a few designs yourself, or received some from a graphic artist, ask friends and family which they prefer. Ask them to describe what emotions the logo emits. You are deeply involved, both emotionally and intellectually so you may not be able to judge abstractly without bias. Friends and family can also double-check for design flaws like accidental explicit words that may have been unknowingly formed or incongruous shapes that could be misinterpreted. It is important to test different choices before committing. If your new logo passes the test of your friends and family, you could move on to A/B testing with the different designs and see which one performs best, keeping in mind the old mantra, “If it can’t be measured, it can’t be improved.”
Timeless Design
Ultimately, when designing and choosing your logo, don’t try to look to the future and predict how it will be received down the road, or even how it stacks up with current competitors now. Your goal is to create a logo that speaks to your values and individuality through a good design. If you can craft a good logo design, it will be timeless. As the world-renowned designer Paul Rand said, “Good design doesn’t date. Bad design does.” Follow the steps above and you will have an enduring logo to last the lifetime of your business.
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