"Helping businesses operate more effectively online"

13

Feb

2008

How we designed our logo
Written by David Towers   

Good Web Practices logo designWe have recently had our logo designed for Good Web Practices using a graphic designer. The importance given and investment made (both financial and time) to design a business logo is sometimes overlooked.

In this post we're going to look at some of the factors we considered when we had our logo designed. We'll also be talking about the key messages we wanted to communicate through our logo, how we went about sourcing the design and how we are using the logo now.

Factors considered when designing the logo

As Alex will be talking about in a future post "creating a good website logo", at the beginning of the design process, we needed to think about the core values we wanted to communicate through the logo. In addition to this, we also had some other design requirements:

  • To have a symbol that could be used independently of the whole logo
  • The name our of business: "Good Web Practices" to fit neatly next to the symbol
  • The option of using the logo in full colour, flat colours and black and white
  • A logo that could be used against various background: e.g. At the top of our website where the background is blue and also against white a background

What we wanted to communicate with our logo

Here are the core principles and ideas we wanted to communicate with our logo, which are manifest in the work we carry out here at Good Web Practices:

  • Results and impact orientated approach
  • Professional
  • Promote best practice
  • Hard Working
  • Web 2.0
  • Simplicity
  • Friendly

Realising the logo design

How could we communicate all these factors in our logo? We decided to enrol the help of Chung-Dha, a graphic design student from the Netherlands, to help us design our logo.

Chung-Dha has an excellent portfolio of logo designs which convinced us of his ability to design something just right for Good Web Practices. Chung-Dha worked hard for us and after discussions and a number of refinements he quickly came up with our final logo design.

Making sure the logo was right

Once we had our logo designed, we needed to check that the logo was right for us. We did this through getting as much feedback as possible: asking friends and clients about what they thought of the design. Sometimes our opinions aren't the same as others, so the feedback we received was useful and helped us make a few subtle changes in the logo.

The final result: Simple and Effective

This is the final version of the logo which Chung-Dha came up with:

Good Web Practices logo

We are delighted with the logo because it meets the objectives we had at the beginning of the design process and the core values we are wanted to communicate: We have a symbol that can be used independently, the logo can reproduced in full colour, flat colours or black and white, and the logo can be used against light or dark backgrounds.

Furthermore, the upwards arrow in the Good Web Practices symbol communicates the fact that we are results and impact orientated and professional. The fact that we promote best practice is shown through the 'tick mark' included in the symbol ('check mark' for our American readers). The hard working aspect of our work is shown through the little guy's effort in pushing up the arrow up which leads to the good results. We feel like the logo itself is quite Web 2.0y because of the colour of the logo (which matches our existing website colour scheme), the simple design and the use of gradients. The logo communicates the fact we are friendly because of the bright colours, rounded edges and the inclusion of a person in the logo. Finally the logo communicates simplicity because it is in itself simple.

Using the logo

When we were sure the logo was right for us, we started to use it straight away. Here are some of the places we are using our logo:

  • Website header and footer
  • Footer on clients websites
  • Email signatures
  • Company letterheads
  • Company envelopes
  • Company invoices

What do you think about our logo?


Comments (14)Add Comment
0
Jimmy
February 21, 2008
218.208.225.27
Votes: +2
...

This article is definitely worth considering as well before you start purchasing from an online logo design service. Very informative. And it'll surely help you on deciding which site to choose from when the need arises. It is by WIRED Magazine: http://www.wired.com/wired/arc...html?pg=13

They tested some logo design firms who cater to the online market (Logo Company, LogoDesignCreation.com, etc.). I've tried logodesigncreation and their work is very good considering their affordable price.

Before deciding on going with any design sites, always check the portfolio and pricing.

David Towers
David T
February 21, 2008
205.167.7.18
Votes: +1
...

Hi Jimmy!

Thanks for posting, welcome to Good Web Practices!

The article from wired is interesting yeah. It is great that it's so easy to get a logo developed online these days. You're right by the way, Logodesigncreation's portfolio is really good.

The advice you give about sourcing a logo is spot on, it's important to check out the designer's portfolio and the pricing. We have actually written a bit more about sourcing a good business logo here: http://www.goodwebpractices.co...-logo.html

0
JP
February 23, 2008
68.247.115.236
Votes: +0
...

Great Article!!

Alex Ashman
Alex A
February 24, 2008
90.203.127.60
Votes: +0
...

There is also a whole host of information available through searching digg... Digg Logo Design

0
maheshexp
March 04, 2008
61.95.184.98
Votes: +0
...

I guess I've to start desiging logo for my blog. I was not serious in the logo stuff until I read this article. That's a great piece of info David.

David Towers
David T
March 04, 2008
205.167.7.18
Votes: +0
...

Glad you found the article useful mahesexp! Good luck with designing your logo!

0
Logo Design Pilbara
September 05, 2008
122.55.235.231
Votes: +0
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Josh Jacob
October 18, 2008
121.247.162.234
Votes: +0
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Nice Article. Very Good luck with designing your logo!

Thanks for sharing here!



http://www.viteb.com

0
John
October 20, 2008
58.8.132.227
Votes: +1
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Very useful article. I've been trying to create some interesting logos for my website and this was a big help.

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January 22, 2009
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August 15, 2009
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susanmk
July 12, 2010
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Votes: +0
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