Ask any leading brand design agency in London what makes for an effective logo and chances are you’ll be given the same set of rules to follow by most of them. The reason being that in theory at least, coming up with a winning brand logo is easy. Think about it for a second – just how many of the world’s most famous and memorable brands are complicated? Apple uses an apple, Nike uses a tick and then there are so many other brands like Disney that use nothing more than a fancy font. In any and all such cases, these are multi-billion-dollar branding success stories that illustrate how you don’t need to be a world-renowned artist to come up with a winning logo.
Instead, it’s all about those previously-mentioned rules that should be followed at all times, which include these wholly critical examples.
1 – Awareness of Your Audience
Even before taking a single step further into branding or even in business for that matter, you have to know your audience. And this doesn’t just mean knowing who it is you want to reach out to, but also understanding who they are, how they think and the way they approach life in general. The perfect illustration for the point would be that of the difference between marketing a revolutionary new digestive health supplement to seniors as opposed to marketing a new kind of toy car to 8-year-old boys. It’s a pretty extreme difference admittedly, but one that perfectly encapsulates why it’s crucial to know your audience.
2 – Logo Versatility
When going about the design of your logo, think about how good it will look and how recognisable it will be when presented in as many different ways as possible. Going back to the example of Apple’s apple – here’s a logo that’s often presented no larger than a few square millimeters and then other times are blown up to near skyscraper-size to advertise new products. And in all such cases, it looks absolutely perfect and unmistakable. This is precisely what you should be gunning for – a logo that’s just as recognisable and presentable no matter how large or small it may be.
3 – Care with Humor
One of the best ways of coming up with a brand logo and brand image in general that hits home with your target market is to appeal to its sense of humor. At the same time, however, perhaps the very best way of totally turning off your target market and making your brand an absolute no-go for those you’re trying to win over is to fail when it comes to humor. As such, in any and all instances, it is of the utmost importance to be extremely careful with any use of humor as it’s the kind of thing where a very, VERY fine line separates brilliance and outright disaster.
4 – Is It Relevant?
Once again referring back to the very same point that keeps cropping up, Apple’s brand logo is a perfect illustration of a logo that’s relevant to the brand. After all, what could represent Apple better than an apple? Of course, there’s nothing to say that you have to be this literal as were you to be selling a new type of laxative supplement…well, let’s just say a literal logo wouldn’t be a good idea. In all instances, however, it’s important to understand how crucial relevance is as logos that don’t seem to make any sense in relation to what’s represented rarely succeed.
5 – Familiarity
One excellent direction to take when looking to create a brand logo is to somehow incorporate a symbol, theme or reference that’s already well-known. For example, when a lightning bolt symbol is used in a logo it immediately conjures up images of high-energy and power. Hundreds of brands have used the ‘@’ symbol and other such staples effectively, while some harness the power of road signs and other well-known visuals from everyday life.
6 – Uniqueness
Last but not least, perhaps the most important thing of all when going about your brand logo is to make sure that the final result is 100% unique. The reason being that if your logo reminds your target audience too much of a bigger or better-known brand, chances are your marketing efforts will only ever steer them in the direction of your rivals – hardly the outcome you’re looking for. Uniqueness doesn’t have to be difficult, as it could be as simple as using a pretty obvious image or symbol and presenting it from an entirely new perspective. Think simple, think relevant and think how to make it your own – three steps to brand logo success!
