Designing a logo is not just about creating something that looks cute as you have to take into consideration several things to make sure that the logo does its job, which is to grab the attention of the public and set it apart from other logos on the market. Such advice can be used by both professional designers and beginners.
Regardless if you run a restaurant, a blog or just working on becoming an influencer, you can check these things out when you are looking to create your own logo.
The Big Don’ts
When thinking about how the logo will look like, you have to keep in mind that a memorable logo isn’t too complicated and just focus on one important feature. Check the logos of Burger King or the one from Fisherpants.com – they both feature a simple design that lets you know exactly what their brands are about.
If a logo includes too many details it can be rather distracting, and not many people realize what the brand is about or it just doesn’t come out as being memorable. Avoid making your target audience confused.
Another thing that is a huge don’t is to follow any trends. Blending your logo with everybody else’s will make the audience confuse between brands and that is something that you should clearly avoid. Not only does this lead to confusion but if you just follow what’s in right now, when the moment passes your design is going to look dated and undesirable.
In case you’re just thinking “I’ll switch it when the fashion changes” you should keep in mind that that is also a bad idea. A brand has to be consistent especially when it’s a young brand. Even an iconic brand like Coca Cola changes its logo only once a decade (at most) and even then the changes made are small.
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but that can also fall into plagiarism and even copyright infringement which can make your brand look like a cheap knock off or you may even get sued. The whole point of a brand is to distance yourself from others, not to get confused with another similar brand.
If you choose to imitate the logo of someone else’s, you are just robbing yourself off of the chance to be creative and stand apart. Invest in a logo that makes sense to the audience and that makes them interested in your product.
Being too literal is not ideal either. Sure, you can try it, but if you are looking for an original logo, you don’t have to use exactly the things that are the most expected out of you. If you’re a restaurant using a plate logo, it is really common so why not use a different image to convey the same message?
Basketball or football teams are a great example of taking an idea and running with it. Presenting the ball on the logo is the basic idea but many teams have gone extra and they feature powerful animals on the logo or crest such as lions, eagles, cobras, tigers, or wolves. Apply the same idea for your logo!
The Do’s
What you should do is to research and define exactly what your audience is. The whole purpose of a brand and logo is to appeal to a certain audience. You may be into some fonts or colors but there is research done that shows how certain colors and patterns attract clients faster.
Look at all the successful fast food brand logos and see if you notice a certain color popping up in all of them. For some reason, our brain connects an increase in appetite with the color red so if you’re planning on running a fast food joint, be sure to include that color in the logo. This is a rare exception to the don’t do what everybody else is doing rule.
Make some research about the target audience and create a logo that manages to appeal to them. This is your great, big chance of setting your business apart by using a unique logo. You may feel inspired by other logos but aim for something that will make yours distinct.
The exploration part of the process is highly important to the creative process which means you don’t have to worry about coming up with the logo from the first try. Or tenth try. Or fiftieth try. This whole process is a trial and error one and when you’ll find the right path you’ll know it and you’ll feel it.
Keeping it simple is another great idea when it comes to logo creation. While you strive to come up with something that’s completely original, you may accidentally make the whole thing much more complicated than it has to be. Some of the most recognizable logos are simple – just think of Adidas, Nike or Puma.
This doesn’t mean that you don’t have to put in the effort but it means that you have to learn where to put in your effort. Try to highlight only one of the features in the logo and you’ll notice how appealing and modern it will look like. Sometimes simplicity is the way to go.
You’ll notice that many of the iconic logos of different brands seem to fit exactly. This is a result of the designer who has taken into consideration different important things such as space, composition, but also the negative space to their advantage. By using a grid you can be sure that the subject matter is used in the right proportion in the logo.
Also highly important is that your creation must be decipherable not just at full size. The logo you’ve created should be able to be properly read and identified even when it’s made to be much larger or much smaller. If your creation doesn’t hold up when it’s downsized, it may be the time to rethink the whole design, unfortunately.
In conclusion, by keeping all of these do’s and don’ts in mind, you are sure to create a legendary logo!
[…] Create a unique logo that will strike a chord with your target market. A simple logo usually does the trick. The logos of Nike, Puma, and Adidas come to mind. Simple logos like those will aid brand recall better than taglines or names especially when you are selling to an international audience with different cultures and languages. […]