THE LOGO: YOUR MARK OF DISTINCTION
The 4 design criteria of an ideal logo
Whether you are a designer or are tasked to hire professional design services, knowing and following these four design criteria will help you get the most out of the design process, so you end up with your «ideal» logo.
Factually, any logo serves to visually represent the marketing identity of an organization, product or service, whether commercial or social.
To ensure that this representation is as accurate as possible, here are four design criteria that characterize an “ideal” logo.
1- The right style
By style we mean a personality, emotional or artistic trait such as: fun, solemn, expressive, scary, contemporary, rigid, etc. And like anything else in marketing and sales, the style of a logo must be in tune with what it stands for.
For example, here are different marketing activities and the styles that one could associate with each:
– for a children’s service or product the logo would be playful, fun;
– for a theatre it could be either classical, whimsical, artistic;
– for a construction company we think of solidity, stability;
– and for an event producer one could think showy, dynamic, technological;
– and so on…
USEFUL INSIGHT : Can we break this rule and impose a style? Yes, as long as we know that it will take quite some time and/or a lot of communication to get the target clientele to assimilate this other reality.
2- Attractive aesthetics
A logo must be aesthetically attractive, certainly, but above all it must appeal to the target clients.
Obviously «attractiveness» is a relative notion, and indeed we cannot please everyone. But as in any popularity contest, one simply has to please the majority to win the prize.
That said, in terms of aesthetics the designer uses colours and shapes to come up with a design that will appeal to the greatest number of people in the target audience.
As for the result, then everything depends on the aesthetic sense of the graphic designer and his/her client.
3- Competitive difference
An ideal logo will not only represent the desired style and be attractive, but will also differentiate itself from competitors and other players in the same industry.
For this purpose, a designer can opt for one of these 5 types of designs: logo, pictogram, symbol, hybrid and emblem.
From there, everything is in the artistic and technical competence of the designer to make the logo as different as possible.
USEFUL INSIGHT : Before diving into the creative step, it would be useful to pull together many logos in your target industry so as to have a good overview of what is being done, and to reduce the risk of creating a design that copycats a competitor.
4- Graphic flexibility
With this last criterion, we make sure that the final design can be used in any and all circumstances, as follows :
a) to begin with, the logo will be applied to the essentials, that is to say the stationery, the business cards. the website and all of the relevant social media platforms;
b) then, if necessary, one would design other applications such as for interior or exterior signage, service vehicles, packaging, promotional items, a PowerPoint template, etc.;
c) and finally, we must ensure that we have established standards of application for a horizontal, vertical and square space; including the use of the logo in colour and, if necessary, and other possibilities.
USEFUL INSIGHT : In some cases, usually for big organizations, we would produce a Graphic Design Standards Manual illustrating all of the applications; in this wise the use of the logo is standardized for one and all.
So… is your present logo to your liking? If not, call us.
Call us at 514-529-5669 and ask to see our BEFORE & AFTER EXAMPLES of logo design. Or simply use our contact form and we’ll set up a time to talk.
Other relevant articles :
Logo : 5 types of designs for you to consider
Vincent [Vincenzo] Sciullo
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