10 Golden Rules For A Good Logo Design

10 Golden Rules For A Good Logo Design

A logo is not merely a visual representation of a business. More than that, it is the central identity of a brand since people often see it around and associate the symbol with what the brand does and offers. But to create a memorable logo that speaks for its brand emphatically, designers need to follow some basic design rules. 

Many small business owners take their logos lightly and pay a heavy price. Their logos fail to make any impression on viewers. A carefully designed logo can even damage business prospects since it will create a wrong perception of your products or services.

So, while designing a logo, ensure that you do not deviate from the proven essential design tips.

  • Here are 10 considerations to make while designing a logo

  • 1. Get inspiration

    Stimulate your creative brain for some unique ideas. For that, go through some inspirational logo designs from the master designers. Since they created those famous logos keeping every aspect of creativity in mind, such designs energize other designers. Even glancing at such logos encourages designers to create something memorable and path-breaking. 

    Thanks to online tools that let you quickly come across hundreds of famous logos of global companies. Such iconic logos are motivational designs that charge your brain with new and aspirational ideas.

    But do not just look at inspirational logos. Instead, start a brainstorming session with your team to collect different verbal ideas and discuss them.

  • 2. It must be a simple design

    Logos are also being used in their animation form in this digital age. That is another reason for creating a simple logo. A simple logo is a versatile design that business owners can use in many ways, including animation, without losing the design’s brand message. 

    A complicated logo is complex for customers to remember as the design involves multiple elements of fonts, colors, etc. The target customers and people must understand your business by glancing at your logo. Some enterprises think adding more details to a logo will help customers know more about a brand. That is a mistake since multiple elements make a design complicated. People generally look at such designs. 

    The Apple logo is one of the most fantastic examples of simple logos. This logo is just a bitten apple, which also stands for the Bytes, symbolically telling the viewers that the company is in the computer technology business.

  • 3. Make it look different

    If your logo looks similar to your competitors, you have spoiled your chances of making a lasting impression on your target customers and market. This is because people will imitate that design and wrongly perceive your business. For example, they may perceive that, like your logo, your products or services also lack quality. 

    So, first, research your dozens of competitors’ logo design ideas and find out what makes them stand out. Study their use of colors, symbols, icons, fonts, etc. Then, come up with a design that looks entirely different from their logos. That is a way to tell your target audience that, like your logo, your products or services also are unique and of high quality.

  • 4. Create a memorable logo

    While the simplicity of a custom logo design is desirable, your logo should also be a unique design. Your target customers should be able to remember the design easily, which is crucial to brand recall. 

    A memorable logo design is one that people like instantly at first glance and recalls your brand whenever they see the logo. So, ensure that your logo tells the customers something unique about your brand. They keep your logo in mind when they use your brand and benefit from it.

  • 5. Make it a timeless design

    Customers get emotionally attached to a logo over the years as they have seen it everywhere. In many cases, great logo designs have become modern cultural identities, and people feel proud of those aesthetically created logos. But if you have to redesign a logo every few years, that will not speak well about your brand. You can even lose customers’ trust if you frequently recreate your logo. 

    So, ensure that your brand's first logo design is such that the audiences accept it for years to come. Moreover, if you need to redesign it, just a tweaking of the design here and there occasionally will be sufficient to make the logo look modern for modern-day customers. Here again, remember that a timeless logo is always a simple design. So, the basic principle of creating a timeless design is 'simplicity.' 

    A tip for creating logos that last long is to use typography as its main element. Typography logos usually do not require changes and stay the same for many decades. The IBM logo is one such great example of timeless logos.

  • 6. Consider your products or services

    Keep your products or services in mind while designing a unique logo for your business. People will think of your offerings when they see your logo. Your logo should make an excellent first impression on your customers to create a strong brand perception. 

    Therefore, consider your business's industry and develop a logo idea that best represents it. Next, think about what you are trying to sell, and then communicate it through your logo design.

  • 7. Convey your brand message through colors

    Colors are powerful design elements that a skillful logo designer explores to evoke viewers’ emotions. Each color represents a set of emotions. For instance, red is the color for aggression, love, passion, and energy. Yellow is the color of sunshine and hope, and brown is the earthy color that evokes raw emotions. 

    The perfect use of colors conveys what your brand is all about. Once a brand has established its authority in its niche, its logo colors become its identity. Take, for example, Starbucks' white and green logo. Likewise, Cadbury's iconic purple color for wrapping is their way to position their business with their target customers. 

    Just as you pick your brand name carefully, considering all the aspects, choose your color scheme strategically. Remember that colors have their intrinsic meaning, which later becomes deeply associated with a brand’s identity, which leads to brand recognition.  

    If you can strategically use them, colors can speak louder than the text you wish to incorporate into your logo or any other visual. For instance, a vibrant shade such as orange and yellow can say a lot about your hip new restaurant.

  • 8. Choose your topography carefully

    If you have decided to create a typography-based logo, picking the right one is essential to give your logo design and brand a personality. Pick a font that complements your logo. There are mainly four types of fonts that you can consider in keeping with your brand personality. These fonts are serif, sans serif, script, and display. 

    Choose serif fonts if your brand personality is serious and formal. For example, most government-owned information sites have logos in serif fonts to convey authority and trust. But if you need to project your brand as informal and friendly, choose sans serif. For instance, the Facebook logo is in sans serif font since the social media platform is a friendly place to connect and engage. 

    Script fonts are in handwritten and classic styles, which makes them the best choice to give an individualistic look to your logo. On the other hand, display fonts are highly stylized and decorative and quickly drive the viewer's attention. Consider this font for a vintage look to your logo.

  • 9. Work on your design style

    Make sure your logo design is based on one of the design styles, even when you intend to create a unique visual brand identity. Some styles that designers follow routinely while creating different graphic design items. These styles include classic, retro, vintage, minimalist, fun, quirky, and handmade. Choose one of these styles considering your brand personality and message. 

    A classic logo style is best suited when projecting your brand as trustworthy and durable since classic is associated with great old times. For instance, the Coca-Cola logo is in a classic style of lettering. Retro or vintage also reminds us of some bygone era, which evokes a feeling of nostalgia. Such a design has some worn-out elements or hand-illustrations in beige color palettes. 

    But to give your logo a modern touch of style, choose a minimalistic style. This style comes with minimalistic use of design elements to convey a brand message and personality. The use of a lot of white space is a feature of this style. 

    Quirky or fun-filled style mainly aims at young customers. This style uses cute illustrations and symbols to create a friendly vibe. Handmade and handcrafted logo style conveys individualistic style and can be combined with vintage and fun styles.

  • 10. Test it on mockups

    When creating a logo, note that the business owner will use the logo in different marketing and advertising campaigns. Moreover, a logo appears on several products or services and digital products. For example, logos are on signboards of shops and billboards on a larger scale. From business cards and flyers to websites, there is no end to where a symbol will appear on physical and digital mediums. 

    First, test your logo design on different mockups. Mockups give you an idea of how the logo will look in real-life situations. So, use mockups such as clothes, signboards, business cards, websites, and more to see how the logo will look. As a result, you can improve in design.

    So, these tips should prompt you to consider designing your logo carefully to build the desired brand perception. You can create your other visual identities with such a well-thought-out logo. 

    Designhill is one marketplace home to thousands of talented designers who are ever willing to work on your logo. You can launch a logo design contest at this leading creative marketplace to get dozens of unique design ideas shortly. Pick the one that best conveys your design brief and brand message.

Wrapping Up

An impactful logo design is essentially a simple and unique design that is capable of engaging viewers. Such a logo is memorable due to its different use of colors, fonts, and other elements. But, avoid creating a trendy logo since it won't last long; consequently, you will need to redesign it after a few years. Therefore, choose a timeless design style. Do not forget to test your logo design on mockups to preview how it will look on different items.

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