Follow These 12 Design Principles to Create Strong Logos

A logo is the most important part of marketing and promotion. It's the visual representation of your entire company. It's how people relate to your business or organization.

Strong logos are the most valuable part of large companies, at times they're worth billions of dollars. It takes time to build a strong logo, but you can make a great start with your logo design.

There are a number of things that you have to do to communicate the right message about your company.

How can you create a strong logo?

Read these design tips and learn how.

1. Color

A logo is simply the interaction between color, type, and shapes. Color is the first thing that gets noticed when people look at your logo.

People interpret color in certain ways. Yellow and orange are usually associated with happiness and fun. Red is usually used to create a sense of urgency (think red tag sales and stop signs).

Now, it gets tricky if you have an international company. That's because some colors are interpreted differently by different cultures.

For example, the color blue is usually tied to security, reliability, and trust. That's why it's used in almost every industry. Companies from IBM to BlueCross use it.

Some cultures associate blue with evil. Before you settle on a color, you need to know how the logo will be interpreted in the cultures where you do business.

2. Type

The type that you use is also a major factor in delivering a message. Some typefaces deliver a classic message while others look modern.

Think about your favorite logos. Look at them carefully at the typeface used in each of them. Can you see how they each convey a different message?

Take Gap as an example. The original logo was the company's name in a specially designed font that was about classic timeless style. The logo was so strong, that when the company did an update 10 years ago, it wasn't taken well.

That change actually goes down as one of the biggest logo fails ever.

3. Whitespace

Whitespace is an important part of the design. It's the area of unused or negative space. Some designers choose to have no whitespace in the logo, but whitespace can serve a specific purpose.

Whitespace can draw the eye towards specific elements of your design.

4. Branding

You may have an idea as to what you want to communicate with your logo. The piece that people tend to forget is that they need to know what the organization really stands for.

That's your brand. It's the promise that you deliver to your customers every day. It's the aspirational thing that your employees and your customers can rally around.

Your brand is what should dictate the design of your logo. How do you create a brand?

Start by thinking about what your promise is to your customers. What's the one thing you want them to think about your company. For example, a cybersecurity company promises security and reliability.

A financial company relies on trust. A fashion company promises elegance or avant-garde design, or both. A children's company delivers creativity and playfulness.

If you have trouble thinking about the one thing that your brand is about, think of your brand as if it's a person. That makes it much easier to create a brand as relatable.

Once you understand your brand, it becomes much easier to choose the right colors and type and design for your logo.

5. Strong Logos Get Stronger over Time

The Nike swoosh was created in 1975 for $35. At the time, Nike was a tiny company. The reason why the company grew and the logo gained value is because they were innovative.

The company delivered positive results for runners and athletes over time. In the 1980s, the company launched the Air Jordan brand and ran a couple of iconic ad campaigns. The logo's recognition and value grew over time.

The lesson for you is that while your logo needs to grab attention and be well-designed from the outset, you have to focus on doing the right things in your business.

That's how the value of your brand and logo will become more important over time.

6. Simplicity Rules

It's easy to get carried away with logo design. You want to make it stand out so much that you have too many elements included in the logo.

The simpler the logo, the better. You want to be able to create something that people can look at and immediately figure out. A busy logo gives them more to figure out.

When you design your logo, it's best to start by designing with a logo maker. You'll be able to add and take away different elements of your logo.

You want each part of the logo to have a very specific purpose. You may find that you have to subtract things from your logo to keep it simple.

7. Be Creative

Don't be afraid to show creativity in your logo design. While you have a message to convey, it doesn't mean that you have to fit your logo into a box.

Have creative freedom to start with what you want to see in your logo. Remember that the best logos are the ones that are distinctive in your industry.

Everyone in healthcare seems to use a red or blue cross. Attorneys tend to use their name in an elegant serif font.

Your logo doesn't have to follow what everyone else has done before. Make it stand out.

8. Check in Black and White

It's probable that you're going to take out a print ad and you'll need a black and white version of your logo. Sometimes, it's not possible to print everything you need in full color.

You'll want to make sure that your logo looks just as sharp in black and white as it does in full color.

9. Make it a Classic

Timeless is something to consider as you're evaluating logo designs. Do you see yourself using the same logo for the next five years, even as your organization evolves?

That's what you want your logo design to be. If you have to rebrand and redesign your logo every year or two, it can create confusion with everyone.

No one will know what your company is about. A timeless logo design will be one that lasts for years.

10. Test Your Logo

You may love your logo, but you don't want to get too attached to it. You need to test it to make sure you're delivering the right message.

Put your logo in front of different stakeholders in your organization. You should have employees, volunteers, vendors, and customers take a look at it.

As you show them the logo, ask them for the first thing that they think of when they see it. Then ask them if they like it and have them explain why or why not.

Those answers will tell you if you're delivering your message or not.

11. Create Different Versions of Your Logo

You should have different versions of your logo. Facebook has a few different versions, including the identifiable F and the thumbs up logo.

At the very least, you should have an icon and then a larger version of the logo that can be applied anywhere. Don't forget that your logo is going to be used in a wide variety of formats.

It'll be on banners, signage, websites, letterhead, brochures, and t-shirts.

12. Write a Brand Usage Book

Now that you have your logo design down, you have to tell everyone how to use it. A brand book or brand guidelines book is an instruction manual.

It tells people how to use logos online and in print ads. A brand usage book is specific, citing the exact colors and fonts that are to be used. It should also include margin guidelines and have the story of the brand.

A brand usage book is important because it ensures consistent usage of the logo. If you have too many variations of the logo, it will lose its power.

Strong Logos Win the Day

A logo is the one design that you have to get right. Even though the value and identity will build over time, you need to know what the logo needs to convey.

Strong logos have a few characteristics in common. They're simple, easy to understand, and are relatable. A strong logo represents the values and aspirations of a company.

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