There’s more to logo design than you may think. At Glow, we love working with our clients to create distinctive brands that our clients adore. It’s not just about the logo design, a brand includes colours, typography and should convey personality and values – that’s a lot to summarise, right? So, as you can imagine, a brand should take some time and consideration.

Here are our top tips to consider when designing not only a logo, but a brand:

1. Understand the brand

We’ve put this as number one, because, as you may have guessed, it’s the most important. We cannot stress enough; a logo is an introduction to the brand. It must target a specific audience, so as a designer, you must understand not only the market, but the personality of the business.

We recommend:

• Ask the client to fill out a brief and ask;
• What emotions do they want the brand to evoke?
• Information about their market
• What are their values?
• What’s the target audience and who are their competitors?
• What do they want others to perceive them as?
• What is the company’s tone of voice?

2. Keep it simple

   Essentially a logo should be simple in design but considered in execution. You want a logo to be interesting with elements personal to the brand, but also to work well at a glance.

You should consider:

• Is it legible at extreme scale?
• Will different print processes work well with the design?
• How will the logo work on different backgrounds?

3. Colour is important

   It’s not just a case of picking the client’s favourite colour. Each colour has different connotations and it is important to consider how this will reflect on the company.

Ask yourself:

• What colours are popular in the market/industry?
• Do they want to stand out or fit in?
• What connotations do they want associated with the brand?

4. It’s all about the type

   Just like colour, the type of font you select can say a lot about the brand. For instance, a serif font implies a sense of luxury and tradition and whereas a sans-serif is much more contemporary and corporate.We recommend:

• Reading our ‘Fonts Explained’ blog
• Selecting a font that is legible
• Consider the longevity of the font choice. Choose a font that will not date in a couple of years.

5. Build your brand

Creating a logo is only the first part, building a brand takes time and a whole lot of effort. It’s all about how the logo works for the company and how it is used in materials going forward in order to promote the brand.

You should consider:

• How will the logo work on future marketing material, on and offline?
• Is the design flexible to adapt with the market?
• Is it easily reproduced for uniforms, signage, livery, etc?
• Creating brand guidelines, to ensure consistency and brand continuity

6. Don’t show the world

It’s impossible to create a logo the whole world will love, the important part is that the client (and we don’t mean the whole company either) loves it. You should work with a select few within the business to create a logo based on company’s values and vision, see point 1.

Remember:

• Don’t ask for too many people’s opinions – especially if they’re not aware of the brief.
• You may not love the finished style of the logo, but if the client does, and it fits the brief, then that’s the golden nugget, job done.
• Be confident in explaining why you have chosen to design the logo in a certain way.

Logo design should be a passionate process, but if you’re finding you need some more help and advice, take a minute to read our 7 tips to banish creative block blog!