Readability
A logo is one of the most important elements of a brand’s visual identity. No brand is complete without a logo — that’s why there is a great diversity in styles and types of logos, and an endless race between designers and business owners. Whose logo is brighter, more informative, more memorable, more attractive? Everyone strives to achieve maximum effect, and there is a great temptation to overdo it. We do not deny that the logo should be aesthetic, but should the aesthetic aspect and decorativeness define the creativity of the logo, while in reality, they can negatively affect the readability of the logo.
The primary goal of the logo is to be effective. The logo should pass the verbal and visual information it contains to the audience. That’s why when you design a logo you must make sure it is readable, even if you have to refuse from using additional decorative elements or secondary texts. If you cannot identify a certain logo at any given size or distance, then the logo is not well-designed.
Conceptuality
Having an opportunity to choose between several logo options, our customers, almost always, make a choice in favor of conceptual logos that have a strong concept in their base. Let’s take for example one of the logos our team developed for a marketing company.
Initially, the customer set the brief highlighting that the logo should be laconic and strict. We designed and shared several versions of minimalistic logos, some of which met the client’s expectations. The logos had a wide range of applications and a unique form, which was demonstrated to the client in the presentation. We had also included a logo version simply consisting of a circle and the name of the company. The entire visual was concentrated on that simple bright blue circle.
However, the circle was not chosen by chance, it was generated after thoroughly studying the company values, their vision, mission, and approach. As a result, we decided to base the logo concept on four pillars that form the uniqueness of the company’s approach and what unites them. In this case what fully represents their unique approach and unites its four pillars was a simple circle. The result was predetermined at the very moment, when the client received the file presenting the logo concept, with a detailed description of the points defining its uniqueness. We highlighted the connection of the logo with the brand, and their team visualized their brand in this version. They chose concept and meaningfulness.
Versatility
Today’s competition obliges companies to take over more and more online and offline platforms. Maybe today the task is just to create a logo for Instagram, but tomorrow that same logo might be used for printing on large-scale banners or small-scaled materials. The more things the logo touched, the more versatile it should be, or at least it should have different versions for different sizes. It will be better if initially, the logo is convenient for use in various scales and for various purposes (for example, vertical and horizontal versions, a version with an emblem only, abbreviated, etc.). It is also preferable to design monochrome versions of the logo (white and black) to make sure that your design will be used correctly.
The success of a logo is defined by a large number of factors and it is difficult to predict which of the many logos will be relevant in ten years or will become the first example in articles like “the best logos of the century”, but why don’t we together take a step towards creating a more professional and conscious design?