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This article will look at the basics of effective logo design and how to make a company logo easy to remember and recognize.
The company logo is a symbol whose main function is to promote the company. The logo must be designed to be easily recognizable. Designing a logo can be a long and difficult task, given the functions and company requirements. The logo should be easily recognizable, it should encourage loyalty, it should encourage trust and it should show the professionalism of the company. The colors, shapes and images used in the logo are usually designed to be different from the competitors' logo (a choice of company colors operating in the same niche. The logo is used to identify the company and its products or services. The logo does not directly sell products and services, but rarely identifies them.It rarely describes a company or its activities, but it depicts the main characteristics of a company and its goods or services, using symbols, colors and geometric shapes.
Good logo characteristics
A good logo is practical, appropriate, different from others, graphic, simple in shape and conveys the company's "message". It must be able to communicate with the consumer and convey the message embedded in it. When designing a logo, it should be taken into account that it should look good in different sizes (on the website, on business cards, posters, television, etc.) and should be easy to perceive if it is black and white. Too much detail means that small details can be lost when resized or embedded in light boxes, for example, which in turn can lead to the same logo looking different in different environments, reducing the chances of it being easy to remember. Similar to the use of colors, they should be chosen so that no adjustments are required when embedding the logo on different backgrounds.
Logo development process
It is believed that designing a logo is very simple - it is small in size, often, very simple and easy to understand. If you get this impression when you see the logo, it is likely that the designer has done his job very well, because the development of the logo is a complex process and a lot of factors must be taken into account. Listed below are the basic steps to take when designing a logo, of course, each designer has their own, unique development process, but the basic idea does not change.
logo design scheme
Interview. The customer's requirements are clarified.
Research. The designer researches the industry, competitors, their logo and company styles, possible problems and solutions to make the logo better.
Reporting and reconciliation. The designer reports to the customer on the research results, possible solutions. The work to be performed is coordinated with the customer.
Development. Logo sketches are created.
Presentation and customer feedback. Logo sketches are presented to the client. The customer recommends changes or approves one of the sketches. After approval, the selected logo is improved, changes are made or brand new sketches are created. This circle takes place until the client accepts the job.
After design, the client is presented with a logo, most often, in vector graphics.
Basic principles of an effective logo
It is recommended to follow these basic principles when designing a logo.
Simple. Simplicity makes the logo easy to recognize, versatile and easy to remember. If the logo is simple, it is much easier to remember and notice. Market leaders most often choose simple logos because they are easy to remember and most often meet the customer's expectations. For example, when driving a car, noticing such a logo on the roadside, the driver has only a few hundredths of a second to notice it and ideally also remember it. The situation is similar with supermarkets (the company's choice of colors), where each product is given very little time. Great examples are Nike or McDonald's (capital "M").
Easy to remember. The easiest way to make this feature come true is to design a logo that is simple and relevant to the industry. Often the content of the logo is not very important, its design as such and the message are important (for example, on the social portal facebook, one of the more recognizable logos is the white letter "F" on a blue background).
Eternal. A good logo must be able to be effective even after 10, 50 and 100 years. It must be able to carry the same message as before. When designing a logo, it is recommended to abandon trends that often, temporarily appear in different industries, because, often, they are short-lived, which means that if the trend is no longer relevant, the logo will also lose its meaning.
Versatile. An effective logo is easy to perceive and performs its functions in various environments (television, print media, Internet, external environment). It is recommended to design the logo in vector graphics to ensure the possibility to resize it without losing quality. One of the easiest ways to design a versatile logo is to design it in black and white, focusing only on the basic idea and shapes, leaving a free choice of color (which is different for different cultures). The black and white logo is easy to transform into the colors you need. Also, the cost of printing must be taken into account - the more colors, the higher the cost, especially in the long run. The designer is advised to know the printing processes and options to avoid