In this article The Logo Creative discusses Essential Qualities Needed In a Good Logo Design
I’m pretty confident you will have seen those business logos that look like the have been designed by child in Microsoft paint, that’s immediately made you walk away without a second thought, now don’t get me wrong here i’m not saying the business is bad as they could have the best customer service around, what i’m saying is the visual representation of that business is poor and may put off customers even getting through the door or making contact.
Ok so you have decided to give that business a shot and try their service but the logo surely ruined your first impression of that business, and more importantly if you were to remember that business it is unlikely its going to be for a good reason, so remember your logo or visual identity of your business is definitely an investment into the first impressions with potential customers.
At a first glance a couple of seconds is all it takes for that potential customer to associate your business as a high quality or trashy, a professional specialist or armature, even thoughts of an organised or unorganised business, this can be a clear or confusing message your potential customer gets through the visual representation of your business.
A professional quality logo design only requires that one time investment and a little extra effort and attention to these main areas, it must be simple, work well in black and white, be memorable,versatile, adaptive and resizable, this magic ingredients can cook up a timeless logo design and visual identity for your business.
Simple
If you think about the worlds most famous and recognisable logos you will notice they are so simple in their design but so recognisable, i often go by the phrase “Less is Best!” if you over complicate the design it may confuse your potential customers
Work Well in Black and White
Furthermore, your business may be involved with other companies and organisations which may require a muted version of your logo for joint promotions and low-cost copies. Take a lesson from the marketing geniuses at Apple and make sure your logo design looks just a great in black and white as it does in colour.
In today’s modern world the cost of printing in colour as opposed to black and white the cost is quite low, however there are still people that print in black and white to save on their ink costs some businesses only have mono printers so if they print your proposed quotation off you don’t want your logo looking terrible on black and white print it could loose you that client. Your business could be in partnership with a bigger company or organisation that requires a muted version of your logo for that joint partnership. Take a look at Apple for example their marketing is genius their logo looks good what ever colour it is as it visually symbolises who they are a valuable lesson learnt here.
Below are some of the most famous and recognisable logo and visual identities i could think up. I gave myself 10 minutes or so to grab a bunch of logos that i could think of and i have purposely made them black and white for a reason to show just how good and iconic they are when been displayed in black and white format.
Memorable
Properly the most important goal when designing your logo is and should be to make an impression on your potential customers, its your brands visual identifier and how you are going to stand out in your business circle. A good logo design will be memorable and your customers will know where to return and send those recommendations your way.
Versatile
For a good logo to be versatile it should be able to work across a variety of mediums and applications. It needs to be functional and designed in vector format, this ensures its scalable.
Adaptive
A great example for responsive logos can be found at www.resonsivelogos.co.uk if you scale the browser window from large to small the logo with scale down
Resizable
Allot of people out there think their logo will only be appearing on their website and business card but in reality they forget about all the other mediums it will be used on as their needs change over time, such as a social media icon, vehicle graphics, on business stationary, and uniforms, printed media, stickers, badges etc. their is even the little icon called a favicon that appears on a website tab next to you website name its a tiny 16 x 16 icon that’s in a special format, so having the correct file formats for your logo is vital and your logo should provide consistency across all business marketing efforts.
Relevant
When a potential customer takes one look at a relevant logo design this gives theme an inside look into your business, products and services, and the the culture of the business, this lets customers know if your a good fit for their current needs or not eg – i have had clients what me to design them a logo based on them liking my logo and without even seeing other work i have done. That one visual look at your logo can earn you trust respect and a client.
Getting this right early on can save your business a lot of money in the long run and once you have built your business around your logo, it takes a hell of allot of work to change all your marketing collateral, such as new business cards, flyers poster, brochures, all your printed marketing media is outdated, changing your logo is as hard as changing the name of your company, this is because the primary goal of your logo is to be your companies visual identifier, and be an easy identifiable icon that draws the attention to your potential customers, having a great logo design earlier on in your business ensures you will not run into this problem later on down the line.
If you need a quote for a logo design feel free to fill in our design brief and we will get back in touch with a proposal to suite your budget.
Also published on Medium.
