Insider Tips for Crafting Brand Logos in 2022
Creating a good logo is an important part of the branding process. The goal is to have an easily recognizable symbol. Of course, if it was easy then every business would have a great brand logo. As a top digital marketing firm, we wanted to share our Insider Tips for crafting brand logos. This isn’t a plug-and-play guide for creating a logo, as that does not support a truly creative process; but instead, we are sharing tips that we have found useful during the process.
Let’s Face it — Perception is Reality!
Just like first impressions when we meet someone and, according to researchers at Princeton, size them up in under a second, the same thing happens when a person visits a website looking for a product or information.
If the logo and website design doesn’t grab their attention and create a sense of trustworthiness and confidence, your potential customer will bounce right back to the Google search page, and you’ve lost them forever.
However, before we delve into the development of a logo, we need to understand why they are important at all.
Why Does your Brand need a Logo?
There are a handful of very good reasons why every brand should have a logo:
- Recognition –A well-crafted logo becomes quickly memorable. Humans learn pattern recognition as early as the age of two and we are masters at scanning our environment to quickly pick up on recognized patterns. It’s no accident that NBC has used a peacock as their logo (albeit with updates and changes) since 1956.
- Trust – People generally trust a brand based on their personal interactions, recommendations from friends, or just from what they know of a brand. A logo helps provide consumers with a symbol of trust that is associated with the brand itself.For example, the “swoosh” logo on Nike products is so popular that their website and print ads typically don’t even use their name. In fact, the trust factor is so important that companies like Starbucks, AirBnB, and PayPal have brought huge lawsuits defending against companies using similar likenesses of their logos.
- Confidence –This is closely aligned with trust as well as brand reputation. When someone sees the McDonald’s golden arches icon, they know exactly what they can expect.
- Simple Branding Method –The beauty of a great logo is that it is the simplest way to reflect your brand in any situation. It can be used on company letterhead, on social media accounts, a website, on products, or virtually anywhere.
Tips for Crafting Brand Logos
While some people might offer a step-by-step guide to crafting a logo, that approach is rather limited. A brand logo should encompass your brand itself and as such is something you can’t follow a checklist to create. With that being said, there are certainly a host of tips and ideas that should be considered as you create a brand logo.
- Consider What You Want to Convey – In a nutshell, the brand logo is supposed to convey a message to the target audience. Think about your brand, the goals of the brand, and the values of your brand. How can you convey the specific qualities you want to share to a target audience? Keep in mind, what you are trying to convey should be what will resonate with the audience. The brand logo is not a vanity plate for a car – it is a valuable tool for branding, marketing, and sales.
- Keep It Simple – Simple is better in the business world for several reasons. To start, simple is easier to remember. Simple is also easier to modify over the years. Icon brands such as Coke and Pepsi have both made slight alterations over the years to their brand icon, which is easier to do when your base is relatively simple. Finally, logos with tongue-in-cheek references or similar multi-layered meanings typically do not translate well to the masses.
- Scalable – As a logo needs to be used in various formats and sizes, it needs to scale easily. When you have a simple logo, scaling is much easier. Keep in mind the amount of detail and gradients being used and then test how the logo scales from large to small and how that affects the visibility of the logo.
- Limit the Colors – Studies have shown that using one to three colors is ideal. We recommend using two as this allows for contrast. This also provides an opportunity to utilize a primary brand color along with a color that provides a natural association for the viewer. For example, the color green is used to represent money and nature while blue represents reliability and quality.
- It Should Be Unique – From a business standpoint, much like with the company name, you don’t want to use something that is already in existence. Aside from trademark issues, you also do not want to confuse consumers. This is one of the most difficult aspects of brand creation simply because of the sheer number of businesses in existence that are using logos. Research is key when finalizing potential ideas to ensure someone else isn’t using a similar logo already.
- Consider a Variety of Options – Logos can be an abbreviation of a long name, a short brand name, a combination of a text and graphics, a specific emblem (such as the Starbucks mermaid), an abstract element, or a fictional brand character (such as Tony the Tiger). There is no set formula as to what will work each and every time as all of these options have both their share of success and failures.
- Study the Competition – Look at both direct and indirect competitors and analyze what they are doing.
Test, Test, Test – A brand logo should never be taken lightly. Ideally, the creation process should generate a few good ideas. Take the time to then test those ideas and get feedback from potential customers. Make sure the final choice is the one that gets the best reaction from the target niche.
Creating a Great Logo
When designing a logo that represents your company, as well as your reputation, it’s important to get expert design support from a graphic designer or logo designer to ensure a professional logo.
Consider these elements for a new or refreshed logo:
- Design – For most businesses a contemporary or stylized logo may best represent a business and give a feeling of being cutting edge, current, relevant, and up to date.
- Images – A good logo should describe visually what you do. For example, you will often see logos for gyms or fitness centers incorporating equipment such as a dumbbell to represent their business. Whatever image you choose, make sure it’s simple, yet memorable.
- Vibrant Color – Choose bright, vibrant colors that match your brand or website design. There’s a psychology behind colors and it’s important to factor that into your logo design.
- Font – The font you choose will impact the overall design aesthetic. With logos, clean is often better, so consider a ‘sans-serif’ font that doesn’t have flashy serif details on the lettering.
- Consistency – Extending the colors and style from your logo to the rest of your website design and brand strategy gives a consistency that is perceived as polished and professional.
In today’s website-heavy commerce world, businesses who don’t take the time to create a great logo and a credible landing page are truly missing out.
Logo Design Trends for 2022
Design trends ebb and flow for logo and website design. When designing a professional logo, it’s important to use the right support to establish a company logo that works with a strong brand. Using a digital marketing firm with a strong logo designer will be money well spent.
Here are logo design trends to consider in 2022 and beyond:
Geometric Shapes
Logos are returning to more simple geometric shapes in vibrant colors. We’ll be seeing more triangles, squares, and circles in distinctive colors. This type of logo is easy to remember and is clean and straightforward. Think Microsoft or Apple.
Tall Logos
The trend is showing up everywhere — tall logos are oversized, elongated, while also being more narrow than traditional logos. They lend themselves to creative companies and businesses that want an edgier look. Done well, the look is very classy and definitely makes a statement.
Illustrations & Sketches
We’ve seen more free form illustrations being used in website design in 2022 and so it follows that it is showing up in logo design as well. Everything from squiggles to scribbles are being used to great effect and brings a welcome informal touch to logo design.
Sans Serif Logos
As we already noted, sans serif fonts are showing up everywhere. Clean, no fuss, and perfect for today’s geometric patterns and designs.
Flora and Frames
We’re seeing an increase in the use of flowers, wreathes, branches, with and without framed windows encircling them. It sees to be a response to being able to depict sustainability and concern for nature in a tangible way. Whether highly stylized or detailed sketches, plants and flowers are making a statement.
Black & White Logos
There’s a growing movement of established brands opting for black and white logos that are minimalist and streamlined. Think GoDaddy and ABC who both recently changed their logos to a simple black and white. They are a good use of negative space and can be infinitely flexible.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that creating and customizing your logo is not easy. Even some of the most iconic brands have revised their logos over the years trying to get it just right. We hope our insider tips for crafting brand logos provides helpful information to ensure the next logo you create will resonate and provide the reaction your brand promises.
Contact Lounge Lizard to learn more about crafting the perfect logo as well as updating your brand guidelines and tying it into an overall brand strategy.
