Looking at Logos – The 5S of Logo Designing

A quick review on what transforms a logo from scribbles on the top left corner to a brands identity.

The first and foremost rule of marketing is, what sticks, clicks. When it comes to branding, that is the first and foremost rule. A logo is your company in a nutshell… the colors, the design, and the fonts all come together in one neat little package, giving the viewer a millisecond over view as to what your company is all about. Logos can be tricky, and deathly difficult to get right, but if you create one that sticks… well that’s half you campaign over and done with.

What made the ‘tick’, click?

I think that one of the best logos of all time was the Nike ‘tick mark’. It’s simple, elegant, reassuring, basically everything a logo should be. Here’s what the Nike designers got right:

The five S:

Simple

Logos don’t get much simpler than that. When it comes to Logos, the phrase ‘less is more’ rings true more than ever before. Most designers forget that it’s a tiny space, so actual making and design, like the space should be minimal. All the work process in a logo should go into creative thinking. Coking up a unique one should be hard… making it should be a quick process.

A good example of an amazing logo that looks terrible is the ‘Faber Castell’ logo. Its two knights on horses jousting with pencils. Engraved on my pencil, it looked like jumbled scribbles. Much later when I saw the logo full sized did I finally understand what it was. Complexity killed the cat.

Stick-able

A memorable logo is the one that’ll stick. I see a rounded tick mark, I think shoes! I write ‘a big yellow M’ you think? McDonalds. These logos are appropriate, and clear. A tick asserts quality. An M marks a McDonald’s location. Humans are simple beings. All they need their logos to do is to tell them quickly and clearly, if they can find what they are looking for at your company.

Stable

A logo is never modelled after ‘the going trend’. Trends ends… fashion moves on. Logos are designed to last. Once your company has a logo, you should NOT change it, unless the company overall has changed in its visions and aims. Pick something timeless… a crocodile, a puma, a shell.

Shifting

Be timeless, not time honored. Don’t let your logo be influenced by a location, ethnicity or ideology. A logo should always be designed to be neutral and global. In fact it should be the most neutral part of your campaign, and more people will look at your logo than read your catch phrase. The larger the target audience, the more neutral you need to be.

Suitable

As mentioned above a logo reflects a brand of a company… so it needs to suit the company it represents. Using bright colors and wacky fonts for a fast food place is fine, but using them for a software house is not. Your logo speaks volumes about your brand… monitor what it says.

Finally, a picture is worth a thousand words… and a logo is worth volumes.

Uroosa Rajani is a tech blogger and content writer for Genetech Solutions, an offshore Web Services Company offering various customized web solutions including iPhone Application Development Services, Custom Web Design, Web Hosting, Virtual Staffing and SEO. Read more of her work on Genetech’s Blog.