A good logo is a logo that is effective. An effective logo works for your company and represents your brand and your values. An effective logo is not a good-looking or a cute pictogram that you fancy. Design has to serve a purpose and therefore it is not art. I have put together five crucial aspects of an effective logo.
Your logo has to be relevant for your audience. There is no use in having a playful logo full of colours and funny shapes for a group of investors and vice versa.
Note that your logo does not need to show what your business is about. Does Mercedes have a car in its logo or does Nike have clothes in its logo?
I understand that there is a lot that you want to express about your business and your values through your logo. Trust me, less is more when it comes to logo design. Do not overcomplicate your design.
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
An effective logo focuses at most on one message or one core value. A good example of a logo carrying a strong message is the Amazon logo. The hidden message in this logo is that Amazon has it all from A to Z.
The ultimate purpose of your logo is to identify you and your brand. Being distinct, stepping out from the crowd and avoiding clichés (please, google overused logos) is the key to an effective logo design.
You do not want to confuse your customers and you do not want to be mixed up with your competition and most importantly you do not want to lose your customers or potential customers.
I have written in one of my previous articles on logo design the following: If the main feature of your logo is being trendy, you should redesign it. Trends come and go and a logo is not a pair of shoes that one can or should change every year.
There is a whole bunch of logos that have been around for many years. The perfect example of an evergreen logo would be Coca-Cola. It has been there for more than 130 years (and of course it has been redesigned to fit the actual needs. Take a peek at the Coke's loge evolution).
Your logo should be relevant next year, in five years and in 2050 as well.
An effective logo is a logo that works in a big scale as well as in a small scale. An effective logo is a logo that works in colours and in black or white as well. Bear in mind that your logo will be used as a favicon on your web, on business cards and on billboards. Does your logo look good and does it carry the message on all these materials?
Here are ten questions to ask to make yourself sure that your logo is effective:
