Posted by 
Archived in Whether it’s a golden arch, a half eaten apple or pink jagged numbers, a logo is the visual embodiment of a brand’s identity. It has the power to inspire trust, admiration or even disdain, so you need to think carefully about how it’s designed.
Creating a logo isn’t simply a case of doodling for a few hours and picking out your favourite sketch. You have to find the magic combination of shapes, images and colours that will reflect your brand’s ethos and appeal to your target market.
Designing a logo which also remains relevant for years to come is far from simple, but here are a few tips to get you started:
Logo design rules
At a basic level, your logo should achieve the following:
- Describable so people can easily interpret what it represents
- Memorable so people will recognise it and associate it with your business
- Effective without colour in case it’s printed in black and white
- Scalable so it’s legible even when small enough to fit on a business card
- It shouldn’t be too complex otherwise it will ‘gum up’ and appear messy when shrunk
- Have fairly equal dimensions. People prefer logos which are square or circular, rather than tall and thin or short and fat
Logo design types
Logos generally fall into three main types:
- An illustrative representation of what a company does e.g. the WWF’s panda
- An abstract iconic image e.g. Apple, any sportswear brand or car manufacturer
- Font based with a unique typeface e.g. Harley Davidson, Google or Coca Cola
The logo type used should reflect the nature of a business’ industry and appeal to its target audience. An obvious example is the WWF’s panda, which is far more effective at conveying animal conservation than if they’d chosen the sort of dynamic, abstract logos favoured by sportswear brands.
Whichever type of logo you choose, it’s sensible to keep graphic and text elements (e.g. your company name or slogan) separate. Designing these elements independently gives you more scope and flexibility in how they’re used in the future.
For example, when your company becomes rich and famous you might want to drop the company slogan altogether, and let your logo spell out your brand message on its own.
2012 Olympics logo - disaster or genius?
Despite a national outbreak of disappointment, a petition to get it replaced and claims it causes epileptic fits, a series of brightly coloured, jagged numbers are what will be used to promote the London 2012 Olympics. The fact that the logo cost taxpayers £400,000 to design probably didn’t soften the blow.
When launched, the Olympics council hailed it as ‘the vision at the very heart of our brand’ and an effort to reach out to the nation’s youth. The nation’s marketers, however, are less enamoured. In a recent survey, three out of five said they thought it was ineffective and didn’t quite give the impression of the UK being a world leader in entertainment, culture and sport as everyone had hoped.
However, 2012 is still four years away, and the logo is designed to be used in a variety of animated guises yet to be unveiled (and possibly still to be invented for that matter). And as people get on with supporting their country, they yet might find themselves warming to it, particularly if it starts being associated with yet another Team GB triumph.
The Nike Swoosh - pure genius
Ordinarily, designing a logo is a complicated process, requiring weeks or even months of research, sketching, conceptualisation and reflection. However, occasionally stokes (or one stroke to be precise) of genius can occur.
Perhaps the greatest example of how a brand’s logo can grow into a globally admired symbol is the Nike ‘Swoosh’, a simple yet effective representation of the wing of Nike, the Greek Goddess of Victory.
Created by a graphic design student in 1971 for a mere $35, the Swoosh was partnered with the ‘Just Do It’ slogan to brilliantly symbolise a lifestyle choice for millions of athletes and casual sports fans worldwide.
People are seduced into buying sportswear and equipment decorated with the Nike Swoosh because of how it makes them feel, the holy grail of brand marketing.
A logo should be for life
It takes time to build awareness of your logo and what it represents. So deciding that it doesn’t promote your brand message adequately and changing it a few years down the line can be expensive and counterproductive, which is why you need to get your logo design right first time.
So, whether you spend £400,000 or $35, designing your logo will require obeying the rules (whilst also daring to be different), hours of perspiration and a few strokes of genius.
_______________________________
BDA (Buckingham Design Associates) blog - real people giving real opinions, and a complete lack of agency waffle. BDA deliver an exciting blend of design and creative marketing for the Oxford, Milton Keynes, Northampton and London region.
November 14th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Logo Design Tips – What Does An Image Say About You? | bda - Buckingham Design Associates…
Whether it’s a golden arch, a half eaten apple or pink jagged numbers, a logo is the visual embodiment of a brand’s identity. It has the power to inspire trust, admiration or even disdain, so you need to think carefully about how it’s designed….
November 14th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Andy … is the London Olympics logo a disaster? Depends whether you subscribe to the ‘any publicity’s good publicity’ school of thought!
click here for image
December 7th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Having been present at the original logo briefing of the fight for the olympics to be held in the UK. I still cannot believe that this logo is what was chosen.
BTW… Just come accross your blog. Great work!