The Importance Of Good Design
04 Mar 2013
In this competitive age, the need for a great logo is more important than ever. For businesses with an online presence and a physical address, the logo will be the first thing people see. It’s the thing that ties together your brand and lets people know who you are and what you’re about.
What Is a Logo?
A logo usually consists of three parts: the brand name set in a particular typeface or written in a certain way, a slogan associated with the company and an image or symbol representing the brand. With a strong logo and the right branding, any of these three elements can be used alone to represent the brand. The flexibility and opportunity for increased exposure this allows is a great example of why a good logo is so important.
What Makes a Great Logo?
A logo has several functions. Arguably, its most important function is to be instantly recognisable to consumers. A great logo is clear, memorable and flexible. It’s vital that your logo works in different media and in different sizes. There’s little point in having an intricately detailed logo that loses all clarity when it’s shrunk below a certain size.
The best logos also work equally well in black and white and in colour and look as good on a business card or a sign as they do on a PC monitor.
A logo should be unique and easily identifiable without being too unusual or too different from other brands and a good designer will be able to balance originality with homogeneity.
Things to Remember When Designing a New Logo
Although you want something unique for your business, the most effective logos are often simple. Geometric shapes work well as they’re clear, eye-catching and memorable. Great logo design and branding often has a classic design that will stand the test of time. There’s no point choosing a fashionable design which will look outdated in a couple of years. Many companies have been using the same branding for decades, tweaking small components such as the slogan font to keep their image fresh without diluting their brand identity.
It can be tempting to assume you can create your own logo, especially with all the free software available online these days. And many people can and do design their own logos. For a truly professional result, however, it’s advisable to seek specialist help. Designers will be happy to take your suggestions on board while refining your ideas to produce something which really works for your brand – and one that works in the real world. And that’s an important point, because physically building a logo for a sign can introduce new challenges that aren’t always clear on a computer screen.