Your logo is the face of your company. Often times it is the first line of communication between you and your potential clients, so it is of great importance that it provide a clear, concise and memorable message at initial glance. With so much weight looming over the logo design, it may be difficult to know where to begin. Ad House Advertising would like to share 5 basic guidelines to follow when starting the logo design process.
1. Know Your Target Audience.
What sort of people are you trying to reach? If you are a children’s dentist, your logo will have a much different look and feel than if you are a therapist or an attorney. The first might be more colorful and playful, while the latter will want a more professional and classy look and feel. Take some time to evaluate your target market and focus on designs that will be visually appealing to that group of people.
2. Be Unique.
A good logo should separate you from the competition and provide a simple, timeless design that is recognizable and appropriate to your company’s identity. When brainstorming design ideas, try to avoid obvious icons unless you can spin them in original and interesting ways. For example if you are designing a logo for a law firm, don’t just put your company name under the traditional scales of justice. If you want to use this well-known icon, make sure to be creative in the application.
3. Don’t Follow Trends.
It is important for logos to have a timeless quality. While certain concepts may be popular for a short time, following a current fad may date your company and have a negative impact in the near future. A brand is something that sticks with a company for a long time, so it is important that your design not seem dated in a short amount of time.
4. Make it Adaptable.
Your logo may be used in many ways, from business cards, to t-shirts, to billboards and so a design that works in various sizes is imperative. Your logo should be able to scale to an inch or smaller in diameter without losing detail. Make sure that you are creating a vector-based image in adobe illustrator and not a raster file in photoshop so that you can increase your logo to any size without losing quality.
5. Simplicity is Key.
Some of the most effective logo designs are the most simplistic. When designing your logo, avoid using too many colors, various fonts or cluttered ideas. Conveying your company’s message with the fewest variables possible is the ultimate goal.
Still stuck in your logo design process? We can help. Contact Ad House Advertising today for more information.