7 Principles of Incredible Logo Design

When it comes to designing a logo, there are many business and business owners that may feel lost in where to start. Logo design may seem simple, but it’s a very specialized skill that graphic designers spend years cultivating. Hiring a designer can be expensive and many businesses are opting to use a logo maker service to help them produce striking logos on their own. Even with a logo maker, however, it’s important to understand some basic principles of logo design. Logos are much like jingles in that you want the observer to be able to easily recall and recognize it. If you think about it, there are so many logos out there today that have become staples in our culture. McDonalds, Coca-Cola, and Google are just three major examples of effective logos from large companies today. These logos are widely recognized and there’s no question what the design is representing. To come close to these symbols of notoriety, check out these seven principles of logo design to consider when designing your logo.

Keep It Simple

The most important principle to remember is to keep things simple. Complicated, chaotic imagery can be tough to look at and even tougher for customers to recognize. The simpler the logo without being too convoluted should be the goal of any business trying to design a logo. If using a logo maker, make sure to be critical of the results and use simplicity as a way to come to your final choice. The less that a customer has to digest to understand the basics of your logo, the more likely it will be memorable to them in the long run. You can simplify logo design with Looka’s AI-Assisted logo creation tool.

Who’s The Audience?

When designing a logo, make sure you ask yourself who the audience is. Younger audiences may respond more to colorful, playful imagery while an older audience may not be as attracted to that kind of image. Who you are trying to reach will be an essential part of choosing your final logo design. Simplicity plus attention to the audience will help your business reach its goal of finding the perfect logo to represent the business.

Test At Different Sizes

Logos may need to be used in multiple formats including but not excluded to a business’s website, social media page, profile pictures, and more. This means that a logo is going to need to be effective whether it’s large on a billboard, or small in a thumbnail image. Whatever images you get from your logo maker should be tested at multiple sizes so ensure the logo is scalable to the sizes you’ll need to use it at. Make sure your logo is effective as a standard image, thumbnail, and as a banner to start covering all your bases for making your logo effective.

Font Psychology

It may seem like a small part of the design process, but the font you choose is actually extremely important. In logo design, there is a concept called font psychology that explores the idea of how people respond to different font types. It is defined as the visual and emotional response that someone has to reading in a particular font, and studies find that visually pleasing fonts are going to elicit a better response from the person viewing it. For any business creating a logo, understanding or at least exploring font psychology is a smart idea to make a logo that will truly resonate with your audience.

Brand Relevance

Whatever logo you choose should be relevant to your brand. That means choosing appropriate energy to reflect the values, ideals, and products a particular business sells. For example, if your company is a health and wellness brand, it could be smart to model your logo after successful health and wellness brands. Or if your business is a clothing company, it might be smart to choose a logo that can be easily printed and has aesthetic value to represent the style of your business’ product. All in all, just make sure the imagery is appropriate for the kind of products your business sells.

Color is Great, But Don’t Overdo It

It’s obviously ideal to have a logo that grabs enough attention from the audience, but too much color can end up being too chaotic to be memorable. Color is a tricky thing to get right in logo and graphic design, and there is a very particular set of traditions in the design world that help designers choose what colors go in their logos. If you look carefully, most logo designs that are successful feature one to three colors max. Maybe four for a particularly ambitious designer. That’s because simpler colors can equate to easier combinations of those colors, making for a design that pops without feeling to convoluted.

Versatility

Just as it should be scalable, your logo should also be versatile to ensure it can be used in a variety of situations. Logos are meant to represent your company on a wider scale than just your website or social media. It’s meant to give your brand an identity and stick of legitimacy. Logos aren’t the only thing that make a business successful, but they do help customers remember the name and nature of a business. The more memorable your logo is on multiple platforms, multiple sizes, and for different audiences, the more likely your logo will help your business rather than feeling like an unnecessary expenditure and use of time.

Conclusion

Logo designs can be tricky. Let’s keep in mind that really great graphic design comes from years of training and practice in the field. But businesses needing to create logo in a pinch can benefit greatly from using a logo maker. Just make sure to pay attention to these seven principles; simplicity, audience, scalability, font, color scheme, brand relevance, and versatility. These seven principles will help you make critical decisions about what may work for your business and what may not be the best idea. Logos help define the aesthetic of your business, so make sure it looks good and sends the message home!