The function behind a logo design goes far beyond being just a beautiful visual that you can add to your marketing communications. Your logo is at the heart of your branding achievement, your logo should reflect the essence of your company’s tone of voice and personality.

A good logo design is effective and memorable. It is clear and distinctive, relevant, efficient, graphic, simple in form and reflects a brand message. A concept or “rationale” is usually found behind an effective logo, and it communicates the intended message. A logo must be able to be printed at any size and be effective without colour. A great logo typically condenses two things: great concept and great design execution.

We use these 5 principles when we start to develop a logo for our clients.

Simple.

A simple logo design is easy to recognise and makes the logo flexible, scalable and timeless. A good logo features something unique and distinct without being overly complicated.

For example, the arrow in the FedEx logo!

Memorable.

Designing a simple and appropriate logo creates a lasting impression. Memorable company logos are the ones that survive the test of time.

For example, Nike!

Timeless.

An effective and efficient logo should withstand decades. Always ask yourself, will the logo still be relevant in 10, 20, 50 years?

For example, Marmite!

Versatile.

A compelling logo must be able to work across a variety of applications including marketing collateral, packaging, website and social media.

For example, BMW!

Appropriate.

The logo must be designed for its market. For example, an insurance company logo would be very different from an IT company!.

For example, AXA!

Scalable.

When considering your logo design, remember that it may need to be scaled up and down. The design must remain clear and strong whatever size it ends up. For example, your logo may need to be small enough to fit onto a business card or in a social media avatar, but may also need to be large enough to fit on a sign or billboard. The versatility of your logo relies on its simplicity – a complicated logo design will not deliver the impact on a small or large scale.

Examples of our logo design

Creating a logo is one of the most important stages in setting up a business.

The logo is the basis of the business’s branding strategy. It should illustrate everything you want people to think about your brand, in a simple and captivating way.

A good logo design is a logo that reflects the spirit of the brand so that people who first see the logo will already be able to know what the brand is about. A brilliant logo manages to do exactly that in a clever and unique visual language.