Logo design - what makes a great logo?

Your logo should identify your business

Your logo should convey something essential about your business’ identity. The design should reflect your business’ personality, its attitude, its sense of style, professionalism or fun, or whatever it is your business is about. A well thought out logo will promote those qualities you want people to associate with your business.

Your logo should be instantly recognisable

In order to be recognisable, your logo must be distinct, easy to read and comprehend, and unique enough to avoid confusion with other logos. Your customers must be able to recognise your logo as yours and associate it with your business each time they see it.

Your logo should stand the test of time

To be an effective branding tool, your logo should stay with you as your business grows. You shouldn’t be changing it on a whim, as this just dilutes the hard work you’ve put into building your business and its branding. A well-designed professional logo will continue to be representative of your business for years to come.

Your logo should be adaptable

You will need to use your logo across many different media, from business cards and letterheads to presentations and packaging. A good logo must be adaptable enough to work in any situation you encounter. To meet these needs, your logo should look good in black and white as well as in colour. In terms of size your logo should be simple enough to look good quite small on a business card, yet interesting enough to hold its own on a poster or billboard.

Your logo should be cost effective

Unless you’re an online business, you’ll probably be using your logo on all sorts of printed matter, so remember to consider the cost of colour printing. With today’s printing technology - several colours are now possible for your logo. Keep it simple however - as we’re not at the circus here. A logo made with the proper 4 colour process CMYK values will save you money as printers charge more for pantone inks. Your designer should be able to convert and get a good match of the colours you desire.

Your logo should be memorable

Your logo design must be interesting enough to make a strong impression, and yet simple enough to deliver a clear message. It should instill a positive feeling in your customers that resonates long after they’ve seen your logo.