The logo, a central element in the world of graphic design . Every young graphics student dreams of designing one. Every experienced graphic designer continues to have fun even after hundreds of projects.
Knowing how to design a quality logo is a very complicated process that requires well-defined experience and skills.
You will have happened many times to see a logo unable to convey a company's message well , a badly designed logo that does not reach the right functionality. This is because many times you forget to apply the right rules. A project takes place skipping some basic steps.
This article really wants to be a guide to the design of a logo through 12 practical tips that can be useful in your career to get to design a logo that will make you satisfied not only for the transfer in your favor but also for the quality of the project that you created.
This article, however, although still extremely valid, is only a part of what has become the largest online guide on logo design in USA , click on the link to read it.
(if you are undecided about which article to focus on, my advice is to read them both!)
How to design a log
Like all the rest of the articles I write here on Web Digital Media Group , this is an article dedicated to us designers , to us designers. Also because of articles and blogs on how to make a logo if you are a beginner or if you want to do it yourself starting from zero graphic knowledge it is already full of internet.
This article is not in fact dedicated to how to create a logo, it is dedicated to how to design a logo. It is dedicated to the creative process, to the research process, to the techniques to be used to be a good logo designer.
So I will not repeat that a logo is designed in vector using programs such as Adobe Illustrator and NOT Photoshop. I'm not going to tell you things that, if you've been in the world of graphic design for at least a few weeks, you should already know.
Instead I will go to give you useful and practical advice to design a logo in the most effective, complete and functional way possible.
Of course. Because a good logo must not be "beautiful", it must be functional!
It must perfectly serve the purpose that was set at the beginning, the company's objectives and the target audience. And understanding these dynamics is fundamental (that's also why I always say that a smattering of marketing is essential for a designer ).
So how do you design a functional logo?
6 BASIC tips for designing a logo
To best address this question I decided to create a series of useful tips to design a logo in the best possible way.
These tips are divided into 6 BASIC tips and 6 NINJA tips.
Yes, I know, you can't wait to go and read the ninja tips, but wait a moment!
The basic tips are those aspects which are often overlooked and which, when neglected, inevitably lead to the failure of a logo design project.
So, if you don't want to disappoint the customer or, even worse, disappoint yourself, my first advice is to read all advice, point by point
1. Ask all possible questions right away
This should be printed in Futura Bold in every designer brain that starts working on a logo construction project.
One of the fundamental aspects within the creative process is to ask the right questions right away , initially, to avoid future misunderstandings. In short, you need to make an effective brief!
In this regard, here is my guide on how to make an effective design brief .
I myself, when asked for a quote for a logo design project, do not immediately reply by saying logo = x euro. What I do is to immediately start asking questions to the customer so as to understand perfectly what type of project it will be, what his ideas are, how his company is positioned, what type of logo they are looking for, etc.
The more questions you ask in the beginning the more effective your logo will be in the end.
Why do I tell you to do them immediately? Well, because in this way you avoid taking wrong paths during the creative process and wasting time and making it lose to the customer, who instead expects the maximum professionalism on your part.
An example: if at the beginning of a project you do not ask who will be making the decisions within the company you are dealing with, you may find yourself doing a job interacting with people who will not have the last word on that project. You may find yourself having to start all over again just because at the beginning you started in fourth without asking the right questions!
So, remember, rule 1: questions!
2. Start with the card
Every quality logo always starts from a large amount of ideas. To have a large amount of ideas you need to have a large knowledge base to start from. For this reason, in a recent article I wrote that curiosity is the most important characteristic for a designer.
Curiosity allows you to have a great base from which to start. But this too must be stimulated to bear fruit when needed: that is, at the beginning of a project.
How to make ideas come out in large quantities in times of need?
With a pair of incredibly innovative tools: paper + pencil! Incredible, isn't it?🙂
Always starting to design from the sheet of paper you will make sure that the ideas come out naturally and disruptive from your mind. In fact, all of us have been taught how to make ideas flow immediately from the brain to paper through our hand (both with writing and drawing).
To get ideas out even more effectively you can use brainstorming techniques (in this article I talk about them in depth ) such as mind maps or associations of images and words.
Ps: remember, you don't have to be an artist to be a good designer, but you have to know how to exploit drawing. Must a designer know how to draw?
3. Work in black and white
Another very important tip is to always, really, always start working in black and white.
At the beginning of the creative process, you need to think about focusing only on the idea behind the logo, its shape and its effectiveness . So avoid using colors until the end of the creative process!
By working only in black and white, you can concentrate on the design and, at the same time, the customer will not be distracted by color preferences. In the first part of the creative phase it is necessary to ensure that the client is also focused only on the idea and the form. Only later will we come to talk about colors and everything that follows.
Does a logo always have to work in black and white?
4. Don't follow trends
Of course, graphic design trends are extremely important for communicating in the right way. They are used, for example, in the advertising sector to transmit a message through contemporary standards and thus be able to reach as many people as possible.
In the area of logo design, however, things work differently.
A logo designed following the current fashion, after a few years will lose effectiveness and will have to be re-designed. It will be a failure, therefore, because a good logo must last for years , even decades!
So, always remember to design without being influenced by what are the graphic trends of the moment and instead design thinking things like "will this logo still be ok in ten years?".
5. Remember that readability is important
And by readability I mean the level of ease of reading of a logo.
How long do you think people are looking at a logo? Aside from us graphic designers who would be able to spend even hours looking at logos, a normal person observes a logo for a maximum of one or two seconds.
In this period of time, the message that transpires from that logo must reach the observer. It's a difficult challenge, I know, and that's exactly why customers pay us to overcome this challenge, isn't it?
The good readability of a logo is a very important cardinal point, especially when a brand is little known. An example is that of the many logos built on a signature or a manual writing: they may appear beautiful and elegant but, often, they are difficult to read and understand, therefore, if possible, avoid them.
It is in fact established and recognized that the most effective logos are the simplest and most immediate ones.
6. Try different sizes
A good logo must work not only in black and white or in its standard version. A good logo must work in any size !
From the smallest possible version, such as the favicon of a website (that little icon you see in the tabs of a browser), to the gigantic versions like when it is placed on a poster or on a large screen.
So remember to try the functionality of your logo in all the dimensions in which it will be used. If, for example, the logo you designed, in its reduced version was too difficult to read and a little confused, you can also think of making some optical corrections for when that version will be used (obviously informing and instructing the customer about it).
Okay, I concluded with the first 6 tips, the basic ones. Now those are coming for those who want to be a real NINJA in the design of a logo!
7 tips from NINJA to design a logo
These are slightly more advanced and certainly more specific tips, in short, they are tips for future Samurai masters!
7. Listen to the customer
Do you remember what I told you in the first point? That asking questions to the customer is of paramount importance! And if, once you have asked all these questions, once you understand the history of the company, the needs of this logo, the way it will "behave", you still do it yourself, well, know that you will waste time!
Listening to the people you work with is one of those tips that any personal growth para-guru and any human relations teacher or similar stuff will tell you. Always.
Because remember that building a logo is not only a work of the designer, but a collaborative work.
To make a logo you work in 2: designer and client . And there must be cooperation, listening and respect between the roles to achieve a perfect result of the project.
Also, know that the customer who asks you for a logo, in 90% of cases knows a lot, much more than you about the sector in which he works. So, listen to it! If he tells you that a certain style in his sector cannot work, try to understand that he has been in that sector for years and that perhaps he is right, even if it is difficult for you to admit it.
If, of course, after listening to each customer's point of view, you are convinced that some things should be done as you think best, then here is the next advice:
8. Don't listen to the customer
But Lorenzo, are you stupid? Did you just tell me to listen and to be heard and now do you tell me otherwise?
You're right, but these two points can coexist very well. In fact, let me rephrase: these two points MUST coexist.
You, to design a logo that works and that satisfies all the parts involved, you must necessarily listen as much as possible to your customer. At the same time, however, you are the designer, you are the expert in graphic design, the one who must guide the creative process towards the creation of the logo.
So, if you think that's the case, make your own head, assert your position and your point of view.
Obviously, however, you have to do it cooperatively and that is explaining the reasons behind your graphic choice.
You are not a professional if you say to the customer: "I chose orange because it suits us". You are a professional if you say: "I chose orange because it reflects the idea of creativity and spontaneity that the company wants to convey, as emerged from the initial briefing". Do you agree?
9. A logo does not always require a pictogram
A logo can be of different types: it can be a logo (i.e. when there are no additional graphic elements to a text), it can be a pictogram (i.e. when there is a characteristic graphic element such as the Nike mustache) and it can be a combination of both (most cases).
For example, taking only the Nike case, when we use only the word Nike we speak of logotype, when we use only the mustache we speak of pictogram. However, the full Nike logo is a combination of both.
Remember, though, not all customers need a pictogram logo. Often, even if not even the customer knows, it is more effective to have only a logo that represents the company, without resorting to the use of pictograms.
This is because certain companies or certain products have a marketing need to directly and immediately distribute their name and not their idea through a pictogram. And this is especially true when we talk about logos for commercial products such as products for sale or even films, books and comics.
Here are some examples of logos without pictograms:
10. Match the font
If, on the other hand, you design a logo that includes a pictogram as the main image, it is of fundamental importance that the font used to write the logotype part is consistent with the pictogram image.
In short, you must match the font you use in the logo to the pictogram. The combination can be of many different types but the important thing is that it has the same mood, the same spirit as the pictogram.
The font you choose doesn't just have to help convey the same message uniquely. It must be part of the logo in a harmonious and coherent way.
If you are interested in deepening the topic of the choice of fonts, I refer you to these two very long guides about it, you will find a lot of useful stuff!
11. Deliver the files to the customer in the right way
Ok, if you come to the end of a logo design project, it certainly means that you have managed to put many, if not all, of the advice in this guide into practice. It means that you managed to satisfy the customer and that you managed to make a project, hopefully, of quality!
Well, remember that the time of delivery of the final files to the customer is also of great importance. Providing the customer with all the files he may need is a sign of great professionalism and must be done in the best way to make the so-called "great figure".
So remember to deliver the files intended for use on the screen and those intended for printing and also to divide them by size (from the smallest to the largest version).
12. Don't forget to consider optical corrections
One aspect from which a well designed logo stands out from one designed by a beginner is the attention to detail.
In particular, the details that most influence the experience are the use or not of the right optical corrections.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, a huge world of knowledge will open up to you. I invite you to read these two articles, they are among the most advanced and amazing here on Web Digital Media Group.
