Designing a Logo
A logo is a visual representation of the corporate identity of a business house. Thus the role of a logo is very significant for making or breaking the corporate image of any company. A logo designed for a corporate house should be designed with professional expertise and creativity. Corporate logo design can be of three types. They are abstract or symbolic logo design, descriptive logo design and typographic logo design.
While designing a logo, some simple things should be kept in mind. Some of them are discussed for you. At times through an abstract logo the actual purpose of designing it can become obscure. Thus it needs to be kept simple yet reflecting the corporate feel aiming the target audience.
Simple Design: A logo is designed for a company or business house for its better prospects. Simplicity is one of the main keys of a good logo design. It is advisable to avoid the complicated designs for logo. For the users it becomes difficult to remember and identify a complicated logo of any company. A logo is used as a symbol of a company and not as an object of beautification.
Use of Less Color: It is advisable to use less color for a logo design. It is better to restrict the usage to at the most of three colors for logo design. There are valid reasons for using fewer colors for a logo. First of all the printing cost of a company’s labels, brochures, letterhead, cards etc will increase with the use of an additional color. Secondly too much use of colors can diminish the visual clarity of a logo in certain mediums. The intelligent choice of color for a good logo design is also appreciated.
A Business Implement: While designing a good logo for a professional purpose, it has to be kept in mind that it will portray the company’s image and good will. The logo will be considered a good logo if it hails an up to date look. It should also be able to create an impact on its very introduction.
Use of Vector Graphics Software: While designing a logo, vector graphics should be preferably used. The use of vector graphics will enable the designer to resize the image whenever necessary and the design integrity will also be not affected. Using vector images does not bring any change in the file size. Even the sharpness and clarity of the image is not lost. Adobe Illustrator can be used for creating vector graphics.
Use of Font: For logo design, more than two fonts should not be used. Use of different types of fonts may cause confusion and distraction. It is preferable to use standards fonts for logo design, like Arial and Times New Roman. For better clarity in smaller format reproduction of a logo, the font style should be kept non – script. There can be exceptions when the logo is used as the script font to substitute the name of the product.
Registration and Trademark: Before publishing any logo it is better to check whether it is, even unknowingly is violating any trademark or registration right. Once the final design for a logo is complete, it is always wise to register the logo in the name of the company.
Testing a Logo: Most of the time, a logo consists a text or a tagline along with it. So it is better to test a logo in different formats. It is better to ensure whether the clarity of the logo is maintained even in smaller format representation. Different combinations with text and graphic can be done. For testing, logo should also be designed in separate colors.
The design of a logo should be so that it can adapt itself and flexible enough to change itself with time. A logo design should be such so that it remains memorable in the subconscious mind of the target audiences from the very first glance.