Saturday, April 18, 2009

How To Design A Logo

The logo is the brand of a company –it’s their identity. Everyone presents their image in some form; humans have profile pictures, companies have logos. There is meaning to a logo, one that communicates personality and character. High school girls dig through clearance bins at Abercrombie & Fitch looking for those logo-blasting slim-fit T’s because a logo has meaning, even status.

So when designing a logo, it is important to keep a few principles in mind:

  1. Keep it simple; less is more. Complicated designs are not memorable designs.
  2. Color/shape psychology. Shapes like circles communicate a feeling of unity, wholeness, and community. Meanwhile, a rectangle represents logic, security, and structure. Color carries connotations leaving intended impressions as well.
  3. Readability/memorability. Can the concept be easily understood, or is it lost on the audience?
  4. Scalability. What will the logo look like expanded on a billboard compared to how it will look printed on a business card? The image bust be simple enough to reduce.
  5. Black & White. A good logo should be easily converted to black & white, since it will not always be printed in color.
This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations firm staff member, Keith Flanagan. Follow him on Twitter: @keithflanagan

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