"Helping businesses operate more effectively online"

18

Feb

2008

How to create a good business logo
Written by Alex Ashman   

mercedes logo Having had our logo designed for our website, we thought it would be useful to go through a couple of quick tips on how to effectively design your logo. This post looks at some popular logos, analyses why they are successful and provides some lessons we can learn from this.

Successful Logo Observations

These are just a few of the logos I have within eye-shot of me as I sit at my desk. Recognise most of them?

company logos

I thought so!

Its not surprising that some of the most successful and recognisable logos have certain things in common.

Wikipedia, that ever useful resource, defines a logo as being for "immediate recognition, inspiring trust, admiration, loyalty and the implied superiority..."
Bearing this in mind, here is a list of a few observations that applies to the logos shown above. They...

  • are simple iconic recognisable designs
  • are unique
  • convey a message about the company
  • can be reproduced at different sizes
  • can be printed in either full colour, flat colours or black and white

Given these common features, it would make sense to ensure that your chosen logo designs and graphics follow similar principles to ensure they have maximum impact and can be used to their full potential for the benefit of your business.

It is important to emphasise the need for the ability to simply reproduce the logo in different formats and sizes. Although a particular logo design may look great on a flyer for example, if it is difficult to reproduce clearly at smaller sizes, or in black and white like at the top of a letterhead, then the logo s use suddenly becomes very limited.

Logo Design Tips

Here are a few ideas you might find helpful when looking to design your own logo whether you do the work yourself or get someone else to do it.

  • Do some research - What are you favourite logos? Why are they your favourite? Have a look through logo pond or some logo design tutorials for some ideas...
  • Establish what your perceived core business values are - For Good web practices we came up with results, hardworking, community, friendly...
  • Try to tie these into your logo - Images, colours, fonts and all the other selections you make can all give different impressions of your brand...
  • Sketch some rough ideas down - Even if your artwork skills aren't what you would like, it can be helpful to have visualisations of your ideas in front of you. This enables you to experiment with layouts, arrangements and sizes...
  • Contact a graphic designer - Outsourcing is a great way to get the whole process done quickly and well if you dont feel up to the job yourself. Be sure to hand over as much existing material as possible to the designer (website details, brochures, business cards...) so they can have a complete picture of your business and all that it stands for.
  • Does the design match the "successful logo observations"? - Be sure your logos are simple, memorable, unique and reproducible!
  • Get as much feedback as possible - Your opinion may not be the same as others, and it is sometimes easy to make isolated decisions. Remember who you are the creating the logo for - primarily customers. Take on board as much feedback as you can. And finally...
  • Dont be afraid to change your ideas completely - We seriously reworked our logo design halfway through, totally scrapping our initial ideas based on feedback we received. Dont be afraid to do the same! If you pursue a particular path, dont feel you have to stick with it, so keep trying different ideas until you are happy!

Hopefully this post has given you a few ideas on the some of the thought processes that should go into creating a logo. If you would like to read more about our particular logo design post you can read about it here: How we designed our logo. Good Luck with your designs!!

Do you have any tips you could share with us about how to create a good website logo?


Comments (10)Add Comment
Thomas
TomEV
May 06, 2008
83.85.54.215
Votes: +0
...

Hi,Great article! My only question is... where do you find a good Graphic designer? I am slightly ok with designing graphics but no where near a professional. I find this to be one of the most diffecult things in being a entrepreneur who is trying to setup his business online. There are so many websites that offer freelance services but you never know who's behind the screenname and what really happens on your server when they are working on it. So my question is how can you find a good graphics designer and web developer to help setup a business?

Alex Ashman
Alex
May 06, 2008
82.36.123.218
Votes: +0
...

Hi, Tom - Thanks for your comments.

I think the key to finding a good graphic designer would be to check their portfolio. There are some incredible graphic designers around - check out smashingmagazine.com for some great examples. I think crucially you should be looking for someone that has experience in the area you need. This may sound obvious, but someone who is amazing at logo design for example may not be the best person to do all of you website graphics. I guess you need to be looking for the complete package.

Have a good look through a designer's portfolio, and don't be afraid to ask questions before any commitment is made from either party. Their response time to emails and helpfulness is a good indicator of their professionalism and the success you may have with them. Often having a helpful, responsive person may be more productive than perhaps having the most technically gifted designer. This is also a key time to check their english skills - as of course the designer could be operating from anywhere in the world.

With regard to trust, most freelances would rather not touch someone's server - for fear of something going wrong and being blamed. In my experience most sites are developed on a temporary host, then handed over when they are completed. This avoids the issues you mentioned.

I hope that helps a bit, be sure to let us know when you site is done so we can have a look smilies/smiley.gif

David Towers
David T
May 06, 2008
205.167.7.18
Votes: +0
...

Hi Tom, good question!

I sourced our graphic designer and was impressed with his work. Here is the post I wrote about it: http://www.goodwebpractices.co...-logo.html

When working with Schneider Electric I sourced a website design and data input project in India and an order fulfillment project in Spain. In my experience it is really important to be able to chat with the company you are working with over the telephone...

Otherwise, Alex makes great points about checking their profiles and importantly their level of English. Communication is definately a huge factor to take into account when sourcing designers.

Thomas
TomEV
May 08, 2008
83.85.54.215
Votes: +0
...

Hi Alex and David,

Thanks for your tips. I am currently in a major redesign and strategical approach for my company website. I have been doing everything myself but this only is holding me back. I tried the technical side and spent hours but now I need to more forward with putting everything together. I will check out the designer details.
As for the outsourcing I am still somewhat hesistant to move forward with "far away" developers, not so much because they are not competant but just the fear of miscommunicating a key element of the project. There is also the language barrier.
Curious to hear about your thoughts on this. When working with developers abroad where is the contractual commitment? Word of mouth and reputation is a must. If you guys know anyone who is a pro in joomla let me know. smilies/smiley.gif

David Towers
David T
May 08, 2008
87.90.44.16
Votes: +1
...

Hi again Tom,

You're right - word of mouth and reputation is really important... If you put your project on Joomlancers you might well be disappointed. If you give me a call, I can recommend some excellent Joomla developers.

I look forward to learning more about your company's website.

Thomas
TomEV
May 14, 2008
15.195.185.83
Votes: +0
...

Hi David,
Thanks for all the help on the phone! You really helped me with the next step of my project. Now I have a qualified team of developers and graphic designers which are going to start working on my site soon! You really are connected in the Joomla world. It took me forever to find someone and he wasn't even good, but you already had a list a of great trustworthy guys! Keep up the good work and thanks again for helping us out!
I'll be sure to contact you for some SEO help! :-)
Cheers
Tom

David Towers
David T
May 14, 2008
205.167.7.18
Votes: +0
...

Hi Tom,

Happy to have been able to help. Sourcing web development work can be really difficult, it's important to have trustworthy contacts.
Looking forward to learning how it will go.

David

0
vetstudentjenn
July 31, 2008
98.209.38.56
Votes: +0
...

Hi there. I have found that just having a network of friends online in forums for things you believe in can really get you in touch with great people who you will be proud to pay for their help. A woman I met on a forum for work-at-home opportunities is a military wife and a new mom with a degree in graphic design. She charged me peanuts and put together a logo that had me in tears when I saw it. Too perfect. (Don't go trying to see it yet- it is in the final stages of "tweaks", and not yet installed.) When I say peanuts, I mean peanuts. She isn't up to the challenge of designing the site, but that is the fun part for me, anyways. Thanks for the articles. I have much to learn (yeah- on top of the whole "becoming a doctor" thing).
~Jenn

0
Michael Carr
March 24, 2009
174.151.191.139
Votes: +0
...

I find logo contests on www.worth1000.com EXTREMELY valuable with high quality work. In just a few days you will get 20-40 options from hundreds of GA's in their community. I had a really difficult time choosing amongst my top 5. Unfortunately, one of their top artists has left, but he has a pretty good site of his own... www.maximilian.us/

0
xira
June 30, 2009
89.138.139.37
Votes: +0
...

Being a graphic designer, I find this article very interesting. I think chemistry is more important than anything. Designers are in the business of "mind reading". We try to interpret your ideas into a visual element. My rule of thumb is, after 3 sketches the designer is still off the mark, try for a new designer. You obviously aren't understanding each other.

Feedback from "others" is good, so long as the "others" are clients and related to your target audience. Comments from your son's teacher most likely aren't relevant if your company is a high tech start up.

I hope that helps some of you. Good luck.

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