An easy path to a great logo
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What makes a logo great?
I have worked with logos for so many years that all the usual arguments for why a logo is good or bad have been used so many times they start to sound like clichés.
I have worked on logos on my own, in teams, and closely with the company that wanted the logo or a remake of what they had— and I have made both good and bad logos.
The rules (or clichés)
To understand what the perfect logo can do for your company, you can set up a list of expectations:
- Recognizable
- Rememberable
- Make the company stand out
- Add value to your company
I am sure you can come up with further points.
All my years doing this have left me with one golden rule:
A logo design is primarily a graphic look that express your idea or expectations for your company.
It doesn’t matter if the logo is yellow, purple, or black. It isn’t important if it is made in Helvetica or some handmade font. It isn’t crucial if it is only an icon or only a name.
As long as it matches your view of your own company, and you decide to commit to the decision of the logo 100%.
The good logo will stand the test of time, but only if you decide to use it and keep using it as it was thought and designed for.
You might want to optimize it to follow design trends and styles of the time — but it is not often a clever idea to change the logo completely.
Logo excellence
The best logos — those that are most famous are not necessarily that good if you think about what they show.
One of the most iconic logos is the Nike swoosh. The story goes that it was purchased for about $17 back at the beginning of the company (the designer was later paid one million dollars).
The owner didn’t really like the logo to start with, but decided to use it…
