Ten Commandments of the Logo Design

Legendary logo designers are known for their great logo works, but they also have offered crucial advice to fellow professionals. Tips from such stalwarts of graphic designs are worth noting if you are a budding designer who dreams of making a big name.  So, in this article, you have advice from legendary logo design experts so that you create an excellent logo design that stands out.

1. Importance of design brief

David Airey is a well-known logo designer from Ireland. His advice on design brief is worth following. He says that the designers must demand design brief. For business owners one of the reasons why they should provide the summary is that ‘’ A solid logo design brief ensures that no time is wasted and that you receive targeted logo options as soon as possible. The logo brief also helps me focus my attention on the areas that best serve your business, making you much happier with the final result.’’

2. Research

Jon Sndruck, a Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex based freelance graphic designer says that while creating the Alliance Business Insurance logo, he research the client’s business extensively. On researching, he found that the company assembled the product parts for their clients. He says, ‘’Because the company’s name is Alliance, and the capital A is a triangle, and the triangle is THE most visually stable shape, and stability is a key attribute in the insurance industry, I decided to focus on icons that formed the letter A.’’

3. Sketches

A famous designer from Latvia, Dains Graveris says that inspirational sketching is crucial to logo designing. He says ‘’Sketching isn’t time-consuming and is an excellent way to put your ideas from your head right on the paper. After that, it’s always easier to design it on the computer. Sketching helps to evolve your imagination – once you understand it, you always will start from just white paper.’’

4. Design in a single color 

Patrick Winfield, an author of 10e20blog, says in his article The Logo Design Process, from Concept to Competition, that designers should first create the logo in black and white. He says,’’ I like to work first in black and white to ensure that the logo will look good in its simplest form. Color is very subjective and emotional. This can distract from the overall design- say if you saw your logo in all red that color may be the first thing that you respond to and not the composition of the design elements. I will not even consider submitting color suggestions to a client for review until they have signed off on a final black and white logo.’’

5. Design in vector format

Another freelance graphic designer, Chris Snooper advises to ‘’always design your logos in a vector application such as Adobe Illustrator, rather than a raster application such as Photoshop, the reason being the logo must be scalable without losing quality and needs to appear crisp when printed on anything from business cards to 20ft vinyl banners.’’

6. Take your best concept 

When taking your sketches and design ideas to the client, graphic designer Angela Ferraro-Fanning shares her experience in these words – ‘’ It is my policy when working on a client’s logo that I present them with three concepts. I try to create three entirely different looks while utilizing the three different types of logo formats: just type, image only, and a combination of bot In choosing the logo designs for Kick to consider, I first have to decide which ones I truly feel are my best work. It is important that I present clients with pieces that I’d feel happy about showing in my portfolio.

7. Show context

Veerle Pieters, a graphic designer from Belgium, advises designers that they should show the context of a logo concept when then take an idea to the clients.

8. Keep design simple

Jeff Fisher, a renowned logo designer, emphasizes on the need to keep a logo design simple. He says —‘’ While in college in the mid-70’s an instructor introduced me to the K.I.S.S. Principle of design; which translates to Keep It Simple, Stupid. It does convey an essential design consideration. Simple logos are often easily recognized, incredibly memorable and the most effective in conveying the requirements of the client. Remember, the basis of the hugely effective international branding for the world’s largest shoe manufacturer is a very simple graphic swoosh.’’

9. Choose colors wisely

Well-known graphic designer Ryan Nicholas has talked a lot about his design process when choosing colors. In one of his articles, he says – ‘’We believe color is an essential communicator. It contributes a lot to the tone and intended message of a brand.’’

10. Re-brand carefully

David Turner, another legendary logo designer, advises that when re-designing your logo, it is essential to research the history of the original design. Without going into the backgrounds of the unique design, the logo will have no purpose for business when it is aiming at projecting a new brand image.se tips from renowned logo designers emphasize critical aspects of logo designing that you must keep in mind.