Great Logo Design: The Quick & Dirty
DO YOU KNOW WHETHER YOU HAVE A GREAT LOGO?
Take a drive and look around you. Logos are everywhere, from the Nike billboard to the advertising on a bus stop – you can’t get away from them.
But what makes a logo stick? What makes it so likable that people will buy shirts with the logo on it?
We all know that logos aren’t a brand – at least not on their own. They are a visual part of a business’s identity. Something that your customers can recognize when seeing an advertisement or product.
HERE’S A LITTLE BIT OF THE SECRET SAUCE THAT I USE TO MAKE AMAZING LOGOS.
Know the difference between a lockup, an icon, and a typographic logo. This will help you know what to ask for from your designer and will give you options.
An icon is like the Nike swoosh.
Think about what you want to be described as.
Energetic, calm, warm, or bohemian. What do you want others to think when they see your logo? A great logo embodies the feelings and styles you want your ideal clients to get when they think of your company.
In my free course, I guide students through a quick descriptive word exercise that helps hone in on the right style you’re going for. You can also compare it to competitors and see what your clients would think of it. Check out the free course >>
Have inspiration images.
Your designer isn’t a mind reader (I know, shocker!). The best logos have been created alongside clients AND with a ton of “swipes” or inspiration images. Both the client and I will collect images that fit with our desired outcome. A big plus if you also collect ones that would never fit into your business!
These images can be of tattoos, other logos, photographs, emblems, etc. A great way to collect them is by using my Pinterest method which can be found in my free course.
Stay simple, stay classy.
If you’re being too trendy with your logo, you run the risk of looking outdated in 6 months to a year. That’s totally fine if you’re looking to rebrand that soon – but the typical time before a brand refresh is needed is actually 3 to 5 years.
Are you adding too much to your logo? It’ll look amateurish at best and like clip-art at worse. Take a step back and take a really hard look at your logo – can any element be taken out without detracting from the brand? If so, take it out.
Side note: I do have clients that are ADAMANT about leaving things in their logos. They want all the colors, 3 different fonts, or 5 different symbols. After a lot of back and forth, I do the work and I’ll make it the way that works for you. BUT I’ll always explain my position and feelings on the matter so you understand exactly what you’re getting.
If you’re designer isn’t objecting or speaking to you about your choices – be wary.
Get the right files!
At the end of the process, make sure you get the files you need. Ask for a PNG, JPG, and an EPS. Here’s the breakdown:
A PNG is your logo versions without a background. This is great for places where you’d want the logo to appear over an image such as a website.
The JPG will have a background. I actually rarely use these but a high resolution JPG is great to have if you need just the logo printed on a background (usually white), such as a banner. Just send it off to the print shop.
You’ll never really use an EPS file unless you’re asking your printshop for an extremely large banner or billboards. You can think of this as a working file that can be edited in Illustrator.
The files you don’t want are PSDs of your logo – even if it’s a high resolution. They’re useful but if you need to go larger than the given size, you can’t scale it up since it causes pixelation. The EPS won’t create that blurry effect.
There’s so much more that goes into building the proper logo, plus, how you can be a part of the process!
