Logo Design

Logo design is commonly believed to be one of the most important areas in graphic design, thus making it the most difficult to perfect. The logo design, or brand, is not just an image, it is the embodiment of an organization. Because the logo design is meant to represent companies and foster recognition by consumers it is counterproductive to redesign logos often.

When considering a logo design, practices to encourage are to

• avoid being over-the-top in an attempt to be unique
• use few colours, or try to limit colours to spot colours (a term used in the printing industry)
• avoid gradients (smooth colour transitions) as a distinguishing feature
• produce alternatives for different contexts
• design using vector graphics, so the logo can be resized without loss of fidelity or quality
• be aware of design or trademark infringements
• include guidelines on the position on a page and white space around the logo for consistent application across a variety of media (a.k.a. brand standard manual)
• do not use a specific choice clip-art as a distinguishing feature
• do not use the face of a (living) person
• do not use photography or complex imagery as it reduces the instant recognition a logo demands
• avoid culturally sensitive imagery, such as religious icons or national flags, unless the brand is committed to being associated with any and all connotations such imagery may evoke.

Some well-known logo designs are: Apple Inc.'s apple with a bite out of it, started out as a rainbow of color, and has been reduced to a single color without any loss of recognition. Coca Cola's script is known the world over, but is best associated with the color red; its main competitor, Pepsi has taken the color blue, although they have abandoned their script logo. IBM, also known as "Big Blue" has simplified their logo design over the years, and their name. What started as International Business Machines is now just "IBM" and the color blue has been a signature in their unifying campaign as they have moved to become an IT services company.

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