A logo is one of the most distinctive things a company has, the sharp end of its effort to control it’s image. For example, stand in your local large chain burger resturant, and without the branding it’s pretty much impossible to tell if you’re in a McDonalds or a Burger King. However, the branding, the Burger King Crown and McDonalds golden arches, stand out and make the place instantly recognisable.
Keep it Simple
While we’ve got computers capable of showing massive resolutions in millions of colours, your logo won’t always be displayed like this. Even these days it may get faxed, it may be printed at a reduced resolution, so making sure the logo is recognisable when tiny, when printed in black and white, and when inverted, is essential. So make sure the logo works with these first, and then you can add colour.
Be imaginative
The first idea that comes to you may seem the obvious choice, it’s just so obviously everything your company is about. But if it’s obvious, then lots of other people have probably thought of it, and you’ll end up with something bland and generic.
What does it Answer
What does your logo say about you, it should communicate something about your company, whether its your attitude, your style, or just the field in which it works. So write down a short sentence, maybe ten words about your company, and then see if your logo matches that.
Sketch it out
While working in Photoshop or Illustrator may produce amazing results, it’s not the fastest way to work, so sitting down with a pen and paper allows you to get ideas out onto the paper quickly and see what works. This is especially good if you’re not doing the final work, but want to have input to the design.
Does it annoy you?
If you’re successful, your logo is going to be something that you see many times a day for many years, so a massive consideration is, does it annoy you. Is the spacing between the letters irregular, does the cartoon dogs eyes look odd (a problem we actually had, that we all agreed the dogs eyes looked odd, but couldn’t work out what it was, and it took several modifications until everyone was happy). If there’s some flaw in the design that maybe only you can see, it’s worth sorting it out now before you’re stuck with it.
Anyway, just some ideas. If you’ve got you’re own ideas about what helps you design a logo, then please let us know in the usual places.
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