What makes a great logo?

What makes a great logo? 

Brandability 

• The logo is a company’s ‘signature’ and will mark the first impression for the viewer. A GREAT logo usually holds some of these qualities: 
  • Presentable  
  • Clean 
  • Relevant – Geared towards the business’s interests and key demographics. 

Scalability 

• A great logo is clean and is easily viewed regardless of whether it’s blown up or shrunk to the size of a dime.  
• If you find a client who wishes to have too many visual elements in a logo, remind them of design scope, but also show them an example of how difficult it would be to distinguish a busy logo when it’s resized to fit on a business card.  

Simplicity 

• Some of the best logos, from large corporations to small businesses, are simple and straight to the point. 
• A great logo is a memorable logo. It does not always have to explain what a business does. It should make an impression to the viewer upon first glance, not distract them from digging further into the website or other business materials.  

How do we guide indecisive clients? 

Helping them define what they want, even when they don’t know. 

• Definitive and constructive design information that focuses on what the client would like to see.
• Expand on the customer language such as “needs to ‘pop’”, and find out what that means to them.

Guiding clients towards meaningful consultations.

• Set expectations – If a client doesn’t know what they want to see in a logo, help define it for them according to their business interests, but also set the expectations that it is important to provide details for revisions once they see the initial concepts.  
• Ask them what they would NOT like to see. This often helps narrow down what styles they would go for.  
• It is important to control the flow of the conversation and guide the client towards the end of the tunnel with a clean and effective logo design. The more you control the call, the more easily we can interpret the client’s ideas. 

Providing visuals 

• If the client can’t provide a visual reference, provide some of your own and see if it fits the style they would like to see in a logo design. 

Are there any other tips you would give specialists before they get on their next logo call? 

REVIEW the initial concepts in detail, even if the client dislikes them. 

• There are times when a client simply does not like the initial concepts. That’s ok. However, it is crucial, during the revision round, to see if the client would like to take any aspects of the initial concepts and transfer them over to a potential new design. This makes the revisions process for the designers much faster rather than starting purely from scratch.. 

Specify WHAT the client wants out of their visual references 

• If the client provides a visual reference, it is important to provide notes that describe the visual and what parts of it the client would like for us to implement on a set of potential logos. The more details you provide on these notes, the less guessing we have to do during the design process. 

Be CONFIDENT with your design suggestions 

• You are the expert during your logo and website consultations, so be confident in providing the client with your share of industry knowledge.  
• Show them what works and what does not work in a logo design. Guide them towards a simple, brandable, scalable design.