Logo Design: It’s Simple.
A logo is one of the most important design elements for any business. First impressions count, and a logo is typically one of the first things people see when they visit your website, your offices, or purchase a product — so it needs to be distinctive, creative and appropriate.
There are a whole bunch of different techniques designers use to create brilliant logos, and there are some common principles like simplicity, restraint and visual balance that all good logos share. Here are some of my top tips on creating great logos that last.
Identification not communication.
An all too common mistake is when a logo features the products or services a company sells, for example: using a mobile phone in a tech company logo. Not only does this increase the likelihood of the logo becoming outdated as the client’s business offering develops overtime; it also overcomplicates the design.
When we say too much, the logo becomes complex and loses the ability to be easily recognised and remembered by consumers.
Consider instead: creating an identity for the business rather than communicating what it does.
Look at the Nike or Apple logos — there isn’t a running shoe or laptop in sight. These logos work because they say very little — they allow the business to develop and adapt to consumer needs overtime. This is the power of creating a simple, yet powerful identity for a business.
A great logo shouldn’t get in the way of transition or growth — allowing other marketing material to communicate the company’s product and/or service offerings.
Scalability is key — fall in love with negative space.
We live in a world where businesses exist on and offline simultaneously, and with that comes great variation in the size and scope of their marketing collateral.
A logo must work on a giant billboard, whilst also seamlessly transitioning into a tiny favicon for website tabs.
This is why we exaggerate features such as negative space.
Negative space is almost like an optical illusion; we are utilising the space in and around the logo in such a way that it becomes part of the overall design.
By exaggerating this, you give the logo the ability to be scaled down without losing those important details. We can test this out by simply zooming out on your design software to see if the detail is still noticeable when the logo is small. If it can’t be seen, it’s time to exaggerate that negative space!
Always start in black and white.
Starting in black and white forces us to focus on the form and shape of the logo; colour can hide mistakes in the design and even cloud our judgement when it comes to the overall emotion present within our designs. It makes sense to start here — we want the design to work across all platforms and in all possible settings. So if it looks good in black and white, it will look even better when colours are added in.
An important side note: As designers we must be mindful of common business practices, many businesses still print paperwork in black and white, so their logo has to look just as good here as it would on a high quality colour print.
10 ideas in 10 minutes.
Here at Fluxx | magneticNorth we’re always looking at ways to get ideas down fast. That’s why we use “10 ideas in 10 minutes” — spend 1 minute on each idea and in 10 minutes we’ll have 10 ideas! It’s a great way to come up with some really unique and interesting starting points for our designs.
No idea is a bad idea at this early stage of the design process. Getting as many ideas down as you can, as quickly as you can, removes any space for deep thought or consideration. This is key, thinking too much at this stage is counter productive and actually limits how creative you can be with your ideas.
Once you have your 10 ideas, start to build on them. Look at how you can improve the design or you may even come up with more ideas from those initial 10. The possibilities really are endless, but remember — always start fast and don’t think too much!
Make it distinctive and memorable.
All great logos have a uniqueness about them, they stand strong amongst a sea of other brands.
In our ever connected world, filled with adverts both online and IRL, the average person encounters between 6,000–10,000 adverts every day. With all that noise, your logo must be unique, easily identifiable, and memorable.
Consider: Testing how memorable your design is by showing a friend or colleague the design for 30 seconds and then take it away. Then ask them to draw it from memory, the most successful logos are so simple anyone can draw them.
Do your homework.
Check out the colours and typefaces the business’ competitors are using, and most importantly what sort of logo do they have? Understanding what is already out there in a specific industry allows us as designers to avoid creating logos that are too similar to a competitor. We want our brand to stand out, representing the business in a way that allows consumers to easily differentiate it from competitors.
Consider: If competitor brands use logos that are very literal, consider exploring a more abstract design. If they’re all using serif typefaces, explore the world of sans-serif. Just because everyone else is doing one thing, it doesn’t mean it’s wrong to explore alternatives.
Don’t be afraid to take some risks — it could mean the difference between a logo that fades into the background or one that shines through a plethora of boring, uninspired designs.
People probably won’t like it the first time they see it.
The first logo we share with the team isn’t supposed to be liked, well, not initially anyway. Don’t panic! Here’s some things to consider:
- Ask lots of questions to help understand all stakeholder views. Hold off from going back to the drawing board right away.
- How did you present the idea? Consider creating engaging mockups of the logo instead of simply presenting it on a white background. Sometimes the way we present the logo can make all the difference. Make it sexy; you’re selling this to them.
- Let the design sit with the stakeholders for a few days, let it ruminate.
- Designing a logo is only one element of a much broader brand / strategy / identity piece. There will be lots of valuable voices to engage along the way, so everyone needs to be part of that journey. As a designer, we have to showcase where we get to and how, including your exploration and evidence, and then open the conversation up to the rest of your stakeholders.
Absorb and iterate, but most importantly, start by starting.
Whether you’re a designer at one of the businesses we work with, or you’re interested in joining our award winning design team, I’d love to hear from you. Drop me a line at jacob.everett@fluxx.uk.com
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