Six rules to follow when designing your logo
Your logo is more than just a pretty design, it is the symbol people associate your brand with.
An icon, a type of font, or a color format can create a hit or miss for your business overall. We’ve seen it in various brands like Toyota and Instagram. They all combine these elements to make you recognize their brand from a mile away. But, how can you create a logo that can truly stand out and represent your business the way you want it to? We compiled six simple but important rules that can help you get there.
No. 1: Always brainstorm as many ideas as possible. Because your logo is the heart of your brand identity, it is imperative that you brainstorm as many design ideas as possible to select the one that fits your brand the most. Come up with 5-10 sketches of how you want your logo to look, and don’t rush into it. Create variations of these ideas that are highly visual and easily recognizable. It can be an icon (like Nike or Shell) or your brand name (like Honda, or Walmart). Icons tend to carry more visual weight while brand names can show off your brand’s presence. Make it simple enough that clients can easily identify it after one quick glance and that you can easily test it in various forms of media outside a computer to know how it looks.
No. 2: Choose no more than three brand colors. Colors appeal to people’s emotions and (sometimes) thought processes. When you select the colors, make sure they match your brand voice, your brand tone, and how your brand feels, because this will be translated into your logo. With colors, the grand majority of brands only use two or three, at most, and they ensure these colors can be converted into grayscale, and black and white for printing, or digital purposes. Furthermore, use color combinations that are soft to the eyes and easily identifiable. The most important thing that business owners and brands forget is, is to know if your target audience attracted to these colors and why?
No. 3: Choose easily readable fonts. Similar to colors, fonts stand out and make your brand known (like Disney). When choosing the font for your logo, make sure it’s legible but unique. Consider upper or lower caps, see how the text looks when centered, test out font sizes, use your tagline, or even consider handwritten fonts if it goes with your brand.
No. 4: Always use balance and symmetry. When combining the elements of an icon, font, and brand colors, make sure they all look and feel balanced. If using your tagline is part of your brand logo, always make it shorter and thinner than your brand’s name when putting it on your logo. Your brand name will usually be bigger or thicker. Likewise, keep the icon at a size that doesn’t overpower the name of your brand or company.
No. 5: Try to avoid trends. Design trends are very persuasive, but they are short-lived. What looks cool today may look silly and outdated in a few years. Your logo is the face and (sometimes) the voice of your brand identity, and it will be tested and featured in various forms of media. As we said, take your time to work on it so it can be memorable and timeless.
No. 6: Keep it simple. We all know what the icon of an apple stands for, or what the big yellow M is associated with, right? When creating your logo, you want customers to not only recognize it easily but remember it. When we think about logos that we recognize, we have to ask ourselves how they make us feel and what is it about them that stands out. Most of the time we associate a positive feeling or thought with the product or service that the brand offers. And that is how you want your customers to react when they see your logo.
Do you need a professional logo design? Contact Full of Grace Marketing and check out how our branding and logo design services can help you demonstrate your values, humanize your brand, and tap into what makes your business unique.