Designing
an Effective Logo: Make it Unique, Simple and Memorable
Copyright © Valerie Giles
Graphic Designer and Internet Entrepreneur
The right logo, an unique logo, a
simple logo and a memorable logo means more business for
you.
As a designer I am always amazed when
new clients come to me for various marketing material
designs and they either have a boring, non-unique logo
or they have no idea where their original logo is, who
designed it and how they can get a copy. Do businesses
not realize how vital their image is and it's importance
in branding in the marketplace? I guess not. Don't let this happen to you.
It is so important that every business owner has a copy
of their logo on disc to use for all their marketing
needs today and tomorrow. Never have a logo designed
without having the designer give you an original
VECTOR format in both black and white and in your
company Pantone colours. Ninety per cent of the time a reputable
designer will design your logo in Adobe Illustrator.
This is the industry standard. A good designer will
never design a logo in a bitmap or raster software
application as it can not easily be converted to vector
whereas it is easy to convert vector to bitmap. As well
print design requires much higher quality or resolution
than web design does and a low resolution web file i.e.
gif or jpg is not adequate for printed logo, business
card, brochure or catalog designs.
An effective logo should address the
following:
- Be
consistent: Colours, tag lines and
placements of your logo and all marketing materials
should be used. The more often your marketplace sees
your same look, the more memorable it becomes.
- Make it
memorable: your logo and look should
stand out from the rest and make people remember it.
- Is it
Representative? your logo should
represent the essence of your business, what it
stands for, its image and its product or services
-
Uniqueness counts: a good logo stands out
from the rest of your competitors. It needs to be
different and interesting as well as simple. An over
designed logo is too busy and not as versatile.
- Ages
well over time: your logo should age well
so it doesn't need to be redone all the time. But
every logo should have slight changes made to it
periodically to keep it fresh and up to date. No
radical changes, just slight updates.
- Black &
White or Colour: all logos must look great
in both B&W as well as in colour. Firstly design your
logo in black and white and then do the colour
version. You never know where your logo will be
used. As well use strong solid areas, not shades or
tints,
for effectiveness.
-
Scalability is vital: as stated above as
logo must be designed in vector software so that it
can be scaled from very small sizes to very large
without loss of quality and crisp details. It can be
converted to a bitmap or raster format after the
sizing has been done.
-
Simplicity works: a simple logo with
simple lines and shapes will have a larger impact
and be more memorable than an over designed busy
logo.
A professional image is achieved with
a quality, simple and distinctive logo and business card
package. Use colours that will attract your customers and
reflect the image of your business appropriately.
Good
business, and lots of customers start with a good
logo.
Contact us
NOW for a complimentary consultation.
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