5 Tips to Recognizing a Good Logo Design

Recently, against my better judgment, I decided to enter a logo design contest. Not the kind of competition where the winner is awarded publicity or recognition (those are good). Instead, I entered the type of contest in which many logo’s are submitted for a project, and the buyer awards the winning logo with some kind of payment. I usually despise these contests because designer’s put forth a lot of time and effort without any guarantee of payment. However, I found myself without much to do one day and wanted to create a logo for fun. So I decided, “Why not?”

I found a contest that seemed fun. I designed a logo in my style that I thought met the requirements, was clever, very well executed and in my opinion was at least in the top 5 of over 500 concepts submitted. I’m not trying to toot my own horn, but I recognize a bad logo when I see one. The problem is, the buyer did not. When I saw the logo that was awarded, I was shocked. Still, it didn’t bother me, but something else did. The buyer took the time to tell me that my logo was bad. I can handle criticism quite well, especially when I believe it’s valid. However, I just spent several hours producing a free, really great logo for this guy, and he had the audacity to tell me that it was no good. I mean, really, I was trying to help him. I created a very professional, high quality and original design that would appeal to his demographic (which I understood quite well). It was a slap in the face. Then it occurred to me, the poor guy just had no idea of what a good logo is. Before my training and education in graphic design, I thought the coolest fonts on the block were Papyrus and the “Starcraft” font. It suddenly became clear to me that there are many people that mistake “cool” for “good.”

After my experience, I took it upon myself to educate the uninformed public as to what makes a good logo design. So here we go:

1. Type

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Perhaps the most important, and often most overlooked element within a logo is the type. In fact, many of the best and most luxurious brands are nothing but type. A logo doesn’t need a mark or illustration to be complete. Think of Facebook, FedEx, Louis Vuitton, IKEA, Coka Cola, etc. The logotype and color defines the brand, and those brands are probably burned in to your skull. It doesn’t need to be clever. It doesn’t need to have a myriad of colors. It just needs to be good.

Don’t let the fact that a logo is “simply” type fool you. A whole lot of work has gone in to such logotypes. It takes a great deal of time to hand pick the perfect typeface for the demographic, appearance and attitude a particular brand wishes to convey. Not only that, but the kerning, size, serifs, how each letter works with its surrounding letters and nearly everything else about the type is often tweaked. In many cases the logotype is entirely custom, which often make some of my favorite logos. Yet many people feel that if their logo is lacking a “symbol” that they have been duped. This simply isn’t the case.

Examples of a few good typefaces (Probably the fonts that non-designers consider boring due to their simplicity):

• Helvetica
• Utopia
• Univers
• DIN
• Meta
• Cooper
• Impact
• Avenir

Honestly, I think there is a time and place for every font, and in the hands of a great designer a seemingly horrible font can be made totally awesome. However, for all intents and purposes the following fonts are generally avoided by the design savvy and professional brands. Somehow they still seem to make their way in to thousands of mediocre logos:

• Papyrus
• Comic Sans
• Almost any Free Font

So remember cool, grungy, heavily stylized fonts don’t necessarily make it good.

2. The Mark

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A great mark can accentuate a logo and inform the viewer about the brand. It should be simple, recognizable, scalable and clear. It’s no easy task to summarize an entire company in one simple mark, but the best brands are perhaps the most simplistic of all; Nike, Apple, Target, McDonald’s, Pepsi, Mercedes, etc. More detailed marks have their place as well in the fashion, music and design industries.

Unfortunately, less design educated people seem to be more attracted to obscure marks and effects such as gradients, glows, shadows, reflections, bevels, “3D” and animated logo marks. In most cases, added effects are used to disguise an otherwise horrible logo and they can be a recipe for disaster. Particularly when more than one effect is added. There are always exceptions to the rule, such as Google. Which managed to launch awful primary colors, drop shadows and bevels in to a huge brand. However, I prefer not to use Google as an example of a “good” logo. It’s okay to break the rules, but only if you know what you’re doing and it suits the brand.

You have to put any prejudices aside and ask yourself, does this mark make sense? Is it too detailed or have too much going on? Does it really need those effects, and will it still be good without them? Will the mark be clear in solid black and white, or gray scale? Will it be recognizable if it’s scaled down, or up? Will it make a good icon?

If the mark passes all of the questions above, you’ve got yourself a solid logo mark.

3. Color

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I’m a child of the 90’s. I love hot pink and blinding neon green. Not everyone else does. There’s a time to use those colors, such as designing the next line of “LA Gear” lighted tennis shoes. Knowing your colors, the moods they portray, and when to use them and when not to is vital for a great logo. Generally speaking, it’s best to keep the colors limited — 5 or less. This is a good practice if the logo is going to be printed.

Another good rule of thumb is the more detail, the less color the logo should have, and vice versa. If you can miraculously pull off a very detailed and colorful logo, more power to you. It’s no easy achievement.

As mentioned, colors have subconscious meanings. Here are a few examples of these color characteristics and something to keep in mind when choosing a logo:

• Red — Love, Lust, Violence, Bold, Heat, Fire, Power, etc.
• Green — Money, Nature, Growth, Life, Stability, Envy, Health, Lush, Abundance, etc.
• Blue — Cool, Calm, Peaceful, Sadness, Corporate, Confidence, Conservative, etc.
• Yellow — Happiness, Sunshine, Warmth, Summer, Cowardice, etc.
• Purple — Rich, Deep, Decadent, Luxurious, Royalty, Mysterious, Spiritual, etc.
• Orange — Warm, Care Free, Vibrancy, Energy, Corrosion, etc.
• Pink — Youth, Light Hearted, Feminine, Lust

Colourlovers.com is a great place to go for color inspiration.

4. Concept

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The concept is the thought process that goes in to a logo design. A designer should do their homework and take the time to learn about who or what they are providing a logo for. The concept may be simple, it may be clever, it may be abstract, but it should always be well thought out.

Here are a few common mistakes:

• Too many concepts crammed in to a single design — such as a man running, a rocket flying and a swoosh (because everybody loves a good swoosh).
• A grand concept, but it could never be recognized without a 10 minute explanation — for example, “The two lowercase ‘i’s’ represent two people searching for each other over a great distance, the star represents destiny, and the circle is their never-ending love.”
• Poor execution — if you don’t understand it at first glance, you can be sure the nobody else will.
• Meaningless abstract jibba-jabba — when all else fails, make a swoosh or a spiral… but with a new twist!!!

Beware of BS. Like any piece of art, you have to wade through the oceans of BS to find a raw and honest logo. Some designers will dress up a crap clip-art logo and feed you a line about the genius concept behind it. It’s the difference in recognizing the quality of lyrics between Bruce Springsteen and Britney Spears. If you’re leaning towards Britney Spears, then you have been fed heaping spoonful’s of BS dressed up in a pretty package. You should be sold on the logo as a whole, not the idea of the logo, and not the flashy effects. Clever designs can be great, but it’s not a necessity. For example, Target has beautiful branding and design. However, their logo is anything but clever. It’s bold and direct. They’re not hiding anything.

5. Creativity

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Now that you completely understand all of the previous tips and guidelines, throw it all out the window. Who’s to say what really defines a great logo? A logo could be a picture of a cookie taped to a piece of wood. It could be an egg painted hot pink (because I like hot pink). It could be graffiti on a subway wall. If it works for what you’re selling and it’s well executed, then it can be a logo. Selling an egg as a logo to a client may be the more difficult part.

If you’re interested in seeing logo’s that push the boundaries of what defines a great logo, check out the series of Los Logos design books by Gestalten.

Ultimately, a logo is a subjective piece of art. There are plenty of logo designs I love that others hate. When choosing a logo designer, be sure to view examples of their work. If you like the style of logos they have designed, then you’ll probably like the concepts they provide for you. Keep in mind you get what you pay for.