Logo Design Tips and Techniques

Have you ever tried to design a logo? Logo Design is generally more difficult than one thinks. You soon realize there is more to creating a brand’s visual identity than just placing a name in a shape and calling it a logo. Graphic designers are highly sought out for Logo Design. Logos are a company’s first impression. They can impact a customers perception, purchase decisions, and attitude toward a product.

When we think about it, we live in a brand society. We recognize many logos and what the company sells just by their brand mark or logo. If you are about to embark on the journey of a logo design, or feel it is time for your company’s visual identity to undergo a new look, here are several tips on creating a great logo.

Logo Design Tips:

1. Be Unique
A logo is what helps separate your company from other competitors. It is very important that your image stands out from the rest.

2. Understanding the Brand
Even though a logo is an image it must reach a specific audience, so you must keep this in mind when designing a logo. To start, you might jot down ideas what you think about the brand. When involved in logo design, keep in mind if the brand is utility-driven or more focused on evoking an emotion.  It is helpful to stay on top of current design trends. It is more vital to stay true to a brand’s overarching personality. Here’s a brand personality evaluation that may assist you along the way. Most importantly, know what your logo means. Every logo has some kind of history, filled with meaning and purpose. For example, Apple – the fruit is missing a “byte.”

3. Color is Key
You need to think about every aspect of the image when creating your brand’s personality. Big bright and bold colors may grab someone’s attention, but could also seem brash. Muted colors create sophistication, but could be overlooked. Every color has a different implication and can bring nuance to your message. Don’t fall into the trap of conveying the wrong message due to misuse of a brush stroke.  Here is an article “The Science Behind Colors” discussing The Psychology of Color in Logo Design. Here is a quick break-down:

• RED: energetic, sexy, bold
• ORANGE: creative, friendly, youthful
• YELLOW: sunny, inventive, optimisn
• GREEN: growth, organic, instructional
• BLUE: professional, medical, tranquil, trustworthy
• PURPLE: spiritual, wise, evocative
• BLACK: credible and powerful
• WHITE: simple, clean, pure
• PINK: fun and flirty
• BROWN: rural, historical, steady

4. What is in a Name?
Technically a logo consists of two elements – A wordmark and/or a symbol. Some companies choose to use type entirely as their brand like Coca-Cola and Ray•Ban. Depending of the name of your company, depends on if you can use type only as your logo. It seems logical if your company has a unique name, then you could get away with a logotype. If you have a generic name, then you probably need an image to identify your company.

Now let’s discuss fonts. Fonts can be very powerful and we encourage you to avoid gimmicky fonts. Utilize negative space and experiment with tweaking an existing font. Websites like Font Squirrel or Da Font are extremely helpful. When all else fails: use your friend Helvetica. It is a simple font that has been used by many popular brands such as Target and JC Penney.

5. Easy and Flexible
It is important to have balance between simplicity and quirky. You want your logo to be interesting and amazing. You don’t want your logo design to be confusing so that someone has to guess what the logo is. A great example is FedEx’s logo as it is a simple logotype with a twist. The image uses negative space to create an arrow that connotes speed and direction.  Also, it changes the color of the “Ex” to classify the type of shipping.

In today’s digital age, logos will appear on multiple devices and on social media, so it best to design something that transcends paper. It must look great on different backgrounds, work for apps, icons and print. IA logo design must be flexible in size.

There you have it! Logo design for all concerned with things to contemplate and consider.