Top 5 Components of Effective Logo Design
Successful Logos Are Simple
One-third of all consumers start shopping for products with a particular brand in mind -- and you can be that brand by creating a simple, recognizable logo.
Simple logo branding showcases the message and mission of a company with a visual strength and ensures a business is easily discerned. This enables consumers to recall your brand when they want to make a purchase and ultimately boosts your bottom line.
McDonald’s clean logo design is the ultimate example of a simple design done well. Those iconic golden arches -- which also resemble America’s favorite French fries -- breed a strong brand identity across social media, brick-and-mortar stores, print design collateral and more. This brand loyalty boosted the bottom line too -- McDonald’s saw a 5.3 percent global revenue increase in 2017.
Consumers Gravitate Towards Memorable Logos
The top logo designs foster success by creating a memorable brand identity that consumers remember each time they want to make a purchase. Unfortunately, it can take between 5 and 7 views to ensure a customer will remember your brand, but there are a few design tactics that can speed that up.
A signature color can increase brand recognition by up to 80 percent -- and you can increase that even more by utilizing blue, which fosters the idea of personalization and communication between a company and customers. Plus, aim for a more artistic symbol over words -- like General Electric’s clever blue monogram. People process images 60,000 times faster than text, making detailed symbols a safe better for recognition.
Great Logos Are Timeless
A brand isn’t what you determine it to be -- it’s how your consumers perceive your company. While some logo designs miss the mark and rebranding is always an option, creating a classic logo design that stands the test of time is in your favor -- especially because 70 percent of brand managers place emphasis on cultivating a regular audience.
The high-fashion line Chanel epitomizes a timeless logo design. Instead of incorporating fancy fonts and trendy design elements, they kept the branding streamlined with a minimal symbol and sans-serif font. By avoiding too many bells and whistles, they created an iconic brand identity that has been remained the same since 1909.
Professional Logo Designs Are Versatile
In the age of social media and mobile devices, a versatile logo design is imperative. Email open rates on phones have increased by 180 percent and 71 percent of consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand they follow on social media. What’s more? Ninety percent of consumers expect a consistent experience on every platform, meaning that all of your mediums need to be clearly branded.
Unfortunately, not all logo designs lend themselves to content marketing, email campaigns, and small mobile phone screens. Enter: The responsive logo design -- a brand identity that evolves to fit every screen size and marketing medium.
To incorporate a versatile design, create a catchy symbol that will transition anywhere -- like Airbnb’s abstract heart, which users would know with or without the company name accompanying it. A responsive logo gives you more flexibility in your creations while ensuring that consumers always recognize your products.
Effective Logos Are On-Brand
Did you know it only takes 10 seconds to form a first impression of a brand? This means you truly have one shot to describe your company’s mission in a single image.
Before your designers even attempt a logo design, do some research first. Learn about your demographic and determine your overarching goal. All of these items will inform your brand identity, ensuring you create something appropriate and on-brand with your message, products, and services.
23andMe is the perfect example of an on-brand logo design. Its versatile symbol adapts to various designs and packaging, ensuring the company is recognizable. Most importantly, it showcases the company through simple visuals. Its minimal motif symbolizes DNA, while the sans serif type and bright colors demonstrate that the company is a trendy tech startup. Overall, the logo design represents the brand perfectly, ensuring it will be memorable for years to come.
The Top 5 Logos That Changed The World
Uber
Uber pioneered the rideshare industry through easy-to-use apps and quick technology -- but their logo and branding are what really catapulted the $61 billion company into consumers’ daily life.
Its many logo design iterations -- including the iconic “U” logo of 2012 and its current black and white typography -- signify accessible luxury for all. From the chic black-and-white color contrast to the responsive symbol adorning the mobile apps, the company fulfills its goal of being “everyone’s private driver” by making themselves boldly stand out as an authoritative, reliable on-demand car service.
Uber’s brand identity didn’t just transform the transportation and luxury industries, though -- it changed technology as well. The company is constantly innovating, creating a brand that has significantly evolved several times in its short lifespan. With the help of a sleek, modern logo design, Uber has made themselves a transportation staple across the world and inspired countless other companies (such as Lyft and Via) to follow in their footsteps.
Amazon
As the world’s largest online retailer for everything, Amazon hopes to bring a smile to their consumers’ faces -- and that’s exactly what they reflect in their brand identity by Turner Duckworth.
The company was founded in 1994 as an online retailer for books, but just six years later, founder Jeff Bezos was itching to provide consumers with every e-commerce product while maintaining the illusion of human interaction. To signify this shift in the business model, they created a new identity: The Amazon Smile.
The design agency describes this logo design as one with “visual wit” -- the playful smile aims to create them in real life, while the arrow points from A to Z, signifying that the company sells everything imaginable. The agency then went above and beyond, transforming the smile into a responsive design element to brand packaging, gift cards and more. This whimsical, identifiable and informational logo successfully built the most valuable company in the United States, which brought in a whopping $177.87 billion in revenue last year.
Apple
Apple is the most valuable company in the world, bringing in over $229 billion each year. But we don’t need an inspirational video of Steve Jobs or the name of the company splashed across their products to recognize the company -- their signature design branding tells us everything we need to know.
Their original logo, created by co-founder Ronald Wayne, was a detailed, intricate design that told the story of Adam, Eve and the temptation of an Apple. Although their current minimal logo design is a simple apple silhouette with a missing bite, the allure that inspired that first design still runs throughout the brand identity.
This logo propels the company forward marrying high-quality products with a single symbol across every digital platform. Every product, advertisement, and social media post is marked with the responsive logo design -- which is key, considering 75 percent of consumers crave a consistent experience across all channels. This strong association and strength drive the brand forward. One bite into Apple, and you’ll unlock the knowledge you’ve been searching for -- just like Eve.
Microsoft
Microsoft brought in over $90 billion in revenue last year -- which is expected from the brainchild of the second richest man in the world, Bill Gates. But that massive revenue was supported by a strong, long-standing brand that provides consumers stability.
Up until 2012, Microsoft utilized a bevy of typography-only logo designs, all of them bold and straightforward, which allowed the products to speak for themselves. From the very first logo in 1975, Microsoft positioned itself as a brand whose products you want and name you will know.
The company rebranded in 2012, and instead of simply choosing a new font, they merged elements from their most popular program -- Windows. The new design is much softer than the other custom logo designs they utilized. A grid filled with primary colors is complemented with a delicate gray sans-serif font -- a far cry from the bold, harsh black 1980s fonts that screamed “world domination.”
This redesign demonstrates that Microsoft can adapt to changing times while always providing users with the best products -- a hallmark of any great company and top logo design.
The Walt Disney Company
Never before has a signature garnered so much success -- until Walt Disney. The media conglomerate -- which also encompasses high-profile brands such as ESPN and ABC -- is the most powerful brand in the world.
Walt Disney’s logo -- inspired by the founder’s real-life signature placed between modern sans-serif font -- signifies happy endings, good triumphing over evil, and a strong moral compass. The signature instills a personal touch on every animation, movie, and character.
The Disney logo’s signature represents achieving dreams through kindness while carrying on an unmistakable legacy. And since 66 percent of consumers gravitate towards a brand due to shared values, the logo’s connotations give the company strength, allowing it to grow and expand to become the seventh highest valuation in the world.
5 Logo Design Tips To Create The Perfect Brand Identity
Conduct Thorough Research
“When we design something, we try to achieve the goal that the user has in mind,” says Tatyana Khamdamova, head of design at Blue Fountain Media. “We aren’t really designing for ourselves, we aren’t really designing for the client — we’re designing for the customers that that client has.”
Before you design a single graphic, conduct research. Listen to what your consumers want, the fonts that resonate with them, the colors that inspire them. Then learn about your industry -- the tactics of successful competitors are great guidelines for a new (or rebranding) business to follow. For example, Khamdamova’s team conducted research for the brand Wholesome before rebranding the company to a modern yet identifiable visual identity.
Your research will also influence the type of logo you implement, including shape and style. For example, if you anticipate branding a mobile app, an identifiable symbol will benefit your business more than a bold, creative font because it will be easily adaptable. By taking the time to gather information first, you’ll guarantee a more successful branding down the road.
Find A Design Team
Finding the perfect team to create your brand identity is no easy feat. Should you utilize in-house designers or find a branding agency to guide the way? How can you ensure they capture the vision and demographic you worked so hard to determine?
First thing’s first -- define your budget. There are pros and cons to outsourcing a design project, but they can be pricier. Conversely, by investing in an agency, you’ll be privy to plenty of expertise, a structured process, and be released of the energy
Plenty of successful brands have gone both routes. Yahoo’s brand new modern logo design was created in-house. Meanwhile, the National Basketball Association (NBA) -- which raked in $5.9 billion last year -- found long-term success with the help of agency Siegel+Gale.
Create An Organized Process
Creating the perfect requires innovation and a solid process. This gives structure to an otherwise artistic process.
Whether you’re using in-house designers or a design agency, be sure to outline a timeline for each part of the process, such as mood boards, design concepts, and sketches. After all, you can’t just coast along with no due dates and unlimited revisions. At some point, you’ll have to make decisions and move the project along.
To achieve this, meet with your team, determine your point of contact, finesse your company goals and decide on each deliverable you want to see and every step the designers need to take to refine the branding -- such as pen-and-paper drawings and constructing vectors. Then, stick to that schedule! This will ensure that every box is checked, resulting in a custom logo design that builds your brand and boosts your bottom line.
Ensure Your Logo Is Versatile
Seventy-five percent of consumers expect a consistent brand experience on every platform -- and the brands that can’t deliver in the digital age lose customers. Seventy percent say it’s easier than ever to take their business elsewhere with the help of technology.
In order to achieve that seamless experience and cohesive brand identity, companies need to create a logo design that can transition to any marketing collateral or screen size at the drop of a hat. One tip is to create a responsive logo, like Nike. Mobile apps, products and even social media posts can be subtly branded with the iconic swoosh, negating the need for the word “Nike.”
Brands can also create a logo design that adapts to a variety of color schemes. This opens to the door to potential partnerships and marketing campaigns without limiting media and imagery. DesignRush’s own identity does this, showcasing the versatile logo design in different gradient hues across the website. This allows DesignRush to foster an identity without committing all future creations to one color scheme.
Brand Everything
Once you have your logo design finalized, there’s only one thing left to do -- brand everything! This will make your products, promotions and information crystal clear to consumers and facilitate better brand recognition.
Just remember, branding isn’t just about the clean logo you just created -- it’s also the fonts, colors and overarching visuals that your company evokes. Those design elements can cement your brand identity without slapping your company name and logo on every surface you see.
Take a cue from the beauty brand Glossier. While they incorporate their type-based modern logo on certain package designs, print ads, and their website design, not everything touts it. Instead, they reinforce the brand through consistent imagery (fresh-faced, healthy women) and a cohesive color palette (white, black, soft gray and blush pink). This facilitates a more organic brand following, as 45 percent of consumers will unfollow a brand if they self-promote too much. What’s more? Glossier just received $52 million in Series C funding, proving this business tactic successful.
