Logo Design Tips

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Logo Design Tips

Courtesy of:

What is Branding? | Creating Concept for Logo | Design a Good Logo | Key Characteristics of a Good and Effective Logo

What is branding?

What is branding and how can it be done?

Launching any new business requires the creation of brand name recognition or "branding". This also holds true for creating an internet presence for an internet business or any web site.

In order to create brand name recognition or branding for your business, you must create awareness, a word-of-mouth campaign, which gets everyone talking about your site. This can be done by

* Creating slogans – The slogans must be short, sweet and to the point. For e.g.,"Good to the last drop". " Crystal clean and no caffeine." "The best a man can get." are some successful promotion slogans.
* Successful promotion of the slogan- A successful branding campaign will put your slogan so embedded into people´s minds that they can´t hear it without being reminded of you.

Tips to create concept for logo

Guidelines to create a concept for your logo

Once you have selected the name for the logo the next important part is to get the concept for the logo. The process is similar to selecting the name for the logo and is done as follows

* Determine the content and nature of your logo

1. what your logo should say about your company.
2. how to represent your company- There are many ways to do this
* You may come up with an image related to a business like a house for a real estate or a car for a car dealer
* It could be just an abstract image representing company’s philosophy – Not all business can be easily associated with any kind of particular image. For example a programming company doesn't have many images to be associated with (except a computer), so in this situation it would be recommended just to concentrate on an abstract image and just to represent the feel of the companies' business rather then just coming up with a particular image.
* For companies dealing with more than one business, they would prefer to have a more generic image.

* Make your logo simple and meaningful-People can easily memorize a simple object with some kind of meaning.

* Advertise your logo -Most people who order a logo want it to look like that of some other well branded companies like McDonalds or AOL. These great logos are very recognizable only because they are well advertised.

* Give a good feel to your logo – What kind of feeling does the logo transmit while standing alone as well as in a crowd? Make sure to
1. Avoid too many sharp edges as they can create a feeling of danger or caution
2. Use a color which makes the logo look noticeable but not too intimidating.
* Let your logo to a particular place, industry, or even a person, depending upon the purpose of the company and the marketplace.

* Use an art style that is unique, easily reproducible, and is suitable for your business its market.

Tips to design a good logo

How do you create a logo that makes business sense? Here are some simple guidelines you can follow to create a good logo for your business

* Remember that your logo is a business tool.
* Create your logo using vector graphics software.
* Avoid complicated and intricate designs.
* Limit color selection to a maximum of three colors.
* Employ consistency and control in font usage.
* Check Trademark and Registration Rights of your logo.

Key characteristics of an Effective Logo

A professionally designed logo can really give your business a jumpstart and help your business get the attention and clients required to succeed. The right logo, with the right characteristics, will effectively boost your company’s visibility, credibility and memorablity – which in short means more business for you!

The key characteristics of a good logo include

1. Consistency in use of your logo, tagline, materials. Repetition of similar elements, used in the same or similar ways, helps people to remember who you are and what you do.
2. Memorability- This ensures that your logo stays at the forefront in the mind of your potential clients and that they will think of you the next time they have a need.
3. Meaningfulness – This ensures that your logo will spread the message about the distinguishing characteristics of your business.
4. Uniqueness – This helps you to distinguish your company or industry from its competitors. For example, if everyone in your industry uses a particular symbol, like the case of travel agencies who often use globes in their logos, try to use something else – this will make your logo look different and uncommon.
5. Professionalism – This can be portrayed in the choice of quality of the graphics, the printing and the paper on which your materials are printed.
6. Timelessness -This will ensure that you do not require to redesign your logo in just a few years and that your investment and equity used in your logo design will be lasting.
7. Differentiation between the colors in your logo – This is just not in terms of hue, but in terms of value as well, so that it translates well either to black and white or greyscale, enabling even colorblind people to see it.
8. Unity among the different elements in the logo. The logo must fit together as a single unit, and not just appear as a jumble of elements pasted together.
9. Scalability- This ensures that your logo looks equally good in every size, be it on a business card, on a sign for your business (or a billboard!), or at any size in between. To make your business' name legible at different logo sizes, make sure that your designer chooses a font that is easily readable.

Top