8 do's and don'ts when designing your company logo
Stop, close your eyes and think of Coca Cola.
What do you see?
Perhaps it’s the colour red and cursive white font?
OK, let’s try McDonald's.
Is it the golden arches?
If yes to either of those, then you’ve experienced the power of a good logo. They came straight to mind, without you having to do any work to get there.
Now they might appear simple. What is there to a coloured background and some pretty font?
But a good logo has behind it a set of golden principles, expert knowledge and lessons learned.
So when it comes to your own company’s logo, what should you do?
We’re going to share with you the 8 do’s and don’ts you need to follow when designing your company logo.
1. Do define your brand identity
A logo is an expression of your brand.
It represents so much.
It often makes the first impression people have on you. It helps define you from the competition. It can be a summary of your personality, your style, and even your principles.
But before you allow it to do that, you need to know what your brand identity is. A whole separate guide can be dedicated to this, but to get you started consider:
- If your brand was a person, what sort of person would they be?
- What makes you unique?
- If you could choose three words to describe your brand, what would they be?
2. Do find inspiration of logos you like
Staring at a blank document can be the worst. You sit there willing for the creativity to flow and, nothing.
You need to give yourself a starting point. Looking at logos you like can be a great starting point.
You may love or hate this recommendation, but sometimes browsing through Pinterest can be a great way to start this process.
There are thousands of designs on there and you can start saving some to a board to view later.
If you’d like to try a different route, sit down and have a brainstorm and try to write down the names of all the logos you can picture at the top of your head. Once you have a list, compile an image bank of them and select the ones you like most.
3. Do make your logo memorable
Having a memorable logo is an absolute must. It allows you to stay lodged in your customer’s mind.
Consider the introduction to this post when picturing McDonald’s. Their logo came to you because it was memorable. It wasn’t difficult to imagine.
But how do you make something memorable?
Keep it simple! Don’t try to have too much going, or a design try to make multiple points. Make it focused and convey a simple concept.
4. Do figure out your design style
By now you should have done a lot of groundwork.
You now need to figure out what style you want to adopt.
There are many different elements to consider such as typography, colours and shapes.
It’s at this point you might want to consider getting an expert who can help.
Here at Moken Digital we specialise in logo design and can give you 3-4 variations.
Hit us up here and let’s see what we can do.
So you know what you should do, but what are the things you don’t want to do?
5. Don’t take too much inspiration from competitors
Checking out the competition and their logos can be a good way to see what your audience already resonate with, however, you don’t want to copy and take too much inspiration.
There was once a time when Google’s logo resembled their competitor Yahoo by including an exclamation mark at the end. They have since removed this, but it’s an example that even the big players can mess up sometimes.
Taking too much inspiration doesn’t differentiate you when from others, and makes it harder for your brand to be remembered by individuals.
6. Don’t over-complicate your logo
Complicated logos make it much more difficult to be memorable.
With too much going in, people have a hard time trying to recall the designs.
There also comes the issue that your logo needs to look good in a variety of sizes. If it’s too complicated, when you shrink it down, it can look like a smudge or even a mistake. Your best port of call is to keep it simple.
7. Don’t be swayed by trends
Trends come and go, it’s the nature of how they work.
The design of your logo doesn't want to look cool one day and outdated the next.
You need to create something that stands the test of time. It’s better to focus on who you are as a company, and how you can reflect that best in your logo.
It all comes back to brand identity. Stick to that, and you can’t go wrong.
8. Don’t only design your logo in colour
It can be very tempting to design your logo immediately using a plethora of colours. However, you want to consider creating it in black and white first.
It will show you if what you’ve got stands well on its own, without the colour being what carries it.
It can also give you time to figure out what colours you want. Your colour choice needs to represent your brand and should be chosen carefully, rather than randomly.
Finally, many brand guidelines include an example of their logo without colour and you need to make sure it looks good.
If you follow these steps you’re in for a good chance of putting together a design you’re happy with.
At Moken Digital we can help you get your logo ready.
You’ll get the talent of our talented designers and years of experience to help you achieve the look you want and need.
Contact us now and let’s get something created for you.