Logos and corporate identity design are integral to a company’s branding. What does that mean exactly? Think of branding as shaping how a company will be perceived. It differentiates products and services in a positive way and may ultimately be a business’ most valuable asset. So why are logos so important? Well, think about it. As an individual, you want people to remember your face. Taking that line of reasoning one step further, what qualities would you want people to associate your face with? Kindness? Fairness? Trustworthiness?
Choosing the right logo can convey these qualities while cultivating a positive association in the mind of your consumer. Some logos hint at what the company does or sells. Others are teasers that pique a viewer’s interest. What’s certain is that a logo that’s well designed effectively represents your business, is timeless and looks good showing off on its own. Listed are points to consider when designing your next logo.
A simpler design is conducive for flexibility.
Envision every possible place your logo may appear and then think about how it will look in each format. Will it be on billboards? Online ads? Car wraps? Stationary? Each of these has technical requirements different than the next, but a strong logo will translate well across different mediums while maintaining its integrity. More importantly, it will need to effectively convey a message in a variety of contexts, possibly without copy, and reproduce well in black and white. For now, omit the tagline and company name in your master. You can integrate it as often as you’d like in collateral after.
Your logo is your brand so make it distinctive.
Nobody likes a copycat. It’s one thing to look at what your competitors are doing. It’s another to emulate or steal those ideas. When it comes to the actual execution, use this knowledge to make your design stand apart instead of mimicking what you see. You also don’t want your customers to confuse your logo with that of another company. Additionally, another error to avoid is using stock images in your logo. You run the risk of copyright infringement.
You want people to remember your logo.
You want your logo to be memorable, and the best way to achieve this is to avoid having to change it every couple of years. Avoid the temptation to latch on to the latest trend. Trends are fickle, and your logo can become very dated very quickly. Your logo is your business calling card. A bad one will cause people to ignore you, but a good one will not only get them to notice you. It will command attention. Treat your logo like you treat your own appearance and make it look good.
As a warning, a common error that often occurs is when a company underestimates the importance of defining its identity in its infancy. Some time down the line, that company may eventually outgrow and/or realize that the logo does little or nothing to enhance its image. From there, the company can either continue on with the subpar design or abandon it altogether, losing some or all of the recognition it had previously built. As a rule of thumb to live by: think twice, design once. Steve Jobs once called Paul Rand, “the greatest living graphic designer.” In his book, Design, Form, and Chaos, Rand says:
A logo is a flag, a signature, an escutcheon, a street sign.
A logo does not sell (directly), it identifies.
A logo is rarely a description of a business.
A logo derives meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes,
not the other way around. A logo is less important than the product it signifies;
what it represents is more important than what it looks like.
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