Your business logo is so much more than just a pretty picture. Your logo symbolizes everything that your business stands for and over time will become deeply associated with your business name. An effective logo is an incredibly important part of your business. Here are some of the essential rules to follow when designing a new logo.
Hire a Professional Logo Designer
Unless you are a graphic designer with a deep understanding of branding and creative media, don’t attempt to do it yourself. Creating an amateur logo will only end up damaging your business in the long run.
Avoid Trends
Don’t design a logo that utilizes time-sensitive trends from popular culture or media. Within a few years, they will be outdated and only make you look foolish.
Simplicity is Paramount
Simplicity is important for many reasons. Keeping your logo simple means it will scale to many sizes and still be recognizable in color or black and white. It also means that it will be easily identifiable and not require a lot of thought to figure out what you are trying to say.
Research Your Design
Your logo design will represent your business, and you don’t want to make the mistake of copycatting another business logo. You would think it’s easy to come up with a unique design, but many of the great, simple designs are already taken. Avoid potential trademark disputes and brand name confusion by researching your design before publication.
Reverse Your Logo
Make sure you have versions of your logo in standard and reverse color. There may come a time that you need to place your logo on a dark background and you don’t want to be surprised by terrible results if you haven’t already planned for this.
Test On All Media
Make sure your logo looks great on all forms of media. It might look sharp and pleasing on a computer screen, but what about on a mobile device? What about in print? Or in black and white? Or in tiny, postage-stamp sized black and white printed on fabric? Your logo should be flexible and still recognizable on all forms of media.
Hopefully these tips will help guide you in the right direction with your new logo design. Your logo design can be an incredibly exciting process that involves all aspects of your branding and business objectives. Avoiding some of the common pitfalls can keep this process a positive one!
