Top 5 Rules of Logo Design

The economy has forced the hand of a significant number of companies to re-brand.  These businesses have had to reconsider their purpose, their goals, and their overall initiative throughout their service community (large or small).  However, before you and your company venture into this all-inclusive alteration that will undoubtedly redefine your approach to business, there are logo design rules that you must know. Let's take a step back before we start talking about the rules and take a look at what a logo truly represents.  First and foremost, a logo is not merely an image; it is the essence of a company represented visually.  Everything from the choice of shapes, fonts, color palette, and general images should portray your brand's logo.  With all of that said, let's now look at the to 5 rules of designing a logo:

1. Research Your Audience -- Listen, let's come to a quick reality here; you are going through a logo redesign for your target audience and your current clientele.  That's right. This logo design is not for you, but it is solely for your customers (present, past, and future).  With that said, you need to research your clientele and find out what opinions they have with regard to your business whether they are good, bad, or ugly.  It is that feedback that will truly launch your logo redesign process.
2. Display an Efficient Identity -- The research and feedback that you gather from rule number 1 will yield several key factors to your logo redesign process.  However, most importantly, the results will help you clearly identify the current identity of your company.  In other words, your business that you started 20 years ago may have shifted its identity over those successful years, and it is now your priority to either adjust to re-establish that original identity or to alter your logo (and image) to accommodate the new identity.  The bottom line, though your logo must fully represent your company's identity.
3. Create a Memorable Logo -- You want your new logo to be something that rests in the forefront of a person's mind.  Better yet, you want it to be the first thing that your audience thinks about when they are asked a question regarding your industry.  In order to accomplish this, you must create a logo that is eye-catching, intriguing, and one that efficiently portrays your company's message.
4. Effective Even Without Color -- Multiple marketing mediums will be utilized throughout your promotional campaigns; not all of these mediums will have access to full color print.  You want to ensure that your logo is recognizable and effective in its delivery of your brand even in black and white.  With that said, try starting in black when you scheme up your logo.  A second (though similar) concept to remember with regard to color is to limit the color palette utilized; too many colors confuse clients.
5. Simplicity, Scalability, & Consistency -- This rule brings in several factors. First, your logo should be simple enough to accurately and efficiently replicate across all marketing mediums.  Think about how easy it is to duplicate the Nike logo throughout all of their products and services.  Second, whether you choose to have a tremendously tiny logo or an unspeakably large logo you need to ensure that your design can be scaled as needed.  Lastly, the consistency of your logo is invaluable to your company.  In every aspect of the logo, you want to utilize the full logo and not parts or sections); maintain the logo design as a whole like you want to maintain your company's overall image and reputation.

In summary, your logo redesign (whether pushed by the economy, your clients, or a mixture of everything) needs to exude your company's message.  Further, it's important that your logo design process follow an essential 5 rules: (1) Research your audience, (2) Display an efficient identity, (3) Create a memorable logo, (4) Effective even without color, and (5) Simplicity, Scalability, and Consistency. *IMPACT provides industry leading and groundbreaking logo designs that will efficiently and effectively deliver your company's identity.  Should you need logo design help feel free to contact us for a brief consultation*

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Sources

“The Essential Step-by-Step Guide to Internet Marketing”-E-Book SlideShare.net

Image Source: HubSpot, “The 2011 State of Inbound Marketing”, E-Marketer.com