Logo Creation Essentials

What does a logo do? The right logo conveys everything about your brand or company without saying a word. It provides integrity, pride, and excellence while giving a clear sense of what service or product you are providing. The logo isn’t just an image that gets placed throughout different media. It is a connection between the business, employees, clients, and consumers. A logo also builds brand recognition. They are the visual stamp that notifies and reminds customers that you exist. Keeping brands stored in our memories is something that we do unintentionally. Creating a strong visual association with your business makes it easier for people to remember you, which will generate more business in the future.

Five Principles of Logos

Graphic design theory considers there to be five essential principles guiding logo creation.

1 – Simple: The logo should be easily identifiable at a glance.

2 – Timeless: Trends are glass cannons. While being popular at the moment, it’s only a matter of time before the trend changes, leaving you with a clearly outdated logo. An effective logo should be able to stay current even as trends change. 

3 – Memorable: An effective logo should leave an imprint in someone’s mind. It should be unique.

4 – Versatile: The logo can be used in various places, in many colors, and in different sizes.

5 – Appropriate: An appropriate logo should be associated with the standards and services of the business it represents. 

Logo Elements

Let’s break down the elements of a logo: typography, color, imagery, dynamic and static elements, and context.

Typography
Logos will usually contain a typographic element such as the complete business name, abbreviation, or even a single letter. Fonts are also included in this category. The options are endless, ranging from thick to thin, serif to sans serif, lower case to upper case, script to non-script. You can even create a custom font for your business. The way typography is used in your logo is critical.

Color
Logos come in many different colors. They can be black and white, monochrome, or even multi-colored. Multi-colored logos have palettes that are either analogous or complementary. Analogous colors have similar hues, whereas complementary colors are of a distant or opposite hue. The colors in a logo are not random. They are strategically picked and usually represent something of what you are trying to communicate.

Imagery
Often, symbols, icons, or images accompany typography. However, imagery can also include more decorative elements such as lines or visual stamps – such as hearts, stars, dots, punctuations – that don’t create a cohesive image.

Static and Dynamic Elements
A static logo looks exactly the same everywhere it is placed. A dynamic logo will change depending on the context. For example, Coca-Cola is a dynamic typographic logo. When looking at a regular can or bottle of Coca-Cola, the company uses its full name. However, when looking at Diet Coke, the company uses Coke as an abbreviation. An example of a static logo would be the technology company Apple. Apple’s logo has changed over time, but as it stands currently, it is just the apple symbol itself and is used on all of its products.

Context
Where is the logo going to be used? It is essential to think about where and when logos will be used. There are common places we see logos within printing and advertising, such as business cards, storefront signs, on television, and online. Each place we see a logo has significant importance in brand recognition and advertising.

To sum up: the choices you make for your logo matter. Your logo stands as a brand ambassador for your business. If you need a new logo or are looking to refresh your current one, Engaged Marketing Co. can help!