Tips for Creating an Effective Logo
Creating logos may seem like a simple design and quick item to cross off your designer to do list, but if you want to make something effective and eye catching a lot more thought needs to go into the process. A good logo is a combination of color (or lack of), meaning, and lasting impression that clearly showcases a brand’s visual identity. Finding the balance of incorporating an entire brand identity into one simple, but attention grabbing, logo is obtainable and effective with the right tools. Creative Market, the 3 million member creatives platform, documented a list of several tips and tricks for how to create a great logo. You can read the full list here, below we pulled our favorite highlights.
Do Your Research and Get Inspired
As Creative Market bluntly points out, a logo isn’t something you create “while binge-watching your favorite Netflix show.” Research needs to go into the company, their culture and personality, and what they want to convey about their identity to consumers. Thorough market research and communication with the client will help the logo stay on target and be effective. Diving into the company’s history will push forward ways to improve their brand identity (like reviewing past logos). From research hopefully will grow inspiration and a great logo. Inspiration doesn’t just come from the client though and their needs. Draw inspiration from your surroundings, anything that makes you do a double take or starts churning your emotions, and also browse design sites like Dribble and LogoGala.
Find simple inspo on Dribble like this tent design from Lithuanian designer, Deividas Bielskis.
Make Your Personal Process Effective
Keeping on target and being organized is key to staying focused while creating a logo. Using mind maps and mood boards will help extract ideas and designs to help find a central theme or direction. Keeping all sketches, from start to end, will not only be useful for the current logo but for future logos and clients. Discarded ideas may not work for the task at hand but will be useful for potential new clients and projects. Simple pen and paper sketching should never be overlooked. Despite design advancements and flashy new tools, going back to basics is still a great way to pull out ideas.
Fleshing out ideas will help diversify your options, like these several variations of a rustic themed logo.
Don’t be Lured by Cliche Trends – Simplicity Can Be Key
Logos can be effective without flashy fonts and trendy designs. Simplicity can be key to creating a strong logo. Stay clear of gimmicks – vibrant and excessive can be weak and ineffective. Using no more than 2 fonts is a good rule of thumb (with some exceptions) and helps keep the message focused and doesn’t distract from the story. It is also important to not forget about the space around the logo. “When designing, think about how the exclusion zone should be used.”
Simple and to the point – the wine glass doubles as a pinpoint.
Creative Market lists dozens of more tips and suggestions for making a great logo. Overall, a logo should be well thought out, start with several ideas and themes, but the final project should accurately depict the client identity and be something the designer can proudly sign off on. For the complete list please visit their website and feel free to contact us with any questions or comments.
Evernote’s recognizable elephant logo also has a slight folded ear which is a nod to a folded page.
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