Logos are often the first impression individuals have of your business – they need to impress, say something and also look good – here are some great tips to design an awesome logo.
1. Keep it Simple
It is advisable that you keep your logo as simple as possible. If there is too much for the audience to focus on with your logo, then it will likely be hard for both existing and potential customers to get acquainted and recognize it. Too much flamboyance in a design can be quite distracting and could take away from the logo’s core objective considering that it is your brand’s representation.
Whether you are redesigning your old logo or designing a new one for a new company, it’s important to remember that logos are intended to symbolize the brand, so it is crucial to make sure that your logo is appealing and that you use a clean design. Just make sure that all logos should appear as they should, that is with a duotone – black on a white background.
Let’s consider Windows. While the brand itself has undergone several logo redesigns since its inception, their current logo design is a modernized version of all the logos that came before it. The new logo is arguably their cleanest and simplest design yet.
As a brand founded during the early days of the digital age, their current logo sure still does embody their spirit and vision. Its digitalized look and its simplicity and feel are a perfect representation of the brand today. If you look at how their logos have evolved over time, you will certainly notice some of the original branding elements in the current logo.
Apart from a design that’s easy on the eyes and quick brand recognition, keeping a logo design simple is also important when it comes to its use on different materials, and this is where the next point comes into the picture.
2. Consider Where Your Logo Will Be Used
When you are in the process of redesigning an existing logo or designing a new one, always think about where it will be used and how it’ll appear. From onsite elements to poster boards to onsite elements, it is vital that you consider how the logo will appear both offline and online.
Uber, the peer-to-peer ridesharing, food delivery, transportation network, and taxi cab company, recently redesigned their logo so that it accurately depicts the “story” of its brand. Considering that most of the company’s customer’s use the Uber app from their phones, it is highly likely that the company put a lot of focus on how the logo would appear on both a small screen and as an app icon.
Failing to contemplate the use of your logo in the future could result in many difficulties later in time. If your logo were to be placed on small business cards, large billboards, or on the side of delivery trucks, it is vital that you consider how the design would appear on all of these pieces of collateral and platforms. Something may look awesome on a business card but might not render very well when put on a large billboard, so take the time to think about how the logo will appear on various platforms before settling for a final design.
3. Update Your Design From Time To Time
Sadly, even the best logos do not last forever. To ensure that your logo stays up-to-date, it is vital to consider making small tweaks to it to make it look more current. However, if your logo was successful in past, and still is, it is advisable that you do not make any significant changes to the already existing design. At times, making your logo look more contemporary might only require using a cleaner icon or changing the typeface.
If you are looking for a new logo for your business or brand or are rebranding your business, then do your best to find the perfect balance. If you are working with the right brand marketers and designers, you could find the perfect blend of both your existing logo and a modernized design version that evokes a fresh new feel and look.
The Marriott Hotels recently shifted their renowned logo design to something more in line with the times. Their logo redesign is a good example of how to find the perfect balance between the old and new look. They maintained their iconic “M” font style but changed the rest of the text to black, a shift from the traditional red. Their new design did not make any drastic changes to the previous logo but still gave it a modern touch.
4. Consider A ‘Timeless’ Design
As mentioned above, there comes a time when a logo design feels long overdue and will need an update. As such, when changing your logo, you do not want it to be as a need for change because it looks completely outdated. A general guideline to adhere to when redesigning a logo is to always avoid things that are trendy as they will not last forever. Sadly, so many brands go for trendy designs and they end up regretting their decision over time. This is one mistake that can be quite costly. If you choose a design that is “in season” and not something with some longevity, then rest assured that it will only be current for a period and might not fit your brand values. There’s also a good chance that a lot of other brands out there spot the same design.
But let’s say you are not redesigning but starting a new company in need of its very first logo. In such an instance, it is advisable that you go for a clean, timeless design. This is not to say that your logo lacks a modern feel and look; just avoid using design elements that are simply trending as they will get out of style sooner rather than later.
At Banner Sign Graphics, our company logos is not only simple but is also quite effective at conveying our message. The logo’s color-scheme fits our branding strategy while our tag-line “your partner for digital growth” allows potential customers understand our business values. While the logo looks modern, it is not based on any trends that are popular one day and invalid the next – it is a classic design.
5. The Right Process
Lastly, when you start designing a logo, it is vital that you follow the necessary steps to make sure that you craft a design with the potential to drive your company’s brand recognition effectively.
At Banner Sign Graphics, our logo designing process starts with a kick-off meeting through which we get to understand the objectives and purpose of your branding or rebranding project. We then do a logo exploratory – this is where we pull together different brand logos of some of the most successful brands across different industries and have our clients choose the most appealing. The main aim of this phase is to see the client’s reactions and to know which designs capture their interest and attention most.
From there, we start researching and coming up with different logo designs based on the findings we got. We create several “word clouds” which allow us to understand what each logo embodies, and do some research to know how each of the keywords and phrases looks like to the average user.