Logo Design Is About Substance
Having a professional logo design for your business is essential for building brand recognition. The general consumer needs to be able to instantly recognize your logo and connect it with your business. That’s why it’s so important to create an easily recognizable and simplistic logo. There are things that you can do to ensure that your logo gets the best results.
Make It Simple
Your logo should be as simple and easy to understand as possible. It should not be overly intricate or complicated. The point of a logo is for people to understand who you are and what you do. Over time, anything with your logo on it will be tied to your business.
Make It A Long-Lasting
Stay away from current trends. The best logos are the ones that can stand the test of time. Flashy trends will only require your logo to be updated within the next couple of years. The ABC logo by Paul Rand remained unchanged for decades because it worked so well, and it didn’t rely on trends.
Make It Flexible
It’s important that your logo is created in such a way that gives you flexibility. You should be able to place your logo on any color or any background and have it work with as few alterations as possible. Your logo should work in black and white and any other color of the rainbow. It should also be easy to read on a dark background or over a photo.
Make It Easy To Remember And Understand
The best logos are ones that are easy to remember. That’s why simplicity is key. When I mentioned the Golden Arches, you immediately think of McDonald’s. When you see the bell logo, you immediately know that it is Taco Bell. Stay away from intricate graphics or images in your logo. Use simple shapes that are easy to the brain to process. This makes it take less time your brain to retain the information.
Stand Out From The Competition
It’s important that you take a look at your competition and what they are doing. The point of your logo is not to blend in with your competitors, but to stand out from them. When you are in a store like Walmart, and you look at products on the shelf, your eye is drawn to the ones that stand out from the others. While a lot of this has to do with packaging, the same can be applied to a logo design.
Think about different banks. Some banks use more traditional logos, but some banks are adopting more modern designs in order to stand out from the competition. If all banks look the same, how do people know the difference?
Make It Easy To Read
Legibility is one of the most important things that you can consider for your logo. Don’t use fonts or typefaces that are difficult to read. Stay away from complicated script fonts, or typefaces with jumbled letters. It is best to stick with serif or sans serif fonts with balanced letters that are easy to read. You want people to be able to read the name of your business and your slogan from far away, or at small sizes.
Don’t Use More Than Two Fonts
Using one font for your logo is good. Using two fonts for your logo can give it personality in contrast that helps it to get attention. A lot of businesses will use a bold, thick typeface combined with a thinner, more delicate typeface. This contrast will give your logo a distinct look. However, it’s important to understand not to use more than two fonts in your logo. Earlier I mentioned that making it easy to process is one of the most important parts of a professional logo design. Adding too many typefaces can make it look cheesy, while making it more difficult to process. Stick to two fonts at most.
Make Sure There’s Plenty Of Contrast
If you use more than one color in your logo design, make sure that they contrast well with each other. That contrast will keep shapes and letters from blending together, which can cause legibility issues. This is especially important when placing your logo over a background color or an image. You don’t want your logo fading into the background so that people don’t even know it’s there.
Create Variations
Many designers will create a logo in one format expecting it to work everywhere. While this would be nice, and is ideal, it’s not always the case. Sometimes a logo is wider than it is tall, or taller than it is wide. However, you can create variations of the logo to fit different applications or formats. The only thing that you should really change here is the size of your type and graphics in the actual format. Don’t change any colors or make any other drastic changes.
Create A Style Guide
A style guide is a document that lays out how your logo should be rendered and used in different applications. A style guide will tell others how much space should be placed around your logo, around the text, and where it should be placed. It tells others how your logo should not be used and keeps it from becoming distorted over time. Cutting down on the misuse and misrepresentation of your logo will ensure that your logo is consistent everywhere it is used.
Click here to download a free Style Guide Template (Ai format)
Keep It Consistent
Consistency is key for recognition. If your logo changes every time someone sees it, how are they supposed to relate that logo to your business? That is nearly impossible. Keep your logo consistent across all of your marketing materials, from your folders, letterheads and flyers, to hats, shirts, and vehicle graphics. Your logo should look the same everywhere. This consistency will help to build recognition for your business. When they see your logo will instantly tie it to you, if your business, and your services.
Conclusion
If you follow these simple tips, your logos will be much stronger and more successful. What is your main focus when creating a logo? Leave your response in the comments section below. If you need a professional logo designed for your business, click here to get in touch.
