Designing a logo isn’t as simple as one may think. A good logo that adequately represents a brand takes time, effort, and strategy. Your logo and other branding assets are often the basis for all your visual elements, so the decisions you make during the design process must be made with great thought and strategy. If not designed properly, you will find yourself going back to the logo to make unforeseen revisions leading to inconsistencies and, eventually, a visual identity void of cohesion. Below I have comprised a list of the top 5 do’s and top 5 don’ts for logo design. So if you’re ready to level-up your logo design game, then read on!
Logo Design Do’s
#1 Start your logo design process with research.
All too often, I have seen designers jump into creating a logo with nothing but the business name to start. It’s vitally important to spend some time taking into account who the business is serving and what resonates with them. Your research shouldn’t end there, though; you should look into who your competition is too and see what they’re doing. If you take the proper measures, you’ll find that your research will dictate what colors, fonts, and elements to use in the logo. Designing a logo arbitrarily and based on personal preference will only speak to the person who created it.
#2 Be Unique
When designing a logo, you must strive for something different. It is easy to look at your competition and create something similar to what they have; after all, it’s working for them, right? Standing out and looking different from your competitors will allow you to create a brand that your audience can’t experience anywhere else. Designing and building a unique brand will give a competitive edge and a reason for customers to choose you over your leading competitor.
#3 Start with sketching
There’s nothing more freeing when it comes to logo design than being able to get your ideas out swiftly without the complication of technology. Starting your logo concepts with a sketch ensures that you can explore anything without worrying about doing it in the software. It’s good to do at least 25 drawings before jumping on the computer to polish the design as a rule of thumb. Often too, when you start with sketching, you’re only using one color, which leads us to our next point.
#4 Pay attention to negative space, layout, size, and legibility
If there is one thing I always tell my clients and colleagues, it’s that you should always start with black and white when you design a logo. When you create using only black and white, you are guaranteeing the logo’s diversity. Black and white can also be thought of as positive and negative space and can dictate what parts of a logo will be opaque and what elements will be transparent.
Also crucial to the logo’s design is its layout, size, and legibility. The relationship between a logo mark and the typography should be complementary and balanced. In tandem with the logo’s form, you should also be careful with size and legibility. Tiny details in a logo may look impressive at large sizes; however, those details quickly get lost when scaled down on applications like business cards or website navigation.
A great question to ask yourself when dealing with size and legibility is: can this logo print on a coke bottle lid without losing detail? If your answer is yes, then chances are, your sizing and clarity are spot-on.
#5 Design your logo to be timeless and versatile
This one is for all the designers out there. Every year there is always a forecast on what the next trendy design style will be. While I’m a big advocate for keeping with the times, I’m also a big proponent for timeless designs, especially when it comes to brand identity design.
Logo designs need to stand the test of time if they are to represent a brand adequately. Equity will fail to build without brand consistency, and consumer trust will stunt. So while it’s tempting to test out the latest design trend on your new logo project, stop and strategize to see if it will suit the brand 5, 10, or even 15 years in the future.
Logo Design Don’ts
#1 Don’t overload the logo with detail – keep it simple!
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “less is more,” well, in the case of logo design, it’s true. When a symbol has too much detail, it starts to become less memorable. Simple logos make lasting impressions and are much more comfortable for your target audience to remember and recall. Complicated logos that carry too many details run the risk of losing the brand’s message. Clear and concise symbolism will win the race hands-down every time. Remember, your logo is often the proverbial handshake when new people experience your brand, and a short, firm handshake beats an awkward, long one any day of the week.
#2 Don’t use too many colors or typefaces
Imagine with me for a moment what The McDonalds logo would look like if we colored those arches five different colors. It would look McNasty! When you choose your brand’s logo colors, there should be a lot of thought put into it. Each color on the color wheel has a myriad of symbolism and meaning behind it. Do some research and choose 1-3 colors to support the message you are trying to convey to your target audience.
Just as you shouldn’t use too many colors, the same goes for typefaces. Fonts, much like colors and shapes, hold meaning and symbolism also. Using too many typefaces in a logo will convolute the feel that the brand is trying to achieve, and often lead to unclear communication.
#3 Clip art and plagiarism is a No-No!
This “Logo Don’t” should go without saying! It’s never okay to steal or plagiarize a logo. There is a fine line the separates inspiration and plagiarism, and I implore you to research that to make sure you never cross it. What about Clip-art or Stock logo templates? Services that offer clip-art and stock templates for logos are provided to the masses and by multiple designers. These designers have created art for resale and passive income. Using stock logo templates as a solution to a brand identity puts a business at risk of sharing the same logo as another business or, worse, a competitor.
#4 Don’t use Raster imagery – Vector only
Things are about to get technical, so if you’re not a designer, hang in there, and I’ll explain everything. It’s imperative that logos are designed using vector graphics only, and not rely on raster images. Vector graphics rely on anchor-points, paths, and curves that create shapes based on mathematical algorithms. Because of their precise makeup, vectors can be edited easily and scaled to any size without losing resolution. Raster images, on the other hand, are graphics created using pixels (squares of color). Pixel-based art is often limited to its pixel dimensions. For example, if you designed a logo using pixels(px) and you designed it at 500x300px using a resolution of 72 pixels per inch (PPI), then your logo would only be able to scale up to 500 pixels wide and 300 pixels tall without pixelating. Not good practice for designing logos.
Designing your logo with vector graphics guarantees that you can export to any and every file type needed, not to mention, make scaling your logo to any size a breeze. It also ensures that if you ever need to print a logo on anything other than paper, you can.
#5 Don’t change your logo every year or use more than one logo design.
Consistency is critical when it comes to brand identity, and there is nothing that needs to stay more consistent for a brand than its logo. During the logo design process, I have come across many clients who liked all the options I designed them so well, that they suggested using all of them. Using multiple logos to represent one brand, confuses the intended market, and can dilute your marketing and branding efforts. A company’s logo is like a fingerprint, a distinctive mark that identifies the business to the target audience, hence the term “brand identity.” Now there are situations in which to use multiple logos; sub-branding is one of them. However, the main rule to follow is one logo to represent one brand.
So what if instead of using multiple logos, we change our logo up every year? Unless a company wants to pivot who they are targeting in the marketplace, the logo should stay the same. A reputation takes years to establish, and so changing a business logo every year makes it challenging to create that reputation.
I sincerely hope that you found these tips helpful and will consider them when you start building your brand or a client’s brand. Remember, too, these tips are guidelines, not laws. Pablo Picasso said it best, “learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” Now go forth and build brands!
