As a professional graphic designer, these are some of the guidelines I follow when I make logos for commercial use.
These guidelines are universal and are not specific to a certain style or industry.
01. Do It In Black-And-White (Not Grayscale)
Logos should be very clear wherever and however it is printed.
Let’s say you’re designing for a small business for a very specific application, but you’ll never know when you might need to use your logo elsewhere.
Later, as your brand grows, you might want it to be…
- silk printed on t-shirts,
- laser etched on plastic cups,
- embroidered on caps,
- risographed,
- etched on furniture, etc.
These materials have physical limitations. One common denominator is that they reproduce simple coloring better.
And some of them don’t have colors at all!
Digitally, not all screens have good contrast and color coverage.
And there are a lot of digital displays out there with different specifications.
It’s best to be on the safe side. And the less colors that you use, the better it translates.
Use black-and-white — and it translates anywhere.
02. Keep The Lines and Shapes Simple
Logos should be clearly printable and recognizable anyhow and anywhere — in digital or print.
Aside from designing it black-and-white, the lines and shapes should also be simple.
Physical materials have limitations. If you have a complicated design, some of those details might not translate well.
Examples of those materials are:
- stamps (dry stamps, rubber stamps — where carving tools can only go so small),
- stencil prints (silk screen, cut-out stencils — where corners and meshes can only go so fine),
- mechanical prints (engraving, machining — where the bits and tolerances can only go so small),
- ink printing (offset, or inkjet — blots and smudges can be a problem), etc.
Also, a complicated logo also makes it hard for people to clearly identify your brand, especially from further distances.
On digital displays, even with high-density displays (like retina displays), a complicated logo might still be hard to make out — especially on smaller sizes.
As an app logo, a website favicon, or a watermark signature in your social media posts, a complicated design will not hold up in smaller sizes.
Keep your logo simple. And it should work — big or small, near or far.
03. Make It Memorable
Logos should be remembered easily.
From the get-go, keeping your lines and shapes as simple as possible will make it easier for people to remember your logo.
But making it in to something that people could easily connect with will take it a step further.
Many people do not easily recall ambiguous or cryptic symbols and shapes.
It’s best to avoid them or make a more relatable version of it if you have to, so that it will make a better impression on people.
A memorable design will get more people to quickly identify and recognize your brand wherever it is.
There is a whole article dedicated to studying how well people remember logos over at Signs called “Branded In Memory”. Check it out here.
04. Make It Unique
A logo should set your brand apart.
If it looks like something else, your brand might be misidentified for representing something else.
The considerations mentioned earlier should force you to be clever enough to come up with a solid yet distinct design that works for your brand — and for everything else.
Bonus: Things To Remember
There is more to designing a good logo than just making it look nice.
Bonus 1: Branding is more than just a logo or a set of official colors and shapes.
Roughly put, branding is about how you and your customers identify your brand as a whole:
- in how you treat your customers,
- how you make them feel in general,
- how you relate to them,
- how they see you,
- how they remember you,
- and in how good your products and services are.
A well-designed logo, packaging, or social media post is only a part of branding.
Good branding design can give your brand a boost but it cannot guarantee success.
You also have to make sure that what people see from you is what they get from you.
Bonus 2: Consistency is key.
Your colors, shapes, and fonts have to harmonize — the same way — every time people see them. They also need to work well across different applications such as:
- business cards,
- letterheads,
- packaging and labelling,
- employee uniform,
- official merchandise,
- posters, banners, and print ads,
- social media images and digital ads, etc.
Larger companies and smaller savvy businesses usually have a document called a “branding guideline”.
It’s a document that specifies the official brand logo, colors, fonts, and shapes — and it shows how they should be used in different applications.
Following a branding guideline will help keep your brand’s look-and-feel consistent — so that people will easily identify and recognize your brand in the long term.
Bonus 3: Break the rules.
Of course, you can take risks and break the rules (now that you know them) — especially if you feel strongly about your vision or idea.
There are many examples in the creative industry that have challenged some part of some rule and have gotten away with it.
It went well for some of them.
While breaking the rules may be a designer’s gamble — you might strike gold, and it might go well for you, too.
Bonus 4: Trends are not rules.
Design trends come and go. Logos shouldn’t.
What’s important is for you to pick the style that fits the identity of your brand.
Also, logos tend to increase in value the lesser they change — and the longer they stick around.
Follow design principles (not trends) so that your logo could hold up to the test of time.
Bonus 5: Use whatever floats your boat.
You don’t have to use Photoshop or Illustrator to make a good logo.
I started out 10 years ago making graphics with PowerPoint.
Prior to that, I did everything with MS Paint!
Most well-known logos today were made with pen and paper.
And it is still the best tool for sketching out logo ideas because it’s accessible and very easy to use.
Today there are a lot of digital options to choose from.
One of the best ones I personally recommend to friends and family is Canva.
It’s like Photoshop — but way easier!
It is very user-friendly, gives you fast and good-looking results — and it’s free.
Also, no need for installs. You can use it anytime and anywhere through a browser.
This gives you the ability to make your own well-designed customized logo — at no cost!
You can start using Canva by following this affiliate link.