Designing a logo means more than just having the skills to create compelling graphics. A deep understanding of the needs of your client — whether it’s a big company, a friend or even yourself — is a necessity. You need a firm grasp of their vision, their attitude and their style. Failing to translate your client’s identity into your logo or worse, inserting your own personality into the design, can lead to disaster. Here are a few tips to guide you when designing a logo.
Be Unique
One of the most important characteristics of a logo is its uniqueness. It needs to stand out from the rest of the logos out there. It’s a good idea to do research on different logos in your client’s niche and beyond to get a grasp of what sort of designs are out there. This will give you an upper hand on designing a unique logo that can easily be identified by consumers amidst other logos.
Keep It Simple
Take a cue from one of the most recognizable logos in the world: Nike’s logo. It’s a simple variation on the check symbol. Everybody recognizes it and it can be placed in large billboards or the soles of shoes. Its simplicity lends itself to wider applications because if you put a lot of detail in your logo, it will no translate well when viewed in small size. Keep it as simple as possible so people can remember it easier.
Colors and Fonts
Do not rely on colors when you are just beginning to think of a design. Colors have great impact to consumers for logo identity but there are instances when the logo needs to be rendered in black and white or grayscale. In these instances, your logo will lose its identity if you only concentrated on color. Try to think about the shapes and the details (if there are any) before you think about colors.
As for the fonts, try to stick with one or two fonts in your design. This makes your words easier to read and it minimizes the risk of confusion. Too many fonts in a single design will make it look chaotic and quite ugly. This idea goes back to the previous tip of keeping things simple. And of course, pick a font that will accurately represent the identity of your client. Choose elegant fonts for clients who want to keep a professional identity. Choose edgy or grungy fonts for logos that represent more hip entities or even individuals.
Do Not Use Clip Art
Using clip art in logos is not only considered unprofessional but it can also make your design easy to copy. It also increased the chances of your logo having a similar design as other ones using the same clip art.
Make It Last
It’s very tempting to go with the flow and do the same things other designers are doing right now in terms of design. Remember those shiny Web 2.0 logos that ruled the web a few years ago? They were all the rage when the concept of Web 2.0 was very popular. They looked nice at the time but eventually, they became boring. Avoid joining the bandwagon as much as possible. Think about your design surviving decades and how relevant it will stay through the years. Shiny and sleek may work now but what about 10 years in the future?
Finally, use vector graphics instead of rasterized ones when creating a logo. Vector graphics stay true to the design while rasterized graphics break down into ugly pixels when blown up. This will make your design easier to reproduce when it is finally approved by your client.
