Logo Design
Before you design a logo, you must understand what a logo is, what it represents and what it is supposed to do.
A logo is not just a mark - a logo reflects a business's commercial brand via the use of shape, fonts, colours, and / or images. Its function is to create a memorable, recognizable impression on the mind of a potential client. A logo is essentially at the heart of any corporate identity.
So what makes a 'good' logo? Most people would say they just know it when they see it! And this isn't far from the truth. Everybody knows that brand identity is key. A good logo can glamorise just about anything, so it comes as no surprise that logo design is a crucial step in the development of a product or service. Look at the logos below to see that it works:
A good logo catches the eye - it makes the observer curious or engaged, if only for a short moment. But even if a logo 'just is', there are elements that make it good or bad and we will look at some of those.
Types of logos
There are three basic types of logos:
• Text Logos
font-based logos (a text treatment which represents your company).
Words in their purest form can be images. Type fonts come in all shapes and sizes, which convey different impressions on the audience. Your company name thus can be your own logo provided your type font displays the intended qualities of the organisation.The Xerox logo above is an example of a text logo.
• Symbol Logos
A symbol uses an image or images that convey an actual or abstract representation of a business. Because a symbol alone is less direct than text, it leaves itself open to a wider interpretation of what the business is about. Using a symbol in your logo has several possibilities.
It may create an entirely new symbolic meaning. For instance, people did not originally associate the McDonald's golden arches with the company. But due to its corporate rise, people have grown to think 'McDonald's' whenever they see the symbol.
• Text and Symbol Logos
A brief amount of text, or sometimes just an abbreviation, compliments the symbol and provides that extra bit of clarity of what the business is about.
Simple is better
The main reason your logo should be simple is that people process an image in their mind more readily than words alone. A complex logo can be difficult to reproduce and, more importantly, difficult to remember. A logo that depends on fancy special effects is not a solid logo. 'Special effects' include drop shadows, bevels, reflections, lens flares. Remember that every element in a logo design is a potential distraction and every extra detail is one more thing to forget. Leave only the most important elements. The best logos are usually one or two words with maybe one simple symbol.
Slogan – tagline
One of the questions many start up business owners ask is whether they need a slogan and what it should be. Generally stated, taglines and slogans are phrases featured usually under the logo. Slogans and taglines have always been around. They're cool, but we do not always advise to include them in the initial design phases of your logo. But if you decide on it, use simple words and do not go for abstraction. A slogan must be to the point and not too wordy. A wordy slogan will tend to crowd up the logo design and make it difficult to promote the brand. Wordy taglines will require a small font that will become illegible at smaller sizes. Also, a tagline can create a lot of visual clutter in many applications.
Legibility
Text should typically be large, use conservative fonts, and have high contrast with its background. This is not the time to use fancy decorative fonts. Unreadable text is wasteful. Small print text blurs when the logo is small, decorative fonts are difficult to read, and low contrast colors hide your text.
Scalable - size matters
Does your logo look nice on a business card and a street banner in the same time? Your new logo needs to reproduce at a variety of different sizes - particularly on the smallish side. Knowing how your logo is going to be used, both in size and media, can help your designer create a logo that's appropriate in terms of complexity. Think business card, fax header. How about a company ballpoint pen?
Formats
When getting a logo designed, it is important to pay attention to the kind of files to expect and the files you actually get. Professional logo design companies usually provide the following types of final files for the logo designs they create: EPS, AI, TIFF, JPG, PNG and GIF. A reason for the many file types is that images differ in the number of colours they contain. If an image has few colours, a file type can be designed to exploit this as a way of reducing file size. JPG is optimised for photographs, while if your image has fewer than 256 colours and contains large areas of uniform colour, GIF is your choice. The files will be small yet perfect. Since JPG always means at least some loss of quality, TIFF means better quality. However, the file size is huge compared to even the best JPG setting, and the advantages may not be noticeable.
Don't change it. (Almost) never.
Brand recognition takes time. If your customers already know your logo, changing it means take all the work from the beginning. So once you've developed your logo, it's in your best interest to keep it.
Once again
• A logo must be memorable
• A logo must be describable
• A logo must look good in black and white, as well as in colour
• A logo must be scalable i.e. effective when just an inch in size
If you need any help with logo design, do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
HeadChannel Ltd
www.headchannel.co.uk
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