Creating the Perfect Logo
Author: Tiara Rea
A great business needs a lot of features working harmoniously to succeed. You need a unique idea, or at least an idea that the public or your market niche is going to desire. You also need a great team working behind the scenes in several departments, or have a handle on everything yourself if you are managing the entirety of your business. Finally, you need a reliable web host to stand behind your business and keep you up 24/7 so your message isn’t lost. At least that last part is easy with Lunarpages. 
But wait…there’s something missing. If you don’t have a unique and brandable logo, how do you expect your customers and their friends to remember your business? Creating the perfect logo can be an exhausting process. Many companies go through hundreds of design choices before they settle on the perfect prototype, and even then they wonder if the logo conveys the brand’s message. This little article will hopefully ease some frustrations or at the very least give you a place to start and maybe some helpful tips.
Think of some of the great business successes and then play that game where you try to match them with their logos. For example:
I picked some easy ones, of course, but these are all brands that people all over the world can recall without having the name of the brand visible anywhere on the logo. I think the Apple logo is the best example, because looking at it, you know the shape and the object even if you don’t know the brand. And though Superman isn’t a corporation, if he was, there wouldn’t be a single person in the world who wouldn’t buy from him! Even though I prefer Batman, who has a pretty sweet logo as well.
Anyway, there are a couple key facts to consider when creating your perfect logo:
Convey Your Message
Amazon.com has created an amazing marketplace for products all over the world, and their logo truly represents this fact. What makes this simple logo that’s mostly text so great? The simple orange arrow at the bottom. It took me years to realize this, but the arrow underlines the letters “A” and “Z”, representing oh-so-subtly that their website has every product imaginable from A to Z. Brilliant!
Conveying your own message might mean taking a small graphical element like Amazon did or could mean making a bold statement if you have a more provocative product.
Another great example is what many consider to be the holy grail of logo design:
Take a hard look at that logo. If you haven’t noticed before (and trust me, just like Amazon’s logo, it took me years to see this), there is a white arrow outlined between the “E” and “X” in “Ex”. Imagine if the designer of this logo had wanted everything lowercase – the whole idea of moving forward, of getting somewhere, of progress, would be lost. The simple choice of font, color, and an ideal all merge together seamlessly, however, and the FedEx brand subliminally conveys their ideal.
Represent Your Ideals in Font and Text Styles
Nathan Smith over at SonSpring.com wrote a good article a couple years ago about the importance of text in logos. His original concept for the Godbit Project’s (which merges technology and theology) new logo was less than inspired:
After thinking about the ideals behind his new project, he realized cursive text was not the best idea. His final concept perfectly merged a more technological pixilated image with both letters of the brand: G and B:
As you can see, the gray outline is the G and the white space became a lowercase “b”. I think tilting the image adds an element of balance as well, but as far as text goes, I think this represents a great achievement. It not only represents the ideals behind the website (the G is capitalized which signals its importance, both letters are represented, and the design is technological) but also contains a clean, simple appeal and is easily recognizable, many things which his first concept were not.
Another great example comes from the creator of Digital Web Magazine’s logo, Kristof Saelen. It started as a somewhat sloppy and unrecognizable graphic with little do with technology:
And it came out as a really fresh logo with a simple, strict text:
Experiment!
Trying new things is the key I think, because you’re going to start with a handful of sketches that may look childish to you. If they do, remember, it’s only the beginning.
And if you’re really stuck, here are a couple ideas to get you motivated!
* Try new text. As illustrated in the Digital Web example above, fonts make a huge difference in how your product is perceived. Imagine if they had gone with their first choice or if they had decided on lowercase. How would this change your perception? For some really amazing ideas on text logos, check out this tutorial by Graphics.com.
* Research. A great example of some persistent research can be found via this article from Chuck Green. In that example, he had to combine a hummingbird and helicopter for a client’s logo design. In your case, researching either the shape, animal, food, or ideal behind the image can be a great help and inspire your imagination. If you’ve created a rough, edgy look for logo, for example, based on a fluid, smooth original shape, you’ll want to start over to better convey your message.
* Check out the competition. Not to be taken literally, though you should have a close look at some of your favorite logos and try to figure out why they’re so appealing.
* What’s popular? Finally, this article on Logo Trends of 2006 is still fairly relevant to 2008 and beyond. Looking at your favorite designs of the year will help you decide on a direction and the elements that are currently considered trendy and/or good.
So when all else fails, do some research and read what others before me have said. And experiement! That’s how great ideas are born.
January 28th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Very nicely put.
January 28th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Great article, very well done. Makes me wish I had a more artistic approach to logo design but maybe this will inspire me
January 28th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Tiara Rea wrote:
> “If you haven’t noticed before (and trust me, just like Amazon’s logo, it took me years to see this)”
All due respect, but trust me – if it takes YEARS to know what a logo means, and/or if you have to explain it – it’s bad. If Amazon’s or FedEx’s business models had failed, no one would ever be talking about their logos. The entire concept of a logo is that without prior knowledge of the business, and at *first glance* (not YEARS later) – it’s evident what the business is. All the logos you cited as good fail the test, and are only mentioned because the businesses – not their logos – succeeded.
Wanting to create a great logo is like wanting to create a great cover (which, believe me, absolutely sells books) – you get what you pay for. Want a great logo? Make sure your business plan contains money to pay a professional designer, and don’t try and do it yourself.
January 28th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
That FedEx Logo still amazes me. It’s just the best logo on the planet.
January 29th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Great article. Very interesting!! Thank you
January 29th, 2008 at 10:27 am
I am relatively new to this industry and I appreciate your info. I love the idea of a logo and have always been interested in it. And now I have been looking to design my own logo and this is exactly what I’ve been looking for. The links were also very helpful. Thanks.
January 29th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
that’s it? that’s what you have to say? i mean, if i had never read this article, i would assume that this is how any conscientious business owner would approach the issue of a logo. you don’t offer one solid piece of information that can’t be self discovered by a rigorous and deliberate business owner.
now, if you don’t have any money, of course you get bunk. this was one item that i grit my teeth over and spent money to get right.
the purpose of a business is not what a logo is for. the logo is a quick unique identifier for your business. look for yourself: the apple, honda, superman, pepsi and mcdonald’s logos say *exactly* nothing about the business. they are, however, quickly identifiable. *that* is the purpose of a logo.
notwithstanding the author’s comments, amazon.com and fedex logos do *not* convey what the business actually does. show the logo to someone that does not know what the business does and ask them. they will give you nothing back. (arrow in the fedex logo — honestly)
trying to imbue the essence of your business into your logo is a complete waste of time and will turn out to be not a logo but an overly complicated mess.
hey, maybe we are supposed to assume that tiara rea is the term for one of those sharp pointy parts of the crown they give miss america.
January 29th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
The article is nice. Where can I get more information about using the right color for a logo and the website colors.
Thanks
Frank
http://www.space64.com
January 29th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Tim – Well, my intention is never to say I know everything or that I’m writing these articles to the rigorous and/or deliberate business owner who is scouring Google every day. I’m just offering some simple advice on creating a great ideal for your business and giving my opinion for the small guys who can’t afford to spend big bucks having someone else design a logo for them. In looking at the logos that came before (FedEx and Amazon), I’m merely pointing out that these are brandable images that we “get” instantly. I don’t mean to say FedEx’s logo says everything about what the company does, but it conveys the message pretty well. Just my thoughts on the matter.
At any rate, thanks for the comments everybody else!!
Frank, you might have a look at Todd Austin’s article in our very first issue: http://www.web-hosting-newsletter.com/2007/08/01/kuler-colors-adobe-gets-its-scheme-on/
January 30th, 2008 at 11:06 am
tiara – fair enough. a logo design is a big decision.
i guess my advice differs: don’t cheap out on the logo. it is a one-time expense. you have to ask yourself, who is the logo for? me? customers?
here’s the bottom line: if customers can’t tell the difference between a designed logo and a cheapie logo, or if they don’t care what your logo is, then the opinions either of us give is irrelevant and you can skip the logo, cheap out or have one designed. for those customers, nothing you put out there will matter. however for those customers that it does matter, then showing a cheapie, clip-art, half-hearted logo will make a difference. conclusion? it could only hurt you to have a cheapie logo.
January 30th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
I found this article to be good beginner/intro piece for many in its target audience. tim, you are correct in pointing out that a seriously high-quality logo is usually something you’ll have to pay for. Tiara is also right in much of her advice. I myself am an aspiring designer, and as such, I will be creating my own logo. (After all, who wants to hire a designer who can’t even design for himself?) In my case, I’m not cheaping out and still need this info.
The best piece of advice in here is the importance of trying many, MANY different ideas. I’m currently working on a logo design project at my design school, and our teacher told us the Michelob logo took 2500 concepts and revisions before it was finalized. We started with 100 sketches to get us moving, and she considered that a *small* number.
February 7th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
I really like this article. Thank you, Tiara.
I have a different outlook to Tim: I love DIY, particularly in the context of the Internet. I support everyone doing the best they can with whatever resources they have. I’m not well off, so I get as much as I can cheaply or for free. I’m a self-taught Web site developer and all the information I learned from was/is cheap or free. In turn, the work I do is affordable, and some is free of charge. For that reason I greatly appreciate the use of something that is inexpensive or free, and I’m always grateful to the individuals who took the time and effort to make it.