Tips for creating a good logo
Create a good logo? What are the secrets?
Do you want to design a good logo? Sounds like a very easy task, doesn’t it? Draw a circle, type in the name of your company and you are done.
How do you as a serious professional manage to stand out from the crowd and produce professional quality logos at a low price?
1. The Visual Double Meaning
In our best logo design we use a technique that we would like to call “The Visual Double Sense”, which is a very relevant way of saying that there are two images in one. It is the intelligent interpretation of a concept or idea.
The Wine logo, below, is a perfect example of what is called “a two-way visual logo”.
This logo takes the form of a pin, which suggests “a location” or “a place”, but it also clearly looks like a small glass upside down. This logo uses this technique and also stands out intelligently, this logo is simply memorable.
2. Colors are of great importance
One of the most important considerations in designing a good logo is the color palette. It is not a superficial decision, color carries meanings and communicates ideas.
Sometimes you are attached to a brand’s colours, but other times you will have the freedom to explore.
The colors here catch you and suddenly you are attracted, they bring life to the illustration and give more context to the form. That being said, a good logo is versatile and will always work well in grayscale:
Beyond the grayscale version, we also like to provide our customers with a true simple version of colors, using only black and white.
It should always be considered that the logo will be used in different cases that require different versions or not.
3. The Cliches, No!
I like to study design trends and you might even find me jumping on a few bandwagons to maintain over time, but with logos I hate when a group of designers use the same idea over and over again.
The basic archetype is used over and over again in logo design and it ages quickly. Why not use a design that you really thought about yourself rather than copy what everyone else is doing?
4. Make it Own-able
I don’t think “own-able” is a real word, but you still hear it a little bit in marketing.
Rather than following the herd and using a cliche design, you should rather fight for something that is unique and recognizable. I always liked the Evernote logo!
Just an elephant’s head, it’s not a completely unique concept. However, the way it is drawn with the trunk and the page curled up in the ear, it is immediately recognizable.
As you are a logo designer, I advise you to consider whether or not your design is a generic or a single logo design. Is it likely that others will produce something similar? Remember, your first idea is usually your treasure. Try to fill a page or two of notebooks with some sketches before choosing which ideas to pursue.
5. The personalization
There is almost nothing that can give your logo a unique feel quite like a great personalized lettering.
Too often, we see logo design as a simple journey through the font menu to see which font makes the company name look better. If someone pays you for “design” their logo, they are probably waiting for you to put a little more effort into it.
“Too often, we see logo design as a simple journey through the font menu to see which font makes the company name look better.”
Type of measure ensures that your unique logo will remain in this way. Lowlife designers will tear your work apart in a heartbeat if they discover that characters you use, but it takes some real skill to imitate the custom handwritten type!
Keep in mind that if your logo is famous enough, people will always try to tear it off.
6. The simplicity
Let’s face it, not everyone can write the beautiful bust, drawn by hand on a whim. Just because you are a designer doesn’t mean you are a great illustrator or photographer (but it helps). If you fit this description, don’t be afraid, there’s nothing to stop you from making impressive logos.
In this situation, remember these four powerful words: keep it simple stupid! Simple but powerful logos permeate the business world and always turn out to be the best icons for the test of time.
By looking at how to build one of these types of logos, we will discuss the Apple logo. The silhouette of an apple is nothing special or memorable.
It is that missing bite that is needed at the next level. It gives the character of a logo, makes it unique, and leads to a deeper meaning. Without the bite, the apple is boring, with it, the apple is suddenly iconic.
Always think about how you can go that extra mile and turn your annoying logos into unambiguous brand names.
7. Symmetry
Some people may get carried away by discussions of proportion and symmetry, but if we exclude the madman, there are still some important lessons here. Let’s consider the new Twitter logo as an example:
Here the circles are not used to convince you of some strange cosmic story that makes no sense, they are simply used as a guide to create a good well balanced logo with consistent curves and arches.
8. Respect for Spaces
In the same vein as a double meaning is the old age trick of using negative space in a logo in a certain intelligent way. The standard industry example for this technique is the FedEx logo and its hidden arrow.
Don’t you find it yet? Keep looking, it’s there. That’s what I like about this logo, the use of negative space is so subtle. Most people in the United States see the FedEx logo daily or weekly for years as it drives by the side of countless trucks and they have never even noticed the arrow.
9. The meaning of the word
Every good logo has a story. Far beyond simply a pretty sketch, strong logos are filled with meaning, both obvious and hidden. We have discussed this in several cases above. The FedEx arrow logo indicates moving forward and making deliveries, the Apple logo has a missing byte, and the Twitter bird is flying in an upward trajectory.
“It is great when you as a designer can show a customer how much thought and reasoning have entered into the logo you have produced for them.”
Half the time I wonder if logo designers don’t come up with meaning after the logo is already produced, but no matter, it’s great when you as a designer can show a customer how much thought and reasoning have gone into the logo you produced for them.
Customers might think that all they want is something fresh and cool, but if you provide instead of a logo that links into the company’s core values and mission, you will blow their minds and they will love you for it.
To know more about logo designing ideas and want to design own logo, call us on +91-124-4207905 or contact us here.