Read on as we tell you about the ingredients that go into designing a great logo.
Read on as we tell you about the ingredients that go into designing a great logo.
Believe it or not, a logo can increase brand recognition by 80%. The logo is the heart of any brand. Think about Apple, Samsung, or Nike; your brain immediately draws their logo when you hear their name, right? But, a brand name is not the only way to recognize the logo. Then, what makes the logo memorable? What makes it recognizable? Does that have to do with its color, font, or personal touch? A good logo is simple, engaging, and conveys information about the brand. Some brands use traditional logos, while other brands combine different elements, symbols, or unsuitable typography in their logos.
The key to a successful logo is to share the brand's values with its audience, which must also reflect its brand message and culture. Let’s dive into the concepts of a good logo design.
To understand the elements of a good logo, let’s quickly understand what a good logo does.
“The primary goal of any logo is to create a brand identity.” - Paul Rand.
A good logo is a reliable tool to attract and create a memorable impression among your customers. It needs to represent your brand using a simple graphic. It simply means the logo must communicate with your potential customer. It tells your customer what to expect from the brand's product, service, or company culture. It informs your customer about the brand identity and personality.
It does the work of branding to promote your products or services.
Designing a good logo is not as easy as it seems, nor as straightforward as some might think. It results from creativity, a combination of elements, and more. Here are some essential elements of the Logo and their impact on branding.
The Color in your logo is not just a shade; it represents the emotions that attract your customers. Color plays a crucial role in representing a company's overall character and setting a tone for the brand. It defines whether the brand is luxurious, casual, sustainable, or other. In addition to attracting customers, it creates the first impression.
Here’s what each color represents for your brand:
a. Red
It represents passion and love for the industry. Further, it stimulates appetite and attracts customers to influence their purchasing decision. The loud brands like YouTube and Netflix stand out using it.
b. Orange
The combination of yellow and red color, represents creativity, determination, and excitement. It reminds your customer about freshness and friendliness, just like Nickelodeon uses orange to connect with the young audience and Fanta to represent the freshness of the tropical drink.
c. Yellow
It represents energy and positive emotions. It’s one of the bold ways to grab customers’ attention. If you want customers to recognize globally like Snapchat and Mcdonald's, yellow is perfect for your brand.
d. Green
It represents sustainability, growth, health, and nature. Green is associated with calming and makes people feel more attached to nature. Green is perfect for conveying to your customer if you’re into a nursery or produce organic beverages like Praakritik.
e. Blue:
It represents tranquility and cleanliness. The brand's most preferred color indicates trust and authority among the customers. It is also used very commonly for software and pharmaceutical companies. Use blue to stand out from your competitors, just like IBM and Oral-B.
A well-designed logo should be easy to understand and read. Unlike colors, typography has its personality, so you should get acquainted with it. Each font influences the way your brand and product are, so choosing the right font can convey the brand’s message in the right tone and style to your customer. Similar to furniture, the typography should simultaneously be visually appealing, aesthetically pleasing, and functional. Remember, the choice of typography can impact user experience. You must consider how your logo will appear on the website, business card, letterhead, and packaging; you must balance typography with the icon.
Here are a few that represent your brand:
a. Serif:
One of the traditional and sophisticated font serifs is for the brands that exert timelessness and legacy. Like Rolex and Mercedes, they build trust and respectability associated with the brand's authority and grandeur using the “Serif” font.
b. Sans Serif:
The cleanest font with any kind of visual design is mainly straightforward, streamlined, modern, and hip. Like Microsoft and Google, Sans Serif makes the logo look futuristic.
c. Script:
Cursive font could have an elegant and feminine touch. A handwritten font could give a down-to-earth feel to the brand, and provide the perception of offering handcrafted services. This typeface can make the brand feel more casual and playful, like Coca-Cola and Barbie. If choosing this style, ensure your logo is appropriately sized since script fonts are hard to read in small form.
Combining different typefaces can add visual interest to your logo. Mixing can create a more dynamic and elegant solution that suits your brand personality when appropriately used. But remember combining too many typefaces can make a logo clumsy and unfocused.
Your business is one of a kind, so you need to make sure the logo is unique too. A well-crafted logo design differentiates your brand from your competitor. It tells the customer why your brand is unique. For example, there are 50 other coffee shops in the city, but your logo represents sustainability, and that green & earthy look represents that message.
But, how to create a logo that makes your brand stand out from the competitors? Designing a good logo can be hectic because it’s time-consuming, and you need to get it right! You don’t want customers to get confused and risk your sales. To make that easier, here are some tips:
A story around your brand makes it easier for people to remember who you are and what you do or the product your brand sells. Good stories don’t always need words; human imagination can connect those dots with a few key elements. To make your logo strong and tell your brand story, you need to choose visual elements that creates an emotional connection with your audience. A successful logo reflects the tone of your brand image and is unique to your business.
Remember, your brand might evolve, but your original story will stay the same. The logo's story can help your audience understand your business and add personality to your brand. When someone sees your brand logo, you want them to understand its identity and brand story.
A company’s logo is the heart of your brand, as it provides the customer with instant recognition of your brand, product, or services. Brand identity comes to mind when we think about promoting our product. A logo is the first thing that appears in your customer’s minds when they’re looking for a solution to a problem. Your logo should be powerful enough that your customer remembers the shape and what it stands for.
Instagram is a fantastic example of what a relevant brand logo needs to show. A simple logo that demonstrates the centerpiece of the icon - the camera and communicates its key function - Photo and video sharing. Another superb example is Burger King, which creates attractiveness and hunger that makes you rush to the nearest Burger King restaurant. The logo indicates the product they sell- Hamburger.
A logo represents a brand through a visual image that can be easily understood and recognized quickly. Your brand logo should speak to the audience's mind directly without confusing them.
Remember, you will include your logo in every aspect of your business; it should highlight details and should represent what you have to offer. An over-decorative logo might be fun, but it's a waste if customers can’t recognize them.
If you look at some iconic brand logos, many have changed and evolved over the years. Even the most successful logos need a touch of change when a new trend emerges and companies develop.
However, you don’t need to change the logo every time; you don't need a costly redesign every year. While your logo might evolve over the years, again and again, the fundamental elements need to stay the same if you want your customer to recognize the brand.
For example, Apple’s logo continues to be popular after all these years; why? The brand made minor changes to its logo but kept it simple with an apple symbol. Your brand logo should not be stuck with trends. While staying on trends is a necessary part of marketing, there’s a fine line between trendy and cliche. All trends come and go, but the logo has to be timeless.
Even though you should be aware of the latest trends, don’t rely too much on them; it might be a big mistake for your brand. Instead, focus on what you want to convey to your customers.
Now that you know the qualities and elements of a good logo, you’re ready to take off and create a logo that builds brand value.
Are you still confused? You can check how good your brand logo is with our Logo Elevator tool.
Also, our team is already ready to help you - if it's not scoring well.
We are Desworks, the design arm of Bizongo. We design brands, packaging, products and have delivered 85+ successful projects in the last 5 years of our existence.
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