A Recipe for Logo Success

What can Melissa Clark, the NYT cooking writer, teach us about design?

Are you ready to cook up your next logo?

The New York Times cooking writer Melissa Clark told Vogue, “I’m going to reduce these dishes even more and get it down to as minimal preparation as possible. Do I really need to get out another bowl? Or can I wipe out this bowl? Can’t I use the same spoon to stir these two things?” And my reaction as a graphic designer was, “that’s a perfect recipe for a good logo design!”

Less mess

“My goal is to help you do it pretty easily. But this is the easiest one yet. I’ve streamlined my recipes and gotten them down to one-pot meals,” Melissa Clark told The Atlantic Journal Constitution.

We like to think about Less is More in describing effective logo designs. In cooking, Melissa Clark likes to promote “less mess.” She still wants to capture the most flavor, with the least amount of ingredients…and subsequently cook with one pan to avoid the pile-up of dishes.

The most flavors

When we design logos we are trying to convey a lot of themes and brand attributes with the least amount of detail. The successful logo has to work in the smallest spaces, often on an Instagram feed where too many details will spoil the meal. Just like a good meal, a good logo can have too many flavors. You have to be selective and pair…