A logo design can impact a company's reputation, and if done correctly, can even become a highly valuable asset. Customers' ability to recall the specific brand and develop loyalty towards it is one of the most fundamental aspects that businesses rely on. Due to the fact that rebranding is a long and tough process, the identity and essence of the brand should be communicated clearly to the target audience via a strong customized logo design.
1) Consider the brand identity
Regardless of the industry or company size, strategic marketing communication is important to reach the targeted customer segment and serve its needs effectively.
Matching the market positioning with the core message requires good knowledge of your brand identity - values, vision and overall goals in the long-run. Simply speaking, the logo design should be based on brand personality and make sense to the audience who will see it.
2) Get the basics right
The clear and memorable design should be kept as the main priority. A lot of graphic design experts would agree that such fundamental aspects as consistency, simplicity, persuasiveness and recognition are the paths to follow. Having these qualities in mind helps to make sure that unnecessary confusion is avoided due to misalignment between the brand and its visual representation.
A similar approach should also be kept to your brand's web design. The structure of the design needs to be friendly for the user and enhancing the customer experience in general.
3) Have something unique
Having the information about current trends or competitors is a great advantage and can serve as a source of inspiration. Nevertheless, it should not be the only point of reference or limit your imagination. In order for your logo design to stand out it requires something more than just following in the footsteps of others. Creating appealing visuals that break out of the current norms brings an extra edge that is necessary for authenticity and unique identity.
4) Structure the design process
Due to the fact people have different patterns of thinking, it is always a good practice to set up your own process to increase the effectiveness of your work. Having a structure reduces the complexity that comes along. An example of the design process could be:
- Direction of the project
- Research via books or online for images
- Simple keyword research
- Sketch
- Overview and revision
- Final presentation
5) Details add extra value
Does your logo look equally good on a pen, t-shirt or banner? What about in black and white? Another format than initially intended may present a very different view, so it is important to check this before launching it publicly. In addition, implement color psychology into your brand logo. Each color has a meaning and some tendencies depending on the industry. Diverse combinations can impose certain effects on your customers. Make sure to use this theory to your company's advantage.
6) Do not choose the first ideas
The filtering of ideas at the early stage of the process is crucial. This helps in the elimination process. Why do we know the big brands so well? For example, Apple went for quite literal and obvious visual depiction of their logo, but the bite mark makes it unique and specific to this brand, which is recognizable globally. This shows how customers love to be surprised in a positive way. Cliche ideas bring little to no value anyway so spend a little more time at this stage and leave out 'popular' or generic designs such as a shopping cart for 'retail' or a globe for 'international'.
7) Keyword research
In order to generate some ideas include some Google keyword research into the process. This is a good way to expand some boundaries of relevant image ideas for your logo. If you concluded 'Step 1' thoroughly and know your brand identity well, you might already have an idea of what to look for. Nevertheless, it is important to stop once you have around ten of the most appealing designs, since it can be overwhelming and counterproductive to have too many options to choose from.
8) Mood board and mind mapping
Alongside the keyword research these techniques are utilised for extending the ideas and developing them further after the selection. Once the certain keywords are transferred on the mood board then various combinations can be made. By definition, a mood board is an arrangement of text, materials or images to come up with a some style that can be used for your perfect logo design.
9) Sketching
Before switching to the more professional digital graphic design, try sketching out your idea on the paper. This provides more flexibility to change and takes less time to produce. Also keep your sketches in order to have some ideas for later in case this is necessary. If you are not that good at drawing then you should consider hiring a professional designer or asking for help from a skillful artist in order to produce your final idea.
9 Tips for Building a Respectable Brand Logo - Infographic
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Written by Ruta Jokubaityte on Monday, July 3, 2017
Ruta is a communications assistant and a writer at Market Inspector along with Greenmatch. She has a background in branding and service management specializing in creating relevant content and promoting products.
