Useful tips for Logo design
July 31, 2020
Most startup or small businesses in South Africa do not consider the option of creating or having their logo or brand designed by a professional. Instead, they utilise a company that labels every business with the same sign and no other alternative.
These, step-by-step, tips below are useful for anyone with an interest in developing their very own logo or brand identity.
It is imperative for every designer to do some research on the business they are designing for in order to understand how the logo could be effectively designed to suit the business’s brand, and suit a particular trend in society or according to what would best attract the target audience. The research may be divided into the following steps:
Asking the Right Questions
- Who is the competitor?
- Who is the client?
- Why, where, what, how, who is the target audience?
- What is the unique selling point?
- Also consider trends, change and adaptability (see Millennial Branding – Why Change?).
- Think about longevity and how the logo will remain relevant over time.
- And create a mood board to visualise the way you are going to communicate your logo effectively.
Getting Started on the Design Process
We often have the misconception that we could design anything without proper conceptual and critical design thinking. During the development process of your logo design, you often need to consider the following:
When it comes to any business enterprise there has to be the consideration of setting it apart from other businesses by offering a unique or different product or service. This is key in establishing your brand distinction in the market by designing a logo that communicates your unique selling point.
- Would a graphic element be important to portray your brand?
- What graphic symbol would resonate best with your logo design and your business brand?
- Consider the timeless effect it would have on a long term basis.
- Could typography be solely used as your logo design? Or would it be coupled together with your graphic element?
- Consider your choice of typography (specific font or typeface) that would be well suited to present your brand.
In one of our previous articles we mentioned the importance of choosing the perfect colour for your brand and the power of colour psychology and perception in graphic and web design. Colour evokes a certain attention or emotion, ideally operating on a subconscious level, allowing the wider audience to perceive a particular mood that is associated with a particular brand. For more information on colour, see our blog post Making 2017 a Colourful Year.
Technicality is everything. If a logo is poorly designed it would have a huge impact on consumer relations because, in most cases, your brand will be associated by its appearance more than the product or service you may offer. Here is a list of technical things to look at when finalising your design.
The human eye has the ability to notice subtle discomfort portrayed in an image or design. It is key to balance your design, by observing; the weight of your graphic element alongside or above your typographic choice, the choice of colour, or the harmony of contrasting shapes and colour to produce an aesthetic balance.
Selecting the size and scale of your design is important as it presents the voice of your brand (i.e. using a big or small graphic element or adjusting the case of your typeface). It is also necessary to know whether your logo will work if it is scaled down to a smaller size so that it may remain visible when printed or on a digital platform.
Your logo looks good with colour, but it is also good practice to test your logo in black & white or in monochromatic colour for the purpose of being accessible or legible on low-resolution screens. If your logo works well with minimal colour schemes, you are on your way to a successful design.
Overall, consistency is the most important way to communicate your brand effectively and diligently. You want to exercise a single message to your target audience by showing attention to detail, stability and uniformity in a visual context.
If you follow these simples steps, you will not be disappointed. Always have your target audience in mind and remember “Less is More.”
Visit ‘Top Logo Design Companies Of 2020 according to Design Rush‘ here.