Designing a Logo that Works

A good logo — beauty queen or hard working laborer? A really good logo is both. It looks good just standing there, attracting attention, showing off. It also labors tirelessly carrying your product and delivering your message. When you can balance the two you have a winning logo.

Definition

It's probably best to begin this discussion with a brief description of what I mean by a logo and what I expect it to do for a company. When I use the word logo here, I'm including all types of logos —

•     logo marks: images or graphic representations (think Shell);
•     logotypes: letters or words treated in a special way to make them unique (think Coca-Cola); or,
•     some combination of logomark and logotype (think McDonald's).

A logo identifies the company; it's a major part of the company's overall corporate identity. Some logos give a hint about what the company does or sells.

•     A logo should help build the image the company wants in the minds of its customers and prospects.
•     It must be able to deliver the message.
•     It should be recognizable and easy to remember.
•     It should work in all materials and all media.

Pretty or ugly is only part of the equation. I've seen beautiful logos that did nothing to enhance their companies' images, and I've seen so-so artwork that helped bring success. There's a balance between looking good and working hard that needs to be achieved. Neither is expendable.
Common errors in thinking

A logo can prove unworkable for a number of reasons. A common, and often costly, error is underestimating the importance of company identity right from the beginning.

I see this often when a company rushes the development of a logo without taking the time to evaluate whether or not it advances the image they wish to portray to clients and prospects. Later they may find that it does not enhance or build on their image as the company grows.

If they're attempting to build a brand and brand recognition, this is a fatal mistake. They end up faced with the unpleasant choice of either sticking with a non-optimum logo because they have a great deal invested in it, or abandoning the logo and any recognition they've been working to build.
An important first step in logo design

The first step in designing a logo is review and evaluation of the company, always with a view to at least 5 or 10 years into the future. This means introspection. It means having a plan for the future of the company. It means an honest evaluation of what is wanted, what is possible and what is probable.

1.     What is the image the company needs to build in order for that plan to materialize?
2.     Can that image be represented graphically?
3.     Can a logo help to build that image? In what ways? Color, artwork, type style, size, boldness, flashiness, conservatism are all parts of reflecting the image desired.
4.     Which will accomplish the goal best?
5.     Which are trendy tricks that will fade leaving the company looking dated and stale?

Common design or technical errors

Another part of the evaluation that should occur before the design of a company logo is determining, as well as possible, the ways in which the logo will be used. Stationery? More than likely. But what about signs? Use on vehicles, in advertising, on specialty items like pens? How about on a Web site or on a billboard? The list goes on. Many of these have very different technical requirements that need to be considered before creating a logo that might not be adaptable.

Trust me when I write that it is possible to design a logo that is quite beautiful, enhances the company's image and yet, is completely unworkable in the real world. I have spent many hours recreating logos that could not be used where they were needed. The reasons for this are almost as varied as the logos themselves. But they break down into a few major categories and with careful thought and preparation can usually be avoided.
Not using a computer to create the art or using the wrong computer program.

In the world today, a logo simply must be available as electronic artwork. There's no getting around this. There would be tremendous costs and delays in attempting to use non-digitized artwork when working with printers, advertising media, designers, etc. But, not all computer programs are equal.

This may seem obvious or even condescending to write but not all computer programs are the same. They have different purposes and learning which computer programs perform different tasks best is a very important part of learning about computers and learning how to best create a logo.

I often see logos that have been created using an image editing program such as Adobe Photoshop. This is the wrong program to use. Adobe Photoshop is best used for continuous tone images like photographs that will be printed in full color or perhaps as shades of gray. It is not best for line art or drawings. For that, you need to use a program that will allow you to maintain the original artwork in a vector or outline format, so that it remains easily edited as individual elements.

Vector graphics can easily have different colors applied to them and can be created to print in one color or dozens of colors. Furthermore, vector graphics can be scaled without loss of resolution. Drawing programs such as Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia FreeHand or Corel Draw are appropriate choices and will help to avoid costly redraws later.

So start out the right way and use a drawing program. Then guard that file as a master. This gives you the ability to update the logo when needed and to create the exact format that individual print projects require as well as preparing the logo for use on the Web or in other media, in small sizes and large, in one color when economy is required and in 4-color when appropriate. You will save money in the long run by creating the logo properly the first time.
A valuable asset

A company's logo design, its corporate identity, is a valuable asset and should be approached that way. It should be fought for and protected from infringement and misuse. It should be updated and kept fresh through ongoing review and evaluation. It is an investment in the company and its value should be expected to last for years.

Using and protecting

What I am about to write may be more important than all of the above. Because pretty or ugly, easy to use or difficult, your logo must be applied consistently and protected in order to be a true asset to the company. Once a logo is designed and produced we find that they way the logo is used is what builds the brand. Consistency and continuity are the keywords here. The configuration, colors, type style, relative sizes of elements all stay the same. I know where the Coca-Cola is in a store way before I can read the words on the can. What if McDonald's painted the "golden arches" orange at some locations and brown at others? No. Recognition is built by presenting the same image repeatedly.

• Don't change the colors for a holiday sales promotion. If you are printing and cannot afford the colors established for your corporate identity, print in black.
• Don't rearrange the elements in the logo for different publications.
• Keep the logo separated from other elements so it remains distinct and easily recognized. A very good option is to make it part of a signature with address and contact information and keep that together as a single element away from other content.
• Don't use a logo as a headline, or embed the logo in body copy or put it inside another graphic element on the page.
• Don't combine it with other images or other logos.
• Do not alter your logo. This is for brand-building and also to protect the integrity and legal standing of your rights to that logo.

I know. What about Google?

Well, if your company has the recognition that Google has, then okay, go for it. But remember that the very action of creating holiday versions of their logo is part of their corporate image. And, they never lose sight of the original logo, each novelty logo is only used for a brief period, and every version is copyrighted. In general and for most of us, it is better to build the brand through consistent use.

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10 Rules For Designing A Great Logo

One of the biggest foundations of your brand identity is also deceptively small: your logo. Without a good logo design, your brand image can fall flat fast. Here are 10 tips to understanding and creating a logo design that will stand the test of time, and stand head and shoulders above your competition.

Usually half of our days are dedicated to brand identity and logo design.  For you to stand out amongst your competitors, you must have a strong brand identity. That brand is ‘You’. It shows others what you stand for, what you believe in and why you exist.  Let’s take a deeper look at the big picture and what it really takes to design a great logo.


1. Define Logo Importance
Creating an iconic brand identity with your logo is an absolute necessity. A good logo needs to be recognizable on the spot, and deliver an immediate and positive association with your company and products.

2. Learn What Makes a Good Logo
A good logo has to be unique and distinctive. The design must be artistic, while remaining simple enough for easy reproduction in a variety of sizes and media. Your logo communicates a message about your product, so make sure it’s a positive message.

3. Appreciate the Challenge
To the industry outsider, they seem like a simple little project. In reality, however, a good logo takes a great designer who can think outside the box while still delivering the right combination of simplicity and drama.

4. K.I.S.S.
You’ve probably heard of the K.I.S.S. method: Keep It Simple, Stupid. This is a great mantra to chant while designing logos. A simple logo is memorable, versatile and easily recognizable. It’s unique without losing accessibility to the general public.

5. Focus on Versatility
Is your logo still recognizable if it’s printed in black and white? What about if it’s miniaturized, or blown up to poster size? Being prepared up front for these likely eventualities will save a lot of potential redesign issues later on.

6. Avoid the Trends
You don’t want a design so cutting edge that it’s outdated in six months. One of the hallmarks of a good logo is timelessness, not trendiness; research logos that have shown impressive longevity and study those designs for examples of an impressive logo shelf life.

7. Make it Memorable
It’s surprising how memorable a simple, elegant design can be. Think of the Nike swoop, or the McDonald’s golden arches. Neither is complex, yet both are instantly recognizable. Even more telling, neither logo has changed significantly in all the years of their respective businesses.

8. Ensure Relevance
Although your logo should be creative and eye-catching, it should not be a design that has nothing to do with your product. For example, the Evernote elephant is a great representation for a productivity suite designed to help you remember and organize things. It makes sense, and connects directly to their product, just as your logo should.

9. Deliver an Immediate Association
Your audience should immediately associate your logo with your product. Take the Apple logo: rainbow, silver or polka-dot, that logo is unmistakable. Can your audience associate your company to your logo that quickly?

10. Work With a Designer That Follows These Rules
Don’t be fooled by the deceptive appearance of the humble logo; take the time to find an artist who will meet your needs. A good designer will take the time to ask plenty of questions about your goals and your company, and understand exactly how important a logo is to your success.

By following these ten tips, you’ll not only have a better appreciation for the process that goes into designing a good logo, but also a good idea for how to choose the right candidate to create your next trademark. In our current world of marketing immediacy, an instantly recognizable logo is almost as vital as your product itself.

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Six Things to keep in mind when designing a logo

So you fancy yourself a Paul Rand or Saul Bass and want to design some logos for iStock? Great! You've come to the right place! Logo design needs to begin with a great idea or concept, backed up with some jedi-like vector skills to bring it to life. In this article you'll find some design and technical tips to get you started and keep you on the right track. I've included some important things for you to think about as you are creating, as well as some reminders on how to keep your files technically sound for submission to avoid the dreaded "Subpar" rejection.

Thought and planning are a huge part of Logo design: preparation is key. We've prepared a set of considerations here for any illustrators ready to plunge into Logos. Keep the following in mind during your planning and throughout the process.

Please note: The 'good' versions of logo design seen below were each designed by some of our amazing logo contributors. They'd never dream of submitting anything like the 'bad' files you see here, which we created for illustrative purposes only!

It All Starts With a Great Idea

Start by selecting a Business Category or something that inspires you. Try to envision who the client will be or what kind of company or business may want to buy your logo. Creativity sometimes strikes when you combine a couple of ideas. For example, you may decide on creating a logo for a security company. For this business category you probably would want to convey trust, strength and reliability. This can be accomplished by choosing appropriate subject matter and using style, colors, weight, balance and shapes. The idea could be a bear with strong angular or masculine shapes and bold, dark colors combined with a sturdy font to finish it off.

By clearly visualizing who your client is and with some forethought, research and planning, the end result should be an appropriate symbol that immediately identifies the company, and clearly communicates the product or service. This is absolutely key to a successful logo design and should always be foremost in your mind while conceptualizing your design.

When you have your concept, start sketching it out to quickly come up with ways you can execute the idea. Starting in black and white can help ensure that your design is clear, legible and reproducible without any distracting features. Adding great color, style characteristics, or subtle effects will help make your design unique to stand out amongst the competition. Add some type to bring some context to your design and choose a font that compliments the symbol and communicates clearly. To ensure a successful logo remember to keep your design, Simple, Memorable, Timeless, Versatile, and Appropriate.

Reproducibility

It's extremely important that Logos are created with versatility in mind. As the main component of a company's corporate identity, the logo acts as the cornerstone of their visual brand. This means it must be reproducible using a huge variety of formats and processes while maintaining the integrity of the logo as it is utilized. Logos may be printed on anything like small business cards and pens to extremely large billboards and signage. They need to work well using traditional print methods like offset lithography and screen printing for T-Shirts, as well as other things the buyer may want like rubber stamps, stickers and embroidered golf shirts. Of course, it must also look fabulous on screen for use on websites and other pixel based media. It's a good idea to test your logo file at a monitor resolution of 72ppi at an inch or so wide to see what issues may pop up.

Here are some things to watch out for to keep your design from ending up on top of the reject pile:

— Consider carefully how much detail to add to your logo design. Lots of small shapes and skinny lines should be avoided as they could disappear or print very broken and rough when reduced to small sizes.

— The white spaces, or negative spaces, between shapes should be consistent and not too close together or they may fill in causing a loss in the definition of objects.

— Gradients should be used selectively, creatively, and only when they enhance the design. At one end, if tints are too light, they can disappear when printed and only show up as white. Conversely, dark tints can fill in to solids causing the logo to look muddy and unclear which can happen easily when printed in a newspaper. Also, gradients may not work with some reproduction processes that can not use continuous tone.

— It's easy to get carried away with our design by adding tons of fun and interesting things but the bottom line is it has to reproduce really, really well. In the end, ask yourself, "Does this help or hinder my design?" If the logo communicates the intended message just as well (or better) without it, take it out.

The excessive use of detail in this logo will seriously compromise its ability to be reproduced. Fine details like the sharp pointed tail and thin lines will disappear when printed at smaller sizes and the small white shapes will fill in losing their definition. Outlined type with extreme gradients will print poorly as well, making the type hard to read at any size. On the right, the elephant is drawn with bold shapes, leaving ample white space in between for definition. Just the right amount of detail is used to help convey the idea and the solid flat colors used will ensure that this design will reproduce great with pretty well any process. I wouldn't recommend using multiple colors like this in the type all the time but in this case it works to make it fun and exciting.

In these examples the differences are noticeable mostly through the addition of a heavy black drop shadow and the application of gradients to every shape. Gradients can work when used sparingly but in this case they are far too severe, and would look dreadful at a small size. The tiny hairline strokes on all the shapes will also be problematic especially when this logo is printed as a 4 color process job. The example on the right is clean, clear, and looks great at any size.

Reversals. What the heck are these?

Nope, we don't want you to create a mirrored image of your design and it is not necessarily a negative. A Reversal Logo is simply a version of your file that is created to ensure it looks great when used on black or dark colored backgrounds. Logos with dark or mid-tone level colours may not be visible so another version is needed. Again, its all about versatility so the buyer can use your logo design anywhere they want. A common method of doing this is by changing all of your colors to white. It doesn't have to be all white, as light or bright colors may be used, but by using white, you are keeping it neutral and making it usable on a large spectrum of dark colours. It also gives the client an added bonus of having a 1 color version of the logo if you chose to not create a solid Black Version or created a Black Version with tints of grey. Solid, 1 color logos are great to use as watermarks or as a reference for a die-cut or foil stamp.

Please do NOT place any kind of colored box behind your design. "But no one will see my design!", you say with despair! Yes, it looks invisible as it is now an all white logo in an all white document. Don't worry, we've thought of that! When you upload your white PNG file (with transparent background) it will show up on a nice black background conveniently supplied by iStock so your wonderful creation will be available for all to see.

The concept of a 'reversed' logo design can be confusing if you've never designed a logo before. In the example on the left, there is a black box placed in behind the design. While it may look nice on screen, this could look awful if the logo was placed on top of a photograph or different colored background. The logo itself has also been 'reversed' by mirroring the design! The example on the right shows an all-white logo selected in Illustrator: No background necessary. This design is ready to place onto any color the client wishes.

Color Palette

Never underestimate the power of color! There is so much emotion inherent in color and its psychological power can be extremely persuasive. Warm, cool, neutral, vivid, complimentary, analogous, soft, light, dark, bright, saturated — all of these color types can be used effectively to enhance our intended message. How we combine these colors is also equally important as they can create contrast, balance, and weight to help convey our idea.

Have fun choosing colors for your design and experiment with many different options and combinations. Color selections need to be appropriate for the subject matter. For example, it wouldn't be a good choice to use red for a dentist office, that's scary! Red is alarming and can symbolize blood. Instead, choose professional, calming colors. Soft blues or browns may be more appropriate.

Full color logos, or designs that use a large range of CYMK colors can look really great, but can also be very expensive or difficult to reproduce. Consider keeping your design to a couple of colors to keep costs down, and use tints of those colors when more levels are needed. Smaller color palettes can also work to keep logos from looking too busy and cluttered. Be inventive with your color choices and step out of the Illustrator default color swatch trap, there’s a whole world of color to explore!

The sample on the left is using far too many colors than is necessary, making it very busy and more difficult to define the individual objects. The use of fluorescent and uncomplimentary colors makes the overall composition unappealing and less attractive. Using default colors straight from the swatch palette and plain black for the type make the design much less sophisticated than it could be. The sample on the right utilizes a beautiful main palette of custom mixed complimentary colors of orange, green and brown. They all work together in harmony to bring the cute kitties to life while adding a warm and cozy feeling. The use of dark brown for the type keeps it complimentary to the graphic and maintains a good contrast necessary for legibility. Using the same orange that's in the kitties for the "petcare" type offers additional visual interest and helps separate it from the main type. This helps give the eye a break and enhances legibility as well.

Simple is good right?
That's a yes and no answer. YES, logo designs should be simple to effectively communicate an idea and to be easily reproducible. NO, they shouldn't be limited to simplistic stars, circles, ovals, squares and rectangles. It's important to keep logo graphics relatively simple to make them useable in many applications and print processes, but not at the expense of style! Chances are if you create something too simple it may look like like hundreds of other icons out there already. Not good! A company's logo has to work to differentiate them from their competition in order to be successful, and they don't want to buy logos that they could make themselves using Illustrators Shape Tool.

Think about what you can do to add you own style or flair to make your design unique. When designing simple logos it's important to find ways of adding subtle but highly effective visual interest. You can do this by giving equal consideration to both positive and negative space and the careful placement of each shape. Use different perspectives can add tons of visual interest putting a unique spin on your design. A little twist, shape or tapered line here and there can simulate motion or other effects making the design much more dynamic than it would be otherwise. Simply styled directional devices (shapes that lead the eye) can add real excitement. Get in there with the Pen Tool and add some personality!

The left example is very simple in its execution, using only basic square and circle shapes. The placement of all of the objects has left the overall composition looking static and boring while the plain black type is under considered, effectively ensuring that this logo generates about as much excitement as flossing your teeth. The example on the right however, has cleverly used positive and negative space to create the plate. The entire logo is comprised of only four shapes by creating two simple arcs to help define the plate and by letting the cutlery bleed off the bottom edge. The combination of these design choices and using Tragan for the font, give it a simple, classic, stylish feel appropriate for this audience.

Choosing a Typeface

OK, you've got your award winning logo design in the bag and now its time to add some text and a name. This will help add context to your design and give the buyer a clear idea of how it may be used (like it doesn't already do that!). A quick reminder here to remember to research any name you would like to use to help avoid any potential copyright or trademark issues. You must make sure it is not currently in use by any other company and a quick search on the internet should help you along the way. A safer bet is to stick to generic terms like, Construction Contractor, Attorney Logo, Retail Business, etc. It's not necessary to add a tagline or brand statement but if you do, make sure you have done it in such a way that it works well with the logo and any other logotype and that it is clearly legible without being too small to read.

Next step, read the font licensing agreement for your chosen typeface. Yes, these can be long and boring but it's important to make sure you have the rights to use this font in a manner that is compatible with the sale of your logo to iStock clients. Specifically look for the Usage Agreement section that states it allowable for Commercial Use in this way. Just because your font was 'Free' does NOT mean its OK for Commercial use! Also, 'Free' does not necessarily mean 'good'. Use quality fonts to add to your great logo design to keep the whole package looking good.

Choose a font that is appropriate and looks great alongside your logo. This can mean choosing a font that has complimentary shapes to match the style of your design or match the mood of the idea. A very professional business such as an attorneys office, would require a more formal looking font perhaps using caps or small caps. A font for a children's clothing store could use a more casual, friendly font using lowercase letters. Try not to choose fonts that are too funky or illustrative. Yeah, they're fun but they can seriously compromise the legibility of your logo and are really more for use in headlines, posters and other media.

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