Every graphic designer in their career has had to make a logo or two. And even though the process may seem simple enough, understanding and implementing nuances and specific techniques separate good logotype design from great design. Let’s see what these are.
5 qualities of a successful logotype are legibleness, distinctiveness, one-color designs, timelessness, and relevance. Understanding how to create legible and distinctive logos in one color that are relevant will lead to a logotype being memorable and timeless.
This article will detail the core aspects surrounding creating and achieving stunning logotype designs that are relevant and timeless, no matter the company or brand. We will go into detail and explain with examples what precisely you need to know in order to elevate your skill.
5 Qualities Of A Successful Logotype
A logo can be regarded as the cornerstone of any business (brand) by many. It’s how a company is instantly recognized and remembered. It has the ability to attract or repel customers. It can appeal to the masses or a minority.
Not only do these factors play a role in how you should design a logo, but also the business itself. A good logo will subjectively represent the company’s industry, personality, values, and their views.
Consider that even though we are explicitly discussing a logotype (a logo based around a company name) rather than a logomark (one which is based on an image), the same factors apply to them both. Think of Coca-Cola, Visa, NASA, Google, and many more. Instantly just by seeing their logotype, you can instantly recognize these brands.
Through the years of logo design, a few elements have stood the test of time that, when used correctly, will help produce a logo that is loved by all and recognized worldwide no matter who sees it despite their cultural background.
Understanding these elements can take your logo design (in this case, logotype) to new levels and can sometimes make or break your business. These elements and factors you need to consider are;
- Legible
- Distinctive/Memorable
- Effective in one color
- Timeless (not trendy)
- Relevant
1. Legible
In today’s day and age, users and customers are consuming massive amounts of content every minute, whether they are watching TV, on their phones, tablets, PCs, or even out and about.
Consumers are not going to spend 3 minutes trying to decipher hieroglyphics attempting to understand what your logotype is. Thus, a logotype’s legibility is arguably the most critical factor to consider. This essentially means how easy it is to read, which plays a role in how quickly you can read it.
If you are wondering how this is incorporated into a logotype, the most straightforward answer is to consider the font you are using. Your font should be simple in design, almost plain to a degree.
This does not mean you should opt to use Arial for every logo. It simply means you should not jump for the craziest font you can find. There are such subtle nuances between fonts in typefaces that just being able to completely understand one would be enough to elevate your logo design.
Take, for instance, the Serif font typeface. This typeface includes an old-style, transitional, modern, slab, and glyphic.
2. Distinctive/Memorable
Following legibleness, your logo should be distinctive; if you can achieve this, it will be memorable. Distinctiveness is trying to capture the company’s personality in the logo while trying to send a message to the consumer. This could be considered a ying-yang situation because one will need the other for them both to work effectively.
Making a logo distinct is not all that difficult if you take the time to think about it. Using the correct fonts and specific tools to help you adjust it will help you reach your goal. Consider these font tools that are at your disposal in most top-tier graphical applications;
- Font style
- Font size
- Font leading
- Kerning
- Tracking
- Vertical scaling
- Horizontal scaling
You might not know what some of these are, but if you do, these tools will separate an amateur logotype designer from a professional.
For example, say there is a monster truck company, and they require a logo. You would be best suited if You used a bold font that had a large font size with vertical scaling and small horizontal scaling. You would then adjust the kerning to make the letters sit tight together. If the logotype took up two lines, you would subsequently also adjust the leading making it tighter.
This would give the effect or infer that you are looking at something significant, which is crushing and dominating.
Conversely, if you were designing a logo for a flower shop, you might use a thin font in italics that had sufficient spacing.
By understanding the business or brand, you can portray that simply by using fonts. That is how you will get close to making it distinctive and memorable.
3. Effective In One Color
Color is often overused in both types of logo design and, especially in logotype design. You can usually tell a logotype with too much color is from a designer without experience.
A logo is seemingly perfect in its design when it does not need color to emphasize it in any way. Remember that this article is mainly dealing with logotype design and not the logomark.
Utilizing the methods we discussed above, they should be enough to make your logo impactful and stand out, emphasizing the word or phrase.
For example, we discussed the use of kerning with horizontal and vertical scaling in regards to a monster truck logo. If these tools are utilized correctly, the impact from the font with the adjustment of it from the tools should be all you need to make the logo jump off the page and grab your attention.
One thing to note is that you should never add color to a design first. This is one of the last aspects that play a role in good graphic design. You can be mindful of the color or colors you wish to use, but the physical design should be attended to first, and it, in essence, should be impactful enough that the color is the cherry on top if need be.
The last factor to consider regarding color is that if your design is good, then one color (besides black or a dark shade of grey) should be enough.
Take into consideration that you should opt for shades of color rather than turning up the contrast or saturation. Always consider the brand and who its target market is. Remember, subtlety can go a long way.
For example, our monster truck example would suit well with a red. However, Ferrari red is not your only option. Perhaps a deep burgundy could work well for the brand. Always be mindful and implement the aspect of “less is more,” and you probably won’t even need to use color.
4. Timeless
While making your logotype, one thing to always keep in mind is to try and make the logo timeless. This means it will have mass appeal no matter age, gender, or race and will always be evergreen (popular).
Your next question is probably, well, how do you make something timeless? You consider the factors and elements we previously discussed and maximize your efforts in utilizing them.
If you opt to keep things simple, neat, and elegant (professional) to a degree, your end result will be a timeless logotype. It won’t be flashy or over the top; it will be like Goldilocks (just right).
It will help if you think of a timeless logo like this. No matter if you attempt to redesign it, you will always come up short. The other elements of the logo will fall flat even if you think you can improve in one aspect. A timeless logo has a sum greater than its parts.
This is your best approach in attempting to make a logo timeless.
5. Relevance
Relevance is another factor that will tie into making a suitable logotype tremendous and making it timeless. Once again, you will consider the factors we laid out for you.
Being relevant does not mean you must cater to a specific consumer or focus on what the hot topic is for the day. Yes, you are designing a logo for a company that most likely has a target market; however, relevance in design comes from understanding the overall goal of what the brand is trying to achieve.
Relevance is evergreen because even though the target audience may change, the subjective feeling that the logotype must give off will always be relevant to the brand and its product.
For example, if you have to make a logo for a sports brand, refrain from using images of actual sports gear like bats or balls. Even though it is relevant if the company focuses on those specific sports, you would be better off using an uppercase grotesque sans serif italic font.
This would give it more of a relevant feel due to the way the type is formatted rather than catering to a specific audience. This concept also applies to creating timeless logos (as we discussed).
Thus, understanding and applying the techniques we discussed will help you achieve relevance for any company or brand, making your logotype effectively timeless.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this article gave you insight into how to create the most amazing logotypes. The tips and tricks we suggested here will elevate your design from average to extraordinary. Always remember that you should effectively keep things simple and clean to get the most out of your logotype. The time-old saying always comes into play for such designs (less is more).
To summarize, think of the company in terms of its personality, what it is offering, and its clientele. Then try and portray that using the correct font and the tools to manipulate it to get this message across.
