Source: https://sobadsogood.com/2017/10/02/150-people-drew-10-famous-logos-what-happened/

Logo design for your brand or business is important. However, before you start there is usually a flurry of ideas about how you want it to look and your overall vision of how it should turn out.

Before doing so, you should keep in mind the purpose of your logo which is for brand recognition. This is what will make your brand stand out so it had to be well thought of. It is the visual representation of what your brand is and what you want it to be. However, if you actually want to know more about the value of branding, you can check out our article here. As you can see, it does bear quite a lot in your branding and may overwhelm you. Here are things you should remember as you go into designing your logo.

1. Make it Memorable Logo Design

Think of your favorite brands and how quickly their logo popped into your mind. You can think foreign brands like McDonalds and those golden arches just quickly pop into your head or the Nike swoosh. For local Philippine brands, the red Jollibee is easily thought of. On the other hand, Bench is also simple with their classic name brand with the backslash.

Mcdo Logo. Source: https://medium.com/@inkbotdesign/history-of-the-mcdonalds-logo-design-abb29ef7874

Jollibee logo. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jollibee

Bench Logo. Source: https://awards.brandingforum.org/brands/bench/

The logo has to be unique and is able to leave a lasting impression on the consumer. The worst scenario is if a buyer suddenly remembers your product but can’t remember the brand. He just chooses to buy from somewhere else whose logo he can remember.

2. Simplicity is Key in Logo Design

It’s hard to remember something very ornate so the simpler, the easier to remember. An easy example is the bitten apple of Apple and the intertwined Cs of the Chanel logo. Another great example is Meralco with the thunderbolt at the M is also able to showcase simplicity but is still able to get the message across.

Apple Logo. Source: https://www.flaticon.com/free-icon/apple-logo_37150

Chanel Logo. Source: https://medium.com/@melissalangwrites/famous-logos-designed-by-women-81c8c7ed9a7d

Meralco Logo. Source: http://designpinoy.com/philippines-logo-design/

This is a simple but effective way of easy recognition and building customer loyalty. It is very easy to get carried away in making your brand’s design so you must always keep simplicity in mind. It is creating your brand’s concept at its most basic core.

3. Keep it Versatile

Social Media has brought about a wave of brands and with that comes a wave of logos. It’s important to keep your logo design versatile. In fact, it is vital more than ever that it can be flexible wherever it is placed. It has to look good as a letterhead, on a business card, on a paper bag, and more.

This brings back the importance of simplicity because simplicity is easy to edit and therefore makes it versatile. Here are a few examples of simple and versatile logos.

Sunnies Cafe Logo. Source: http://www.sunniescafe.com/

The Sunnies Cafe logo design is a play on their current Sunnies logo and is kept simple with just a black outline of a font suited to their fun and vintage branding.

Agate Jula Logo. Source: https://www.behance.net/gallery/58267579/Agate-Jula-logo-design

Meanwhile, the Agate Jula Logo done by Tyler Conway is for a Hair and Make up Company and makes use of the initials in a minimal style and uses a gradient color palette in stylish tones.

4. Appropriate it to the Business

As mentioned above, it’s all about getting down to the core of your brand, and with that keeping it in every aspect appropriate to what it is. For example, in making a toy store logo design, it wouldn’t be right to make it black or neutral colors because kids won’t get excited. They won’t end up gravitating toward that. That’s why toy stores make use of bright colors like Toys R’ Us and Toy Kingdom.

Toys R Us Logo. Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Toys_%22R%22_Us_logo.svg

Toy Kingdom. Source: https://www.giladiskon.com/deal/toys-kingdom-grand-sale-hingga-50-off/

Another example is not restricting yourself to a single product in your logo design especially if you plan on expanding in the future. As you can see, brands like Dove don’t sell birds but they didn’t make their logo design soap. Currently they have body wash, deodorants and other types of products and so their logo doesn’t limit them.

Dove Logo. Source: https://www.famouslogos.net/dove-logo/

5. Make it a Classic Logo Design

On the other hand, there are a lot of graphic design trends that constantly evolve every year. We even have an article about it over here. It’s easy to embrace these trends into your logo but there’s a reason why they’re called ‘trends’, they’re eventually going to phase or fizzle out. That’s not what you want for your brand because you want something that will last.

Your logo design has to be timeless for it to become a classic. Your brand identity has to be strong and isn’t made from a simple trend. It can adapt to it like how brands rebrand every few years. Some of these brands include Pepsi, Gap, and Shakey’s but they stay true to their core design.

Pepsi Logo Evolution. Source: https://www.logaster.com/blog/pepsi-logo/

Shakey’s Logo Evolution. Source: http://www.onedesignph.com/2013/01/shakeys-new-logo-ye-olde-pizza-parlor.html

6. Do your Research.

Meanwhile, this is a bit of a bonus but is still very important and that is the value of research. This can involve conducting a questionnaire or interviewing the client about the nitty-gritty details. Sometimes that’s where you can find the best inspiration and it’s also the little details that count.

FedEx Logo Meaning. Source: https://pixellogo.com/blogs/pixellogo-blog/fedex-logo-design-and-its-hidden-message

In fact, it can be seen in something as small as the hidden arrow in FedEx but it makes an unforgettable detail that keeps people excited.

You can also do research on other successful logos and styles that relate to the design brief but as mentioned in the previous top, you should follow trends, not for their own sake but more to awareness of them because, at the end of the day, classic design is key. After all, there are a lot of programs you can use to create these logos and there are a lot of new technologies so you can present them better.

These are tips that every graphic designer worth their salt will swear by. But if you’re looking to apply advanced and unconventional branding techniques to your business, you can get in touch with DotYeti’s talented designers for a more personalized design. Want graphic design that turns heads? Sign up for your first month with DotYeti now! Plans start at $449.