Getting the Logo right

This week I've been working on some logo designs, and I thought it would be a good subject to write a bit about. Most businesses these days have a logo and arguably it's an important thing to have, as it's the main differentiating part of a brand that sets you apart from the competition. However, there are many aspects to a good logo and subsequently the brand behind it. Here are some of the disparate aspects that make a good logo

What's in a name?

The name, and brand, associated with the logo is the first part of defining how your logo could, or should look. Even if you have never used a designer before, your business will still have a brand that needs to be communicated, as this is not about the visuals but the defining thing that makes your business unique. Your business should be named to reflect that, whether its descriptive of your services or products (General Motors, KFC, The Body Shop), named after the founder (Dyson, John Lewis) or just abstract and therefore unique (Uber, Google). A good logo design will marry the brands name and values together into an awesome looking unique visual.

Designed the right way

Getting the design of the logo right, but also unique, memorable and functional can be hard. There are many different ways to go with the design, and all should be studied in context with the brand name and values. The main part of the logo design is definitely to make it unique. This means more than just picking a random colour and sticking you business name in there, you have to completely own the look of the logo.

Ray Ban uses custom 'handwritten' type for their logo. It makes it unique and gives the brand a signature look. Having a font custom made or customised can be time consuming but worth it to make your brand unique.

Airbnb use a relatively non-descript, but modern font coupled with their icon. Having an icon for your brand can make it really stand out but you need to be able to build recognition to be able to use it.

When designing a logo you need to consider its scalability. A lot of companies will have logo options that work better horizontally and vertically, as well as options that scale to a very small size, which may mean designing out a lot of the text or detail to be legible.

Using a logo

Considering where and when your logo will be used impacts how good it is too. You should have brand guidelines written up when you get your logo and branding designed, as it will help you to best understand how to use your logo. This could be from having an appropriate colour palette, to knowing the proper placement on different media.

There are also times where you should not use your logo. As I covered in a previous post, you should not need a logo to portray your branding if done correctly. The benefits of this give you logo more value when used sparingly. If you slap it on everything and anything, it can cheapen the mark and make it less impactful in the long run. I know it's tempting when you have a logo to be fast and loose with it, but the more subtle approach will make it worth looking at every time it's used!

You should also consider the media it will be applied too. Do you want to use your logo as a stamp, or as a single colour print? These need to be considered in the design stage as some choices will work better than others. If you would like your logo to work as a stencil, you need to consider how to do this at the start as complex shapes will not come out well.

There are many articles you can read about logos that work well and that don't, the points I have covered are just a few of the considerations you may have when getting a logo designed. Please remember that a logo and branding project should consider everything in your business from brand values and products or services, and is not simply a nice drawing with your company name in. There is a right and a wrong when it comes to logos! 

Thanks for reading! For more blog posts about my thoughts on many design related subjects check out:www.blackwolfcreative.com/blog/ 

If you are interested in any of the issues discussed, and would like to speak to me, please feel free to get in touch. You can comment below, email luke@blackwolfcreative.com or even give me a call on 07742 990524.