What does it take to create a memorable brand logo?
Well, we're going to learn exactly that in a few simple steps.
The average person comes across between 4,000 to 10,000 logos every single day. The vast majority of these logos are completely ignored and aren't powerful enough to capture customers attention, never mind keep it.
A logo can be defined as a symbol or other small design utilised by a business or person to identify its products, uniform, vehicles, and so on.
So why are some logos successful and others just completely ignored?
Why do some logos stick in our mind and why do some just seem to feel 'a little bit off' and 'not quite make sense'.
A logo can be defined as a symbol or other small design utilised by a business or person to identify its products, uniform, vehicles, and so on.
Everyone wants to have a logo which is simple, memorable and iconic
It simply makes it easier for us to notice everything related to the brand, whilst also making sure we don't mistake the company or person for someone they are not.
So in essence, you need a logo because for 3 main reasons:
We'll come to the third point later, but for now, we just need to make sure you're fully aware of why businesses like Symantec have paid upwards of $1,000,000 for brand identity creation.
Companies pay a great deal for logo design and brand identity creation because:
The question many people wonder is what makes one logo better than another?
Everyone wants to have a logo which is simple, memorable and iconic.
But how do you do it?
In order to understand what makes a logo iconic, let's dive into one of the most well-known logos on earth.
You don’t have work too hard to understand the world-renowned logo of Amazon.
The logo is simple, to the point and communicates two very clever messages as part of it's brand identity.
Firstly, the logo is designed with an arrow starting at the letter “A” and ending at the letter ”Z”. This shows that the company sells everything you could want or need, by playfully stating that they sell everything from A to Z.
Clever, huh?
Secondly, the arrow also represents a smile with a little dimple on the right side, to communicate the customer-centric nature of the company and how they invest heavily in (essentially) making the customer as happy as possible.
So what makes the Amazon logo, among many other well-known brand marks, iconic?
Well, every iconic logo has these 4 things in common:
These common traits can be found in almost every iconic brand logo in the world today. By understanding each trait fully, it will begin to make sense why so many other logos just don't make the cut.
Iconic logos are all very refined and simple.
This means taking away all the frills and extra details which are uneccisary. The goal should be to communicate the feeling or story of exactly what the company does in the simpliest way possible.
The Starbucks logo is one of the most famous and well-known brand marks in the world today. It's said that an early creative manager searched through old marine documents until he found the perfect image of a siren from the 16th century for the brand's logo design.
Many coffee shops would think about using a coffee bean or something similar to the visual element of their logo, but Starbucks understood the importance of thinking differently and becoming known for an original message.
The best way to realise if your logo is simple and different enough is to collect the logos from competing companies together and place your logo in the centre.
Does it stand out? Or does it just look the same as every other logo around?
If you cover the simple and distinctive step correctly, this step should take care of itself.
The logo should be simple enough to notice from a glance, making it difficult to miss if a customer is just passing and not giving you their full attention.
The more complex something is, the less likely it is we'll remember (or want to put in the effort to do so).
This is important because it helps your brand mark to be easier to remember too.
The easier something is, the less energy and resources it takes for our minds to store an image or piece of information in our longterm memory.
The more complex something is, the less likely it is we'll remember (or want to put in the effort to do so).
Our brains are very intentional with what we store in our memory.
So by making our logo as simple and distinctive as possible, we can make sure we're giving ourselves the best chance of customers memorising our brand mark and perhaps using it to guide future buying decisions.
This step is the simpliest of them all.
In simple terms, your logo should be easy to recognise and relate back to your brand regardless of if it is as big a building or as small as an app icon on your phone.
The importance of scalability in logo design is essential.
If your logo isn't scalable, you risk being restricted from being able to apply it in a number of useful ways in future.
So make sure you keep this in mind as you begin to have your logo developed. If it isn't as easy to put it side by side with other sizes and making it around 1 cm in height. If it is still clear and easy to notice, you should be good to move onto the last stage.
So how does a logo communicate a feeling or tell a meaningful story?
It's actually not easy, which is why so few brand marks can pull it off well.
There are very few designers skilled and creative enough to come up with a brand mark which successfully tells a relevant yet captivating message about the company it's representing.
This means you need to first decide what feeling your brand wants to evoke within your customer or what story you want to tell.
These can often be found within your brand's purpose, mission, vision statement or brand values.
By understanding the essence of your brand and what you stand for, you can begin to take that message and build a logo around it.
Now you understand what makes a logo iconic, you'll likely want to know how to design one for yourself.
Now you know the main traits all iconic logos share, this can help you to understand and guide the development of your own logo design.
By keeping the key character traits in mind, you can manage the process of creating an impactful logo design if it begins to go off the rails.
If you're looking to create a truly great logo for your business, following these steps will give you a blueprint to follow from start to finish.
Unless you're designing the logo yourself, the first step is to find a logo designer who knows their stuff.
Finding a logo designer who understands the key fundamentals of iconic logo design can be difficult if you don't know what to look for.
But if you use this checklist whilst viewing their work, you can quickly separate the greats from the not so greats.
A trustworthy designer will always:
Using this checklist should help you highlight which logo designer is going to be the best fit for you and your particular project.
Now you've found the right logo designer, it's time to brief them properly.
This stage of the process is very important, as you need to explain exactly what you want to achieve with your logo so your designer can do what they do best.
Most quality designers will have a set process they follow for logo design. So they will likely ask all the right questions without being prompted (if you've found someone good).
Here are some key things to remember when briefing a logo designer to make sure you get the best possible results:
We've already covered this step, but when reviewing the initial logo designs, make sure the designs meet the criteria we covered earlier.
In order to make sure your logo has the potential to share the same traits as other iconic logos in the world today, it is essential you even share the list above with your designer.
This way, they can understand exactly what you're expecting. Whilst also understanding that you know your stuff and won't be misled by design jargon and misdirection (just in case they try and pull the wool over your eyes).
So you've finally refined your designs and you have a logo you like and that seems to tick all the boxes.
What's next?
Well, a simple but effective question I always ask myself when designing logos for clients is "could this be any simpler?"
It's a simple question, but one which really helps you chisel away at the design until there is nothing left but the true essence of your brand. The message that truly matters.
Less is more.
But don't take away too much, or you'll be left with just another graphic with no substance.
