What makes a Good Business Logo

A great and persuasive logo is a complicated amalgamation of creativity, theory, design skills and a proficient application that catches the eye and grasps the viewers’ attention and interest. In addition to this, a potent logo identifies a brand and makes it stand out. An iconic logo should also be unique and memorable.

Any designer can create a suitable logo but it takes time to master in all qualities. A logo may sound a minor element in branding and the other marketing ways may become more dominant but the logo still remains the nucleus of most of the branding schemes.

Characteristics of an effective Logo

There are uncountable logo design courses and resources and video tutorials too which will help you explore and create your own toolbox but before implementing these things, a solid understanding of creating a logo and considering the different aspects is also necessary. There are some qualities to design an effective logo which should be referred while designing a good business logo. The logo should be

• Clear and unique to set yourself apart
• Simple yet graceful
• Appropriate to the brand
• Catchy & memorable
• Targeted
• Classic and enduring
• Relevant and appropriate
• Able to print at any size
• Effective without colors too

DO consider various applications to make the logo effective and versatile

Harrison Mcleod said,

“Some wonder what’s so difficult about creating a good logo. They’re small, they look easy to do, so no problem, right? When you only see the result of a designer’s efforts, the logo creation can look like it was a simple task. But it’s not. A logo takes thought and creativity, and many elements combine to make a good one.”

Su Mathew Hale, a senior partner at the New York Bran-Strategy and design firm Lippincott, once quoted regarding a company’s’ logo that:

“A company’s logo is its shorthand, a visual cue that tells a story of the brand’s culture, behavior, and values.”

She added,

“A logo can sometimes be the most difficult aspect of branding.”

Principles for designing a good business Logo

There are 5 basic principles for effective logo designing followed by almost all logo designers to make a business logo look good.

1. Simple

Simple logos are memorable, versatile and easy to recognize. A major example of a simple and memorable logo is the Apple’s logo. No one will ever mix-up the picture of Apple’s apple with the apple fruit, be it be on a billboard you passed by the speed of 80km/h or on a poster you scrolled down in hurry on social media. Apple has made its own unique identity and affiliation among its users by an extremely simple logo.

2. Memorable

Logos should be memorable so that the customer feels some sort of association with the product or the company. Memorable and simple logos are impressive and remarkable, and they don’t require any updating as well. Coca-Cola and McDonald’s are on the top list of brands with simple and memorable logos which aren’t updated since decades and yet give a fresh and original feel and have a strong with their customers.

Though it is quite hard to design and come up with an original and memorable logo but not impossible.

3. Timeless

A good yet effective business logo should be timeless. You should evaluate yourself that will your logo stand the test of time? Will it last for ages? Will the logo be effective even after a decade or two or maybe a century?

Coca-Cola has set probably the best example of a timeless logo which has last for centuries. Pepsi and Coca-Cola have been in tough competition for ages but when it comes to logo, Pepsi couldn’t beat Coca-Cola.

A researcher has made the comparison much easier by drawing the timeline attached bellow which shows the change in the logo of Coca-Cola and Pepsi since 1885.

4. Versatile

An effective logo should be versatile with phenomenal color combination to work efficiently in various mediums and applications. A logo should be designed in vector format to keep it functional and ensure it resizing. The logo should be responsive to work in both vertical and horizontal dimensions.

A versatile logo should be able to print in one color and also in reverse colors, such as a light logo on a dark background.Flexible from a size of a little postage stamp to a large billboard.

The printing cost should also be focused on more colors used in a logo will make it more expensive to print for the company.

5. Appropriate

The way you position and indent your logo leaves a great impact on your company. The color scheme and font of a toy store will be child-like whereas, the font, color scheme and design of a law-firm will be totally in contrast to that of a toy store.

A logo doesn’t always show what a business is selling; instead, it is purely used as a company’s identification.

So, What does an effective business Logo should have?

A logo should not be tied to a specific trend. According to Mathews, a logo should be fundamentally sound but also be adaptable to the ways it is going to be presented. A trend is a supporting element of a brand so, a logo should be ‘new’, rather than trendy.

As your logo is being presented to the world as a face of your business, make it a memorable and effective craft.

Your logo should be resizable enough to be represented on business cards or on mobile screens and should also fit in the flyers and brochures and digital and simple billboards as well.

Several things should be kept in focus while choosing a Logo Designer which includes:

• Experience
• Proven Success
• Testimonials
• Designing methodology
• Strong Portfolio
• Previously Published Work
• Timeframe
• Price
• Affiliation with Design Association
• Professionalism
• Way of Communication

We won’t go into detail of how to choose a good logo designer for your business as it is another long debate.