What Makes A Good Business Logo?

There are many elements to consider when designing a logo for your business. If you're creating a new logo design, you need to think about how you'll represent the brand, product, or individual's character. But before we dive deeper into what makes a good business logo, let’s first understand its purpose and importance.

What is the Purpose and Importance of Logo?

Logos are usually the first piece of branding that a potential customer sees. They're also one of the branding components that often make the biggest impression on people. And if rightly aligned with the brand, they stay the longest. The importance of a logo is that today, it’s not just a mere mark of identity but also tells a lot about a brand, including what it does and stands for. If your design can make people connect with your logo, they’ll be more inclined to invest their time or money in your business, products or services.

By no means is the logo the only element in successful branding. However, it is one of the essential ones and is often at the center of the complete brand strategy. The design process starts with creating an immediately recognizable logo that inspires trust, admiration, loyalty, and superiority. Good business logos usually have a concept or a meaning that visually convey the intended message. Now, let’s understand the process of designing good business logos.

The Logo Design Process

Good business logo ideas take thought and creativity, and many elements combine to make an effective one. Here is a design process that you can follow to get excellent output.

1. Research

It is important to do your research before you start designing a logo. Do a competitor study, look at industry and market trends. Also, look at the logo designs that have been successful and stood the test of time as references. Remember, studying references is good, but don’t pick up too many as it will often leave you confused. Take inspiration from 4 to 5 best ones.

2. Conceptualize

Once you’re through with your research, you can now start sketching your ideas. Start developing designs around your brand and your research. This is the most important step of the whole design process. Here, get inspired and pour all your creativity on paper. Sketching isn’t time-consuming and gives you the freedom to explore your imagination. Once you put all your ideas on white paper, it gets easier to design them on a computer.

3. Revision

Now that you have a few designs at hand, you can reach out to your close friends or partners to help you select one. It is important to take second opinions to help you work on what you might’ve missed while designing. Consider trying out the modifications they suggest only if you think they make the design better. Make appropriate revisions, brush it up and give the final touch to your design.

4. Final Design

Finally, if you’re sure about the design, save the logo in various colors as per your color palette and important file formats.

The Principles of Good Business Logos

For a logo to be good and effective, it must be simple, memorable, timeless, relevant and versatile. Understand these five principles of a good logo design in detail with effective logo examples.

1. Simplicity

The simpler the design, the easier it is to recall and the longer it is remembered. A simple logo can often be recalled even after as little as a brief glance, something which is not possible with a crowded design. A simple logo focuses on a concept, on a single ‘story.’ Use the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle. According to KISS, most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than complicated. Hence, simplicity should be a key goal in design. Have a look at these business logo images of Nike and Twitter. These two of the most popular, simple logo designs that have survived the market for ages are easy to remember and speak volumes.

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