Here we are again entering a new year- and you might be thinking, besides that really old goal of loosing weight, that you would like to refresh your brand identity. 5 Logo Design Tips will get you thinking about your brand and logo.
Or maybe your preparing to launch a new startup and you need brand identity from the ground up. Designing from scratch is straight forward really, as you have no brand equity that needs to be considered. Now if your redesigning for a brand that’s established it’s much more complicated and will require more meeting with your design firm as more needs to be discussed.
What are the reasons for rebranding?
Some business owners think that a redesign of their brand will increase sales due to a snappy new design. While this could be true in the short term it could also derail your sales if this idea isn’t really thought through.
I remember reading back some years, (I think it was in Advertising Age), about Pepsi Co wanting to stimulate sales of it’s Tropicana brand. The new brand design on the carton showed a straw stuck inside the orange. The people who were purchasing the Tropicana brand didn’t need to be reminded what this product called juice looked like. The redesign cost Pepsi millions in lost sales. I remember my graphic design instructor would often say “just because you can doesn’t mean you should”. That is the case with a redesign. I’m not saying a redesign is a bad thing, and that it wouldn’t work for you. In fact it may be just the thing. But because the stakes are much higher having brand equity you don’t want to loose what you have already established.
Lets dig into 5 logo design tips. If you want to read a great book about logo design check out. Logo Design Love by David Airey it doesn’t matter if your not a designer some of the tips will help you when your discussing your project with a designer.
5 Logo Design Tips
1. Ask yourself a questions- lots of questions.
If this is a new Identity then you questions will be much less extensive, since there’s a lot that you don’t know. Or as the saying goes I don’t know what I don’t know. As an example you wouldn’t know as much about your competition as someone who has been competing with another brand for years. So again if this is a redesign, you need to spend more time working the process through. I would recommend an extensive search of your competition prior to ending up with a brand concept, as you want to stay away from any duplication.
2. Clear objectives, clean design.
How many times have you looked on the side of the road and seen hand writing “thin pen or pencil” with the words scribbled yard sale? Or maybe the local hair dresser with a hand script font that you couldn’t read from 30 feet never mind inside of strip mall from the highway! If you considering using text for a word logo, you should a block text- especially for signage.
3. Estimation of Time.
This is a tough one, it took me weeks to come up with a logo for my photography design site, I’m talking 3 weeks of just about every night hammering through designs and research. If your a graphic designer you need to consider this carefully before quoting your client. If your the client the same goes for you when considering hiring a designer. This is not to say that all logos take weeks, some may take a week or even a day, a lot depends on how through the information is that your given to work with. Parties need to be patient.
4. A logo doesn’t need depict what the company does.
About eight years ago I came up with the design of a swan for my web marketing company SLOCUM DESIGN STUDIO. What has a swan got to due with web marketing? At the time I wanted something that signified strength, in like soaring above, powerful wings etc. People who see it on my business card love it. I honestly found that it worked great for us.
5. A logo mark isn’t always needed.
In the case of this website, and my brand MARK MEDEIROS, I don’t use a logo. And I would say this if you have a company or person with a strong brand identity with their name you might want not to design a logo with an image next to their name. Or even using a new made up name for their product or service.
Another example is this design that I did for a legal group. They have a very strong brand established in their city and we discussed it along with looking at some image logos that this suited then better. So symbols are not always necessary.
The bottom line is that you want a logo that is unique, clean and easy to understand in under a few seconds. Thanks for reading 5 Logo Design Tips.
Good luck and I hope you make or get made for you a super design in 2016.
Creating a strong logo requires craft, creativity, aesthetics, and familiarity. Professionally designed logos are a must for your company.
When we think about it, we live in a brand society. We recognize many logos and what the company sells just by their brand mark or logo.