Friday, 11 July 2014 05:10

Marketing Thought: What Makes A Great Logo Design?

There are many logos that have stood the test of time – ones that almost everyone can identify immediately when seen: Coca-Cola, Nike, FedEx, Microsoft, etc. Have these logos become so familiar to us because of the billions of dollars these companies have spent in the pursuit of brand awareness? Or is it due to the logos themselves being well thought-out from conception?

All advertising dollars aside, a great logo can provide an instant, and lasting impression if properly designed. As such, a great logo can relieve the need for [some] advertising dollars down the road, as an impressionable logo can create long-term brand awareness all by itself. Great branding always begins with a great logo. So what makes a great logo?

4 Guidelines For Great Logo Design

1.) A great logo should follow basic creative principals:

Any logo design can be subjective, but there are fundamentals of design that should always be followed in order to appeal to a wider audience: color, space, form, consistency, and clarity. A logo that appears complicated (too many characters, colors, objects, directions, etc.) can easily go unnoticed, or unremembered.

2.) A great logo must be functional:

Logos are an important marketing piece because they can represent a product or company in a multitude of contexts and still be able to deliver a message. Because logos are often used in/on different mediums: digital, print, textile – on dark, light, and textured backgrounds, big and small spaces, etc., a logo must be able to deliver its message by any means, and thusly should speak of its brand with minimal effort. In other words, logos should always be simple, impactful, and versatile.

3.) A great logo must represent the brand:

A logo needs to represent the company it serves. The style must be easily identifiable with what the company does as a whole, and be clear in its representation. A logo sets the tone for how consumers will view a company or product. If a logo cannot tell a short story of who the company is, or what the company does, then it becomes almost as valueless as using plain text.

4.) A great logo must be original:

A logo should always have the ability to stand out against the crowd. Logos that look similar to others can confuse a consumer, and equally, much more time & effort (and money) has to be put into said logo in order for it to be considered the champion between the two. A unique logo will take less effort to become revered, and will be more likely to stand the test of time.

These 4 rules of thumb should always be considered when in the process of logo creation for any brand or business. Sure, there are some examples of brands that have had success with logos that seem to take none of these things into consideration, but it's undeniable that in most cases, having a logo that better represents who or what a brand is, can (and will) have a wider reach and a more powerful long-term impact.