Logo Design Blog - Corporate Logo Design - Custom Logo Design

Logos build up your online identity and as such should reflect your business objectives as well as effuse professionalism. Without these, your brand might sink into oblivion. Over the years, the logo designing industry has been significantly expanding. A good logo designer is one who combines his artistic skill with good business sense.

Designing a logo requires skill and method. An amateur might consider the logo design job as a mere simple one. The task is essentially simple for good artists. Before designing a logo, make sure you have the following:

• Knowledge of the company/organization/business.
• The company name or initials; ask the client whether he needs a symbolic logo or a text logo.
• Check if the company has a tagline.
• Know the color preferences of the client. Many clients prefer specifying the logo color while some leave it to the imagination of the graphic artist. Color choice may also depend on the industry. For instance, an eco printer business will essentially need a touch of green in its logo to emphasize on its environmental aspect.
• Style of the logo- Logo style depends generally on client choice; they might opt for an illustrated logo, a vector logo, or a 3D logo.

This knowledge is enough to proceed with the first draft of the logo design. Once you get the concept right, you can be assured of moving on the right track. The rest becomes easier with client feedback. A good logo designer thus works on a step by step process to design an eye-catching logo.

When it comes to designing a logo, there are five factors that should strike your mind:

1. Is it describable?
2. Is it memorable?
3. Is it effective without color?
4. Is it scalable?
5. Is it appropriate?

The first two concerns are interrelated. If you cannot describe a logo, you can never remember it. That’s the reason why simple logos are considered the best option. Complex logos can never be successful as they end up confusing the viewers. The success of text logos can also be ascribed to the fact that these logo genres are self-explanatory. Hence, more and more people can remember these logos without fail.

Colors come second in the designing process. If a logo looks good in black and white, then it can look good in any color. Many designers work on the color aspect at the end of the designing process.

Scalability of a logo is important, especially for office stationary like pens, badges etc. A good logo can match up with any requirement and should look great in all sizes.

Finally, a good logo design never escapes its business objective. Logo lends identity to a business and hence should be in complete sync with its business goals. Ensuring that the business is identified by its logo thus becomes obligatory. This is the only way by which a logo can stand out amidst its competitors.

Every business owner dreams of creating a unique brand identity i.e. the logo. Many of them leave no stone unturned to hire top notch designers so as to achieve results of the highest quality. But in spite of all these efforts, your logo might fail to make a mark. The reason… your lack of participation.

Many business owners fail to realize the value of their feedback and participation in the designing process. There are three basic rules to creating a successful logo and memorable corporate identity.

KISS the Logo: Surprised? Well, the first and foremost thing to remember is to keep the logo absolutely simple, thus referring to the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid!). Simple logos are easily comprehensible and linger on people’s mind for long. A remarkable thing about good logo designers is that they spend 1/4th of their time creating a logo concept and another 1/4th in simplifying the same logo from its present complex form. A good example would be the logo of Microsoft or Sony which is nothing but simple text with style (italics for Microsoft) variations. What makes them unique and recognizable is the wise use of typeface.

Proper Choice of Colors: Every industry is symbolized by a particular color. A fruit juice company can be represented by the colors of fruits like oranges while the logo of a gardening business can be drawn in fresh green color. Besides, the colors you choose will also be used on your business cards, letterheads, and other media of corporate identity. So choose only those colors that would go well with every section of your corporate identity.

Allow Flexibility in your Logo: A good logo design is always flexible so that it could be reproduced not only in multi-colors but also in black & white version. Flexibility is desired because the logo might not turn out quite well in every media. Hence, the logo should be scalable to look great in all sizes.

Wrapping things up, you should remember that your logo design mirrors who you are and what you do. Hence, there should be no compromise with its design. A logo should send the right message across to its customers. Therein lies the essence of a successful logo.

What is a Logo?

Logo is the visual representation of your company or organization. It is the name, symbol, monogram, emblem, trademark or any other graphic representation designed for easy and definitive recognition by your company audience.

Short History

Logo design has its origin in Greece. Ancient Greeks used symbols, which consisted of one or more letters. These typically represented the initial letters of a person or place for use on stationery and signs. Early Greek coins used to bear the logos of rulers and towns. In the middle ages, similar logos were seen in abundance in commercial use.

Merchants in the thirteenth century used these simple letterforms as trademarks. These early examples of logo design include marks for masons, goldsmiths and nobility. By the 1700s, every trader and dealer had a trademark or stamp.

The industrial revolution caused a dramatic gain in the value and importance of trademarks. By the 1950s, with the emergence of national and multinational corporations, trademarks began to move beyond symbols, using larger design systems to unify all communications, to accomplish identifiable goals.

In today’s world, company logos have become the faces of business. The general audience has become very responsive to logos and their meanings. Because of the diversity of products and services available today, a well planned and thought-out-logo design is very important to a company’s success.

Importance of Logo

Logos trigger people’s memories of previous experiences with the company, leaving a greater impact than words alone can do. Logo itself is the simplest and direct way of promoting a business. It describes a company without lengthy explanation. A well-designed logo will help your business to increase visibility and in turn, sales.

What makes a Good Logo

Don’t be too flashy and try not to include too much information. These can have a negative impact. Complex designs representing all aspects of your business and long tag lines are fine in their place, but not as part your logo. The logo type and imagery should be instantly recognizable, up close and at a distance.

Logos with rich colors and rich illustrations may be difficult to use in certain applications. A good logo design should consider all potential implementations.

Your company logo design should be distinct to make your company stand out of the crowd. Using common or fashionable styles goes against the purpose of having a logo and can even have a negative backlash among your audience, who can view your company as unimaginative.

For any business to succeed, branding is the key. The logo is the core aspect of branding that paves the way to a successful business. If you are looking to design a logo for your company, then choose your logo-designing firm carefully. There are thousands of logo designing firms and choosing the reliable and professional designing firm is not very easy. Yet you can always keep an eye on certain things to ensure that you get the most out of your logo-designing firm.

1. Business in the Logo

The logo symbolizes your business. A great business logo is one that can sum up your entire business objectives within itself. People should be able to remember your business when they look at your logo. Just a glance at your logo should bring your products to their minds. For example, the way we think of Nike when we look at the Nike’s “Swoosh”. It is simple, but effective. You can make a complex logo, but if it fails to impress your customers, it does not serve its purpose.

2. Company Symbol

The logo should portray your company. The aim of your company and the target audience should be kept in mind while designing the logo. Your logo represents your company. The faster you understand this fact, the easier it becomes for you to understand your logo. If you idolize class, then your logo should have simple and classy designs and colors. A flashy logo here will be a deterrent to your company.

3. Elegance

Designing a logo is a creative work and it takes the mind of a genius to design a logo that is different yet elegant. Herein lies the secret of your business success. Your logo should be quite different from your competitors yet easy to remember. But make sure that in quest for uniqueness, your logo designer does not end up creating complicated logos, which your customers fail to remember.

4. Indelible Impression

Your logo should possess the quality to remain etched in the minds of the people forever. If you use bright and flashy colors that are in today, they might be obsolete in the years to come. So make sure that your logo designers create a logo for all times and for all ages that will represent your company in the years to come.

Logo designing is a creative job. Make sure your logo designer incorporates the above-mentioned features to make your business logo design unique.

Alison Hulett said, “The logo or trademark is without a doubt the ultimate ‘branding’ tool.” The logo is the entry point to the brand – this statement perfectly defines the position of your company logo and the part it plays in your visual portfolio.

The word “logo” means a name, symbol, or trademark designed for easy recognition. To better understand the place of the logo in organizational branding, it is helpful to look at a little history. The use of logos goes back to the early days of the Renaissance, around the 13th Century. Goldsmiths, masons, paper makers, and potters, were among the first trades people to use marks—pressings into gold, chiseled symbols, watermarks on paper, and simple thumbprints on pottery. Trademarks are still used for the same reason, they were established centuries ago: to provide an easy method for recognizing a particular product. These “marks” made it easier to differentiate a quality product from one that was not well made. The value of the craftsmanship represented in the gold, paper, stonework, pottery, etc., could be expressed through the special, distinctive mark on the product. It’s still helpful to think of a logo in those terms: your logo is your symbol—your mark—of guaranteed authenticity. A simple swoosh on a pair of athletic shoes transforms those modest sneakers into desirable, quality footwear with an unspoken guarantee of “authentic athletic performance.”

Logos are still the front door to products and services today. Uniqueness is key to the success of the identity of a business. The uniqueness of a logotype is of utmost importance to avoid confusion in the market place. The spontaneous perception of the logo increases through the consistency of its presentation.

A good logo provides a recognizable image portraying the quality and professionalism of a business. A professionally designed corporate logo will allow you to create your brand and effectively market your product or service. Your logo should be simple and readable. The viewer should “get it” immediately and be able to get a “sneak peek” into your brand through the mark itself. The challenge then, is to create a logo that is simple and immediate without being boring or institutional. Your logo should convey a sense of emotion and personality. Think of it as the layers of an onion. As you peel each layer—the typography, the symbols, the shapes and textures, and color palette—you learn more and more about the brand, better to say more about the company behind the logo. Your logo should express the appropriate tone and voice articulated in your brand strategy. Since brand consistency ensures that consumers will easily recognize the products, branding is especially important to small and growing businesses.

Your logo should look different than other logos—especially those who share your same market space or prospect base. Having a “me too” logo designs, will weaken your organization’s uniqueness and the differentiation you tried so hard to establish in developing your brand essence. It is always advisable to approach professional branding or designing companies who have proper experience in conceptualizing your company logo and shaping them in reality.

Every logo has a story to tell about its company or organization and its products and services. So it is always advisable to choose your logo wisely because this logo symbolizes the name and brand of your organization. Some popular logos that are identified solely by their symbols are Yahoo’s “Y!” the Nike “Swoosh” and the Google. The attributes of the logo, i.e. its color, shape and design are very important aimed to communicate the image of the company to its customers.

Logo designing is considered to be an important aspect of graphic designing and is an art in itself. Logo-designing firms are specialized in this job and several meetings with these firms help the logo designers to develop an appropriate logo, which symbolizes the true spirit of the company. These logo-designing firms offer a variety of designing options such as vector designs or 3D designs that will help you to choose the best possible logo for your organization.

To ensure that your logo stands the test of time you need to look for the following in your logo:

- Your logo should be unique and different from any other logos of your industry or different industry.

- Your logo should be consistent in any media. The logo should hold its color, shape and design across a variety of media.

- Easily recognizable amongst thousands of other logos.

- Your logo should explicitly represent the vision of your organization.

Creation of a brand and corporate identity involves a lot of hard work. Thus a logo works in two ways: not only does it earn profit when you make a sale, but also assists in brand promotion when the customer uses it and tell others to buy it. This is the power of a strong logo. Thus, a well-designed logo is the most valuable thing for a company that can help them to reach new heights.

Designs can change the world. This may sound lofty but it is something that people have come to believe and that has been reinforced by other designers; discussed and debated at conferences. Sure it is a lofty belief but it keeps things going. Anybody loves and appreciates good design. But you have to admit that ultimately the design of anything is only successful when it clearly communicates its message. Unlike art, there are rules in design: there are the grids that one builds within and the brands that contain them. What is the key to survive such a rigorous structure? Knowing when to break the grid and holding nothing sacred.

Design is always a passionate endeavour. But Creative Strategy is not. And design has to be innovative. Can you imagine a world without innovation? A world without basic medicine such as penicillin where a minor infection could be life threatening; a world where we still take our clothes down to the riverbank and beat them with rocks to clean them; a world where we cannot store food for longer than a day because we have no way to chill or freeze. It is hard to imagine. Steve Hilton argues that ‘behind every great brand lies a valuable social benefit delivered through innovation’ and cites some recent examples of how brands have improved customers’ lives in developing countries. And behind every leading brand there is good innovative design to market it.

Brands are everywhere. There is nowhere in the western world you can go where you will not see, buy or encounter a brand in some shape or form. As widespread, however, is the lack of understanding about the nature and role of brands. When you buy a can of Coke anywhere in the world you are assured of three things: firstly, a distinctive product; secondly, a great taste and thirdly, an assurance of a high level of quality, a quality that the consumer has become accustomed to and trusts to deliver their expectations. The truth is that people like brands. One benefit of brands’ cultural ubiquity is the ability to harness a widespread appeal for promoting social good.

Logo designs have a widespread influence on consumer attitudes towards brands. Logos have played an important role not only in brand promotion but have also come handy for conveying the brands motive across to its targeted consumers. Coca Cola has used its brand to create sexual health campaigns in Africa to combat AIDS; McDonald’s has a long tradition of supporting local communities; MTV has used its organization to change attitudes towards issues such as AIDS, environmental protection and human rights and ASDA supermarkets have campaigned against domestic violence. All these big brands have employed creative skills to convey the message through their logos.

Researchers have found that brand name characteristics and their effects on either memory or attitudes have been of primary importance. Although research claims brand logos generate positive consumer response to the brand. On one side, consistency has been shown to have positive impact on attitude. This could be epitomized by integrated marketing communications where brand elements “should talk with a single voice”, to consumers in order to enhance brand attitudes. On the other side moderate incongruity effects have been shown to have a positive impact on attitudes as well. The figurativeness of logos have increased the coherence in communication signs and led to unique brand building strategies. People need someone or something to depend upon, and they choose well-known brands, while shopping, because they are assured that they can depend upon the brand. The known logo the known color, the recognized design- all makes them believe, ‘yes , this is something that will not betray me. This is some thing I can rely upon.’

No matter what you do to make your business a success, everything would be fruitless if your business fails to register proper recognition in its market. To let your logo display its potential to the full, it is highly important to design it accordingly. Logos stand for the identity of any business or organization and as such, should mirror its objectives to the full. Hence, adequate attention is required to build up the identity that your business aims for.

Creation of a company or business logo not only requires skill but intelligence as well. This is a task of great responsibility and should be handed to efficient designers, who have proved themselves in this business. Often, entrepreneurs want to try their hand at designing their own logos but the results might not be so bright unless you are a professional graphic designer. Business logos serve as marketing tools and are used on letterheads, business cards, signs and so on. It’s, therefore, not feasible to let your logo appear as an amateurish work in front of the world. So, the first step towards lending your logo the essential power would be to assign the task to a professional.

The next step towards a powerful logo creation involves the role of entrepreneurs in the designing task. This is by no means in contrast to what has been said earlier. Entrepreneurs should discuss their business goals and prospects with the designers to convey what they want their logo to represent. They should be able to translate their logos for various promotional items as posters, classifieds, business cards, brochures, etc. Once the outline of the logo has been finalized, the client should review the design and make suggestions. Feedback and reviews should always be welcomed so as to make the logo design more alluring. It’s important for your logo to look good both in black and white. Avoid using too many colors in a single logo design.

Any business or company logo design should possess the inherent capacity of standing the weathers of time. Following the changing trends will never account for the lasting success of any logo. Once the trend wanes, the logo too goes beyond recognition, in other words, it loses its identity. The target of any business entrepreneur should thus be the creation of a unique logo design that would stand the test of time and register an indelible impression on the onlookers’ minds. It’s definitely not a layman’s job to create such unique logos. Simple but unique: that’s the recipe for a powerful and effective logo. Intelligent design and concept makes a logo unique. For instance, if your business is based in the US, do not use a star in the logo as hundreds of competitive companies have already done so. Besides, the logo design of any organization should appeal to its target audience.

A corporate logo design should be highly instrumental in building your corporate identity and should successfully exude the company’s attitude. The viewers must have some idea about the disposition, character, or fundamental values of your company through your logo.

Following certain basic principles can ensure that your corporate logo design is professional easy to remember and creates a great impact on its viewers while successfully expressing the nature of your business.

1) Go for Professional Logo Designers

You might save a few dollars doing your own logo or getting it done from the next door boy who knows the basics of designing but if you are serious about your business you should always go for a professional logo design firm. Your corporate logo is your identity, your customers recognize you by your logo, so the more professional and sophisticated your logo is the better will be your customer’s impression about your company.

Though most of the logo design companies charge exorbitant rates to create a corporate logo design but the industry is changing. These days there are companies that offer excellent professional logos for nominal charges.

2) Simplicity – Keep it Simple

An ideal corporate logo design should be simple and memorable. Corporate houses spend thousands of dollars to ensure that customers remember them at all point of time and a simple logo is the key to that. Think about the Nike logo, it’s simple and memorable—once you see the Swoosh, do you ever need to think twice about the company name?

3) Colors

Colors you use for your corporate logo are a very important factor in your brand establishment. If you already have your corporate colors ask your logo designer to use those colors for the logo. If you don’t, suggest the colors that you think might give your prospective clients some idea about the type of business you do. For example, a company working in the fields of forest conservation might like their logo to be in green. At the same time, you also need to consider which colors will go well with your corporate stationeries as well.

• Minimize Colors

  This is more important from an economic and usability point of view. Corporate logos are often required to be printed for stationary and corporate literature. Using a one or two spot color logo can save a lot of cost compared to printing a full color logo.

4) Black and White Version

While emphasizing the colors we must also remember that it is important for a corporate logo to come out well in black and white. A corporate logo design is used in all corporate communications including fax and photocopied document where they will be in black and white and the logo design must be such that it holds the same impact even in black and white.

5) Logo Format

It is advisable to always use a vector format for your corporate logo design. A corporate logo may be required to be reproduced at any size for different purposes in the future. A logo design done in vector format can be expanded to any size without any loss of image quality, where as a corporate logo in raster format will loose image quality, if scaled up. Also it is easier to convert a vector logo design to bitmap than vice versa. If you get a professional logo design firm to do your corporate logo design and brief them about this basic tips (most of the knowledgeable firms are well aware of these principles) you are sure to get a satisfactory corporate logo design that would go a long way in helping you establishing your brand.

6) Use your Logo

Once you are ready with your corporate logo start giving it maximum exposure possible. Not only on your business cards and letterheads but also on your packaging, uniforms, pens and all possible goods should contain your logo. This gives wider exposure to your logo and people gets familiar with the corporate logo much faster. With all these you are on your way to establish your brand.