Logos are the centrepiece of a company’s brand. People are exposed to way too many concepts and ideas on a daily basis to remember them all. So our minds organise all of that information into categories.
Your company’s logo should be the symbol for everything that your company represents. When a customer sees your logo, they should be able to quickly connect with what it is you do. However, it is all too common to find companies that either do not have a logo or do not put their logo on all of their promotional and advertising materials.
If you are a company that does not have a logo or are thinking about redesigning your logo, there are a number of important points to remember. Since your logo will become the centrepiece of your brand, it is worth taking the time to understand a little bit more about what makes a good logo.
Simplicity
Complicated logos are counter-productive to the concept of categories that we discussed earlier. You want a single, simple visual image to which your customer can relate all other facts about your company. Complicated logos can be difficult to distinguish visually at a distance or when the logo is printed in a small size. Make sure your logo includes simple shapes so the customer can recognize it easily.
Colours
Your logo will often be printed across many different mediums. Some of these mediums will facilitate lots of different colours, but often your logo will be printed in black and white. With this understanding in mind, the fewer colours that you use in your logo the better. A two colour logo is ideal, but you can sometimes get away with a four colour logo. Just remember, your logo will be reproduced on lots of different types of promotional materials, so make sure that it is easily recognizable in full colour or black and white.
Omit the tagline
Your logo should not include your company tagline. It is fine to include the tagline whenever is possible, but your official logo does not need it. The reason for this is simple, because if your logo will often be printed in small sizes, the tagline will often be illegible. It is better to have the option to include a tagline when it is feasible, but not be required to have it all the time.
Forget the company name
For the same reason that a tagline should be omitted, the company name may become illegible if a printing project requires a small logo design. If you are going to use letters of any type, you should limit your logo design to including 1 to 4 letters at most.
Think about the logo for International Business Machines or IBM – it consists of three letters and three colours. This is simple, fits within our range of colours, can be printed in black and white, does not include a tagline, yet it incorporates the company name. This is just one example of excellent logo design that can be implemented on any promotional materials. Now that you have a couple of ideas, you should be able to put together a logo, one under which your customers can recognise and organise all of the concepts and ideas around your company.