Published: August 12, 2024
by Justin Difazzio
If you were asked to name ten brand logos off the top of your head, you’d have that list fired off in ten seconds. And many of you would have similar lists, we guarantee. Why is that, though? What makes a logo stick in our brain when we see hundreds of them every day? And how can your logo compete to that deluge of images and identities that surround us? Well, keep reading, because we’re breaking it down for you below.
1. Keep It Simple
The most important thing about your logo is to keep it simple. It will be seen at all different sizes, in many places, and it needs to identify you at a glance. A logo that is too complex can get lost in a design or be hard to read at smaller sizes if it incorporates too many details. Look at the Instagram logo, for example. It uses simple lines in a recognizable shape that hints at what the app does, and it’s recognizable in any color. Apple’s eponymous logo is another great example. No matter the size or where it appears, no one mistakes their logo for anything else.
We can’t all be Apple or Instagram or Nike, but making your logo easily recognizable will give you a head start over more complex designs. Whether you use a logomark and a wordmark, one or the other, or a combination across various places, keeping your design simple means the recognition stays high.
2. Build in Relevance
When designing a logo, you have to take into account the products or services that you offer, as well as your target audience. If you’re marketing makeup to wealthy people in their 50s, you’re probably not going to use a military or university font, blocky letters, and aggressive angles. Sure, you’d probably stand out in the crowd, but even if your product is amazing, your audience might decide you’re not for them in one glance without looking into what you are actually selling.
There’s a reason many product logos are aggressively gendered. It’s an effective strategy for letting customers know who your product is for. But it also does the reverse, turning off anyone who isn’t in that subgroup. Balance relevance with nuance, and people will pay more attention to your product and its quality than to who it’s for.
3. Make It Memorable
A memorable logo is invaluable in a crowded market. It helps consumers connect with your brand and spot you on the shelf or online in a flash. If you’re designing something that looks like everyone else’s logo, you’re missing the mark. Because sure, it may look like the signature Nintendo elongated oval logo, but when people see it, the multinational corporation is all they’re going to think about.
So stick to your brand identity when designing. Use your brand colors. Do you have a proprietary font? Stick to that. Let people know your personality and your product through your logo, and you’ll stick in their minds like a Penguin novel.
4. Ensure Its Timelessness
Trends can be fun to follow, but they’re not a harbor worth anchoring your brand identity in. Imagine if every company in the 90s had gone with the “Cool S” or if every 80s brand had stuck with neon pink and green in their logo. As they would have said, “Gag me with a spoon.”
The fact is, trends pass. Today’s fad becomes tomorrow’s generational marker. And you don’t want to be stuck with a costly rebrand every time a trend isn’t…well…trendy anymore. Stick with the classics. They’re classic for a reason.
5. Flex that Versatility
Finally, your logo has to do a lot of heavy lifting for brand identity. It will have to work in an email footer, on a business card, maybe on clothing, or, if you’re lucky, a giant highway billboard or television commercial. And it has to look good in all of those places.
Having a symbol as part of your logo means you have the versatility to use that alone or with your brand name. Nike can show off their swoosh logo on every piece of clothing they produce without putting their name on it. No one confuses them with, say, Puma. But when they want a wordmark down the side of a pair of shorts, that can work alone, too. Versatile logos mean you can do more with what you have, divide and conquer, and generally have more uses in more places. Make your logo a Swiss Army Knife, metaphorically, because, if you do that literally, you’ll get sued.
There are a lot of choices when it comes to designing a logo, but when you’re choosing icons, colors, fonts, and vibe, just remember these five points above to help your logo float to the top in a sea of branding. Follow this guide and you’ll look good out in the world and save money on not having to redesign your identity every few years. And that sounds like a good look to us!