9 Essential Rules For Designing A Logo

9 Essential Rules For Designing A Logo Your logo is the face of your brand- the first, and in many cases, only exposure to your business that many people will have- so getting its design right is extremely important. A good logo is a massive asset to your company and can go a long way percep right is essential. Get it right, and you could see your brand become synonymous with your sector of the market. Get it wrong though, and you can create a negative association that could hamper your whole business. With this in mind, here are some key things to consider when designing your company's logo. towards shaping the of your business, so getting it Do Preliminary Sketches Whether you sketch them with a pen and paper or use some form of design program such as Illustrator or Photoshop, create a solid bedrock for your logo with some solid preliminary work. Aim for between 20-30 sketches or ideas, and slowly refine your best ideas into something more substantial. Bottom line is, if you rush or skip this step you'll be playing catch-up for the rest of the process, and the final product will suffer. Create Balance Balance is important in logo design, as our brains naturally perceive a balanced and symmetrical design more aesthetically pleasing. Therefore, you would do well to keep your logo balanced by ensuring that the colour, size and graphics are as Thooughly equal on both sides. rule the balance can of occasionally be broken, remember that your logo will be viewed by the masses, not just those with an eye for great art, so a balanced design is the safest approach. Keep It Simple, But Not Too Simple Small companies often try and imitate mega-brands like Apple, Nike and Starbucks by adopting a standalone, minimalist emblem as their logo and expect it to do the talking for them. The problem is that they're not Apple, Nike or Starbucks, and as such nobody knows what their abstract emblem is supposed to represent. However, simplicity IS important when designing a logo, as it allows you to reach your target audience in a much faster, direct way. Simple logos convey the message quicker than a messy, complex one does; although it takes a skilled graphic designer to create a bold, effective, minimalist design rather than a bland, faceless shape. APPLE: (1976) (1976 - 1998) (1998) Current Logo Size Matters... ...So Does The Font A good logo must look good and be legible at all sizes. Size DOES matter in this game! A logo is not effective if it loses too much definition when scaled down for letterheads, envelopes, and small promotional items. The logo also has to look good when used for larger formats, such as posters, billboards, and electronic formats such as TV and the Web. Fonts play an important role in logo design, and should be treated on equal footing with any graphics you use. Try not to use more than one or two fonts, and standardize them across your marketing. A good font can become as recognizable to your brand as a unique graphic, plus choosing something bold and eye-catching can greatly increase your readability factor, so choose wisely The most reliable way to determine if a logo works at all sizes is to actualy test it yourself. Note that the smallest scale is usually the hardest to get right, so start by printing the logo on a letterhead or envelope and see if it is still legible. You can' also test for large-scale rendering by printing a poster-sized version at a print shop. When choosing a font, try and avoid commonly used types such as Comic Sans and Times New Roman as it will make you look amateurish; and make sure that whatever typeface you use looks good and is legible when scaled down. Take Me Seriously. x800 Use Appropriate Colours The choice of color is often termed as a secondary element of logo design since the message is more important than the color choice. However, color too makes the difference in logo designing. Choose colors that can actually complement the the hampers to message you intend to showcase using a logo. It is often recommended message inscribed in the Togo rather than choosing the one, which use colors, which are able to portray your company and at the same time appeals your target audience. For instance, if you have landscape design business consider using fresh green color in your logo, since a majority of times, the consumers are able to identify the businesses with the help of colors used in their logos. Lastly, avoid the gradients as they can simply become a nightmare for you. Dare To Be Different If you want to stand out from the crowd, you have to distinguish yourself as a designer with a unique style. That means breaking out of the mold and attempting something unique or different instead of chasing trends and trying to keep up with the rest of the pack. siPad mini Try breaking the established rules of design. Use clashing colours, irregular shapes or unusual effects and take a few risks during the design process. If it doesn't work you can always start again from scratch, but if you happen to stumble upon some magical combination of colours, shapes and fonts that really shouldn't work but somehow does, then you've probobly just created something very special. Design Style Should Suit The Company You can use various design styles when creating a logo, and to pick the right one, you should have some background information about the client and the brand. A recent trend in logo design is the Web 2.0 style of 3D-looking logos, with "bubbly" graphics, gradients, and drop shadows. This style may work well for a Web 2.0 website or tech company, but may not be effective for other kinds of brands. Research your client and its audience before you begin your preliminary work. This will help you determine the best design style from the start and save you from having to return repeatedly to the drawing board. WEDDING amazon.coM A V O N ZAR A THOMSON REUTERS The Goal Is Recognition HERMÉS accenture The whole point of creating a logo is to build brand recognition. So, how do you go about doing this? Well, it varies from case to case, but the goal with the logo is for the average person to instantly call the brand to mind. HSBC SONY JPMorgan A few examples of this are the logos for Coca-Cola, Pepsi, McDonald's, and Nike. Just a glimpse of any of these logos is all you need to recognize the brands. The key to making a popular and recognizable logo is to combine all of the elements discussed in this article: size, style, colour, typography, and originality. TIFFANY & CO. GUCCI Morgan Stanley Microsoft ORACLE S Santander Coca-Cola fohnen-fohmen Overlooking any of these during the design process will impair the quality of your final design. Examine your own logo design and see whether it meets all of these criteria. A quick test to determine if your logo is recognizable enough is to invert it using any graphic design software and see if you can still recognize the brand. Additionally, you should mirror the logo and see if it's easily recognizable in this state. 3M 濟 麵 PHILIPS Nintendo Iprite pepsi YAHOO! SIEMENS DELL Heineken Keep in mind that logos aren't always seen head-on in real world situations, for example, on the side of a bus or a billboard that you drive by. ||.| Panasonic Therefore, you should make sure to view your logo design from all angles and ensure that it's recognizable from any direction before submitting it to your client O HYUNDAI UNOKIAI azerO avenue working together to get the job done...OO Call Us Today:012 998 8848 Brought to you by Azero Avenue www.azero.co.za Source: http:/ldesignrfix.com/logo/top-remember-designing-logo http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/06/12-essential-rules-to-follow-when-designing-a-logo/ http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-08-28/five-rules-for-designing-a-great-logo Gillette AMSUNG Canon BlackBerry L'ORÉAL CATERPILLAR Allianz LOUIS VUITTON Cartier UDS GIORGIO ARMANI AV LenseN VANOH VISA TOYOTA'|1.|, citi colgate CISCO NESCAFÉ