The Top Five Ideas That Could Help You Design the Best Logo for Your Business
It does not matter if you are a beginner or a seasoned veteran in the field of design. You need help creating logos, not because you cannot do it, but any designer and artist will welcome and relish the idea of simply brainstorming new methods and ideas across other artists.
Plus, it brings them out of their comfort zones, too, which makes for some really great logos and ideas to boot.
Logos are beyond just important; they are essential and critical parts of a business and brand. Even if you are not dealing with the public consumers, you need a logo. It does not matter if you cater to businesses providing enterprise solutions or sell your products to the general public; you need a brand, and the central aspect of any brand is its visual strongpoint, which is its logo.
Designing a logo is a daunting task, too. Their nature as a cornerstone for personal and business branding means that logos cannot just be icons that ‘look cool.’ You need to put thought into their designs, incorporating information and appeal into it. A logo should be able to explain your business, your brand identity, its brand message, and your vision and mission. This is quite the list of requirements, so you could be wondering how it’s done.
Well, we are here to tell you.
What Are the Qualities of a Great Logo?
Of course, we are here to give you all kinds of tips on how to make a great logo, with a complete design, brand alignment, and more.
But first, you need to understand what makes a great logo in the first place, whether it is for a brand or a personal project.
We have gathered the best of the best tips, tricks, design guidelines, and brand ideas from some of the most reputed graphic designers in several industries. So, don’t hesitate to dive straight into it. It does not matter whether you want to truly get into graphic designing from the beginning, or if you are already experienced and just need a fresh perspective; these graphic design quality criteria, and the subsequent top logo ideas that we bring will surely be of use.
A good logo first grabs your attention by simply being eye-catching and appealing. You notice it through the corner of your eye. If you spot it in the street, your attention is directed to it among the crowd of detail that other things get lost in. That is not just the logo in action, but everything about the brand as well.
A great logo, on the other hand, is all these things, but isn’t constrained by time. This can be much more difficult to pull off. These are the logos that do not need to be changed for years and decades. The Coca Cola logo, for example, has gone through several iterations and variations, but the logo has ultimately remained the same.
Great Logos Are Accompanied by Brand Vibes
Of course, you might be wondering, what exactly could be a brand ‘vibe?’
A brand vibe is exactly what it sounds like it should be. It is how a particular brand makes someone feel. It should be noted that a brand vibe is quite different from the brand personality, though it can overlap at times. In a way, the brand personality is what brings the brand’s vibes, and the brand’s logo is accompanied by these vibes.
Your brand message, personality, and vibes should be consistent across all the different ways in which your logo is used. The brand vibe is not something that can be manufactured, but it can be nurtured.
Think of it like being a party planner. You cannot specifically ask your guests to have fun, but you can design the party and give them the tools to create their own fun. It is all about how the activities made them feel. Playing simple games with friends can sometimes be far more fun than having a party at a carnival where ‘fun’ is expected.
Idea #1: Show. Don’t Tell
It is the age-old mantra of filmmaking, but it works in advertising and design as well. Pictures that show you a story are worth far more than those stories that are just told to you. The journey of understanding what something means, creating your interpretation of it, and coming to a conclusion, all on your own; that is what a great logo provides.
Almost every visual aspect of your logo matters when telling a story, down to the colors you use. If your logo is bright, you might have a happy-go-lucky vibe for your brand through your logo. It is especially useful for general public and family friendly businesses that want to present themselves as accessible to all with a happy vibe to go with them.
The bright and yellow of McDonalds is what comes to mind here. While the logo is a simple letter, it is matched by the brand, the mascot of Ronald McDonald, as well as the color of the food itself. McDonalds is one of the most instantly recognizable brands out there, and it always tells a story in conjunction with its products and services through its logos.
Idea #2: Presenting Nothing can be Everything
No, we don’t mean to have no logo at all, but to use white space in an effective manner. White spaces are simply the empty spaces left when you put the logo on a background. Think of it as writing the word ‘logo’ on a sheet of paper. Any space left on that paper where the text is not displayed, is white space.
Now, modern and minimalistic designs make excellent use of white spaces, especially as they want to keep up simplicity. Different kinds of brands benefit from this, especially those marketing towards adults and professionals.
A simple logo that uses a ton of white space is not suitable for marketing products geared towards kids, so always keep your audience in mind when developing your logo.
Idea #3: Think Inside the Box
We all love to use the phrase ‘think outside the box,’ but sometimes the overuse of creativity and wild designs can get a bit much.
This particular idea is twofold. The first is to think inside the box as one might expect. Simply go back to the drawing board and go basic with your logo. Use symmetrical, simple text and iconography to make it as sleek as possible.
The second part of this idea is to think inside the box in a more literal manner. Use shapes and similar designs to simplify your logo while at the same time making it stand out. A boxed in logo helps with simplifying branding as well, as it gets easier to put that logo across multiple different brand items, such as pens, lunch boxes, shirts, etc.
Of course, thinking inside the box does not limit creativity. Instead, it boosts it. By giving you some clear rules and restrictions, you are forced to get creative within the space and tools you have. Use unique gradients in your shape to personalize that logo according to the brand, or get creative in the limited space you have.
Idea #4: Don’t Just Use Color, Mix It Up!
Yes, we all know that color psychology is a thing, and that blue does not just mean blue. It can represent calmness, sadness, serenity, sickness, and even friendliness, depending on certain circumstances. Your logo is not limited to one color, either, so take that color psychology factor and turn it up to 11 by mixing things up a bit in your logo design!
You can use certain color combinations that work together quite well, as well as those that are inherently complementary and give off certain vibes.
Purple and gold, for example, bring on that extra-fancy appeal. Purple is already a color associated with royalty, and gold is…well…gold. Combine those two, and you get things that only bring about brand prestige.
You aren’t limited to just mixing opposing colors on the spectrum, either. Mix red with reddish pink, orange with yellow, blue with teal; you name it. Experiment with different color combinations, and find out where your logo stands.
You can design your entire color scheme around your brand message and brand guidelines, but sometimes, all you need to do sometimes, is make your colors pop!
Idea #5: Don’t Go Around Changing Things, but Don’t Be Afraid of Change Either
You remember the Pepsi logo, don’t you? A red and blue ball with a white strip or curved line through the middle. Simple, right?
Well, if you don’t, then some might seriously consider advising you to improve your eating habits and exercise for some mental relaxation. A thing that can be easily forgiven, however, is to remember how Pepsi has changed their design over the years.
Of course it has changed its design! Just like the Coca Cola logo as mentioned earlier, the Pepsi logo has changed several times. At one time, it was the bottle cap itself, then slowly went into a box of sorts, then became a ball-like logo.
But one never fails to recognize the Pepsi logo, no matter how many iterations it goes through. The change can sometimes be even imperceptible due to how used to we are of seeing it.
This uniformity in logo design, however, highlights something that every great logo designer should know; that there is no need to rock the apple cart. It is okay if you take some apples from it, though, to make it easier to drag around.
Change can be good, but not all change is great. Brands need to be recognizable, and part of that is to stay consistent, even in change. Navigating that road effectively is especially difficult, and can be daunting for some.
However, in the end, a brand learns and grows, and sometimes, even a little bit of change in your logo design can make a huge difference.
Conclusion
Logos are simple, and logos can be complicated. But the one thing they are not, is easy. Designing a logo is more than just putting on shapes and colors, writing the brand name, and calling it a day.
Here, we have compiled five ideas, as well as a healthy dose of understanding what makes a great logo, to combine together into the best guide to take your logo designs to the next level.
