Top Tips for Logo Design

Sixteen Top Tips for professional logo design

In this article I outline 16 top tips for logo design, 16 key points to remember when working on logo design for yourself or a client. It takes practise to get to grips with creating great logos. Many of these points were covered when I was at college, but today we have the added luxury of being able to complete logo design in Vector format rather than by hand.

Too often Photoshop is used for logos and this can create soft, fuzzy and unclear results. Beginners will often use Photoshop without realising that complex shading and patterns can be get lost when a logo is reproduced small. You are also limited to enlargement with Photoshop, so that big exhibition stand or car vinyl will break down. One of the extra top tips for logo design I can give for a logo that has been created in Photoshop is to save the file as an eps. At least this will be vector.

Key to good logo design is choosing the right font, to find out more about Typography and in particular, Typography on the Web, visit this article ⇝

My 16 top tips for logo design:

Logo Design Tip No1. Your logo is the first impression people will have about your company. Make sure it reflects your business accurately

Logo Design Tip No2. What a logo is NOT: A logo is not simply typing out your company name in a fancy font.

Logo Design Tip No3. A logo should be clean, clear and simple using only one, two or three colours. I t should also work in just one colour.

Logo Design Tip No4. Think outside the box: A logo for a shoe company does not have to have an image of a shoe, think of Nike and Adidas.

Logo Design Tip No5. Be unique, never use clipper art, a logo should be designed for a specific purpose, don’t use free images

Logo Design Tip No6. Create Vector images: Vector images will have clean lines and be scalable for web, printed materials and signs

Logo Design Tip No7. Your logo should be memorable and have impact, an over detailed logo will lose strength

Logo Design Tip No8. A logo footprint should be as square as possible, but if it’s not, then icons and words should work independently

Logo Design Tip No9. Use icons with the idea that they can be separated from the text, twisting icon into the logo will undo this feature

Logo Design Tip No10. Give the right message, make sure you design logos that reflect the business – are you, fun, serious, young or corporate?

Logo Design Tip No11. Be unique. For your company to stand out you won’t want to copy others and infringe copyright

Logo Design Tip No12. Think in mono – a logo should be able to work in just one colour, the shape of the logo is most important

Logo Design Tip No13. Stay consistent, start with Pantone colours and match those to RGB, web colour and CMYK

Logo Design Tip No14. A logo is not the “Brand” alone, but the starting point for your business identity, behaviour and ethos

Logo Design Tip No15. Don’t rely on default fonts, create lettering or modify a font by kerning or shaping for a logo safe from copying

Logo Design Tip No16. Clients should expect to pay for a well-designed logo. You should be someone who will research, sketch and develop concepts, then reflects upon it

Reference for logo design:

By Soo Smart