Helpful Tips in Logo Design

A logo is what will identify a company for now and the future. Just think: All of the signs, letterheads, envelopes, and marketing material will identify a company with that logo. So it has to be exactly the right logo for the best fit with the company. This is why logo design is not something to be done quickly and without a lot of thought and perseverance to find the best fit. Not going through a thorough logo design process can lead to excessive expense in the future because it would mean changing it on all printed material, websites, software logos, and television commercials — everywhere. So here are a few tips to consider when designing that perfect logo:

Keep it Simple When Appropriate

A big mistake many make in logo design is when they try to make these elaborate, high-detailed, multi-colored logos in an effort to capture a thousand words for the company in one tightly-compacted graphical icon. Shortly after creating this iconic masterpiece, the company quickly discovers that it is very expensive to reproduce on printed media (because of multiple colors), a lot of detail gets lost when transferring to communication materials, and it is even difficult to present it on the web due to the fact it has to be large enough for all of the details to show. Consider too that this logo will get printed on business cards and there is not much space there. A simple, two or three-color design without a lot of detail is much more effective in terms of printing expense and overall conveyance of message.

It Should Look Great in Black and White as Well as Color

Remember when you do logo design that the logo will probably be on fax cover sheets too. If the colors you choose do not fax well, then you just lost the effect of your logo. When designing, you should experiment a little with some test facsimiles and see what the result is on the opposite end. Remember, you want the presence of the business for which the logo is for to be known in all output from it. A facsimile is just as much a tool for advertising as it is for relaying communications.

Consider the Aspect Ratio of the Logo

If you do not consider the aspect ratio when doing log design, you could end up with a logo that is not too visually appealing. The relationship between the height and width of a graphic is its aspect ratio. Aspect rations can be square, horizontal, and vertical. If a log is too wide and short or too tall and narrow, it can affect its visual appeal.

Square logos are great for web programmers who are trying to implement a content management system. In the content management system, the web programmer does not want to worry about considering different aspect ratios. The square aspect ratio is very straightforward to program. Remember that with automated web presentations, a logo image can get distorted when a browser wants to render an extremely horizontal or vertical image into a square area generated by code from a content management system.

A Logo does not Have to Describe What a Company Does

If you do a logo design such that it encompasses everything a company does then you run the risk of having a logo that is too complicated. However there is one more thing to consider. Many companies diversify their services and in some cases change their business models quite frequently. If you lock a logo into one overall function then you restrict the company in terms of its freedom to diversify. If the company does diversify (which it probably will), then it will incur additional expense after having to reprint all of its communications materials. A company like Shell Oil has the perfect logo: a sea shell with the word “Shell.” But that shell does not tell what the company produces by just looking at its logo. This allows the corporation to diversify in not only oil production but new initiatives to address environmental issues.

So, in conclusion, take the time to do the logo design right. It may seem like a little bit of a pain to get there but in the long run it will benefit a company tremendously.