Logo Design Tips
Logos create a company’s first impression, and in an era where brands are rising in importance every single day, the demand for a good logo design is very high. You may think that designing a logo is simple, but until you actually get around to doing it, you won’t know the brain-racking and creative struggle that goes into it. So what does it take to create the perfect logo? Here are a few helpful tips to keep in mind:
Uniqueness
It’s important to create something that is different from everything else out there, so that it may stand out. Amidst a sea of brand logos, why would yours be noticed? It’s important to be creative and witty, and play around with the logo to design something memorable and innovative. Sometimes, you may be subconsciously copying another logo, and to be sure this doesn’t happen, you can run it through a good plagiarism detector, like Logo Thief. It’s going to be very hard to create something that hasn’t already been done, and it’s rarely going to happen that your design is entirely unique in every aspect, but that should still be your goal when visualizing your design.
Wordmark
Before a brand can be recognized by its logo alone, it has to be in existence for a long time. You must start out by incorporating the wordmark or name of the brand into the logo first. Consider Pepsi’s logo: a circle with red and blue separated by a while arc has become one of the world’s largest brands, but it didn’t always look like that. In fact, it started out as just a wordmark, reading out Pepsi-Cola. The symbol was incorporated into the logo much later. Some huge brands, like Coca-Cola, or Ray-Ban never let go of the wordmark, and today, they have become giants in the world of brand logos.
Flexibility
A logo will probably change over time, so don’t take it personally when the logo you designed is being replaced by something else a few years down the line. What you can do, however, is make sure the design doesn’t change too much by keeping it simple and flexible. Take Apple’s logo, for instance, before the simplistic monochrome bitten apple became popular, Apple’s logo was multicolored, with bold stripes running through the apple. The bitten apple silhouette still remained, however. Adidas is constantly switching up its design, but it always keeps the three bars no matter what else gets changed. Create a logo that can be switched up if required, but will still maintain elements of your original design.
Longevity
There are instances, though where logos can have extended longevity, such as Paul Rand’s ABC logo, which lasted for 30 years. Many of his logo designs lasted for 20 years. The reason was mainly because he took a simplistic, timeless approach to his logo designs. To maximize longevity for your logos, you should take this approach, too.
Inspiration
Gather inspiration from other great logos. There are thousands, even millions of logo designs out there. Look at how others have solved similar problems. This does two things. It shows you what’s already been done. It also inspires you and can help to spark a unique idea by association. Sites like Logo of the Day are a good choice.
Sketch, Sketch & Sketch Some More
You should be sketching out your concepts before you take things to the computer. Your concepts must be developed before you can execute. Sketching helps you to work through ideas, which is important for breaking through to the creative problem solving side of your brain.
Conclusion: Logo Design Tips
The important thing to remember is that logos will not be met with instant popularity and success; it takes time for a brand name to grow and reach global recognition. Sometimes, if you’re designing a new logo for a company that’s already popular, you may receive negative reviews because people don’t always respond well to change. It’s important to believe in your design, and keep your clients happy, we’ll worry about the haters afterwards.
