Sep
8
Written by:
Project Complete
9/8/2009 2:53 PM
When designing your logo, the most important rule to keep in mind is the tried and true KISS principle: Keep It Simple and Short. That may not be the original definition of the KISS principle, but it works really well for logo design! A logo can be just the name of your company in a specific font, or it may be a symbol that represents your business, or it could be a combination of both.
Your logo will identify your company and distinguish it as being unique. It should also communicate a value and send a message about your company. Do you want to be known for being kid-friendly, reliable, caring? Is your company technical, creative, or elegant? All these messages can be portrayed in your company's logo.
Keeping it short means that your logo should include only what's necessary to identify you. For instance, Adobe Systems is known as Adobe; Apple Computer becomes Apple; and United Air Lines is just United when it comes to their logo. You may want to include a tagline with your logo to further identify your company.
If you're working on designing a logo symbol, make sure you're using simple, uncluttered shapes. A star, rectangle, oval or other abstract shape come to mind, but if there's a simple shape that would represent your business, that's always a good call. There may be a nature shape that would represent your business well — maybe a tree if you're in the landscaping business, or even an animal might be appropriate. Just make sure that it has nice clean, simple lines.
You'll want to use fonts that complement your company name. Typefaces are like clothes — you don't want to be wearing the wrong clothes for the wrong occasion. In other words, a beautiful elegant typeface like calligraphy would be great for, say, a fine dining restaurant, but would be inappropriate for the construction company that built the restaurant. It should be a font that is easily readable and should complement your logo symbol.
When choosing colors for your logo, again, it's a good idea to select colors that best represent your company. A child care center may want to use primary colors in their logo, while a large corporation will choose more sedate, business-like colors for their logo. One final thing to keep in mind is that your logo will be used for all kinds of applications, so make sure that it looks good in black and white as well as color, and can be very small or very large without losing its clarity, depending upon its application.
If you follow the KISS principle, you'll love the results of your logo design.