Principles of Logo Design

The original idea is not enough to design a unique logo.

The world is full of ideas but, since your logo is a public face of your brand, you need a design that will communicate with the viewer. Creativity is a great tool but without proper background work and the right strategy, you won't be creating a memorable logo and it won’t stand out from the clutter, won’t resonate, and it will be easily forgotten.
In order to develop a unique and lasting impression, you need a lot of insight. This is why design professionals are following strict procedures. But designing a logo is far from a mathematical equation – it is all about employing the basic principles that will enable your creative effort to stand the test of time. So let’s see what those principles are.

Self-awareness

Your logo needs to instill confidence in your audience. Besides the fact it needs to deliver an immediate impression of your business philosophy, it also needs to deliver an honest one. If you want to convey why your brand is so special, you need to be fully aware of what makes your brand philosophy authentic.
So the first step is to think carefully about the values and characteristics of your brand since they’re at the core of your brand identity. But you also need to be completely self-aware of your current position in the market since that will lead you to the appropriate logo style type. For example, if you’re just getting started and trying to get your name out there, a wordmark is a far better choice than a lettermark.

The Right Measure

Let’s say you want to put your name out there and you opt for a wordmark. You may be tempted to include additional info next to your business name: contact information, company addresses, taglines, etc. But adding any additional text will only make your logo harder to read, especially when resized.
Since your business name is the main design element of your logo, you may also think that you need to craft a truly special font that will make a lasting impression. But you’ll probably just end up wasting time only to discover you’ve made something illegible. There’s a variety of custom eye-catching fonts already at your disposal, which eliminates the unnecessary time, effort, and risks.
No matter what type of logos you choose, your design should always be as simple and clean as possible in order to be easily recognizable at just a glance. When people are in a hurry, complexity is an obstacle.

Knowing Your Ideal Customer

Your brand identity is just one part of your brand’s essence. The other part is your target audience and only a deep knowledge of your ideal customer will make your logo design appropriate. We all know that funny and colorful fonts are fit for toy stores but not for law firms, but knowing your customers’ wants and needs will take you much deeper.
This is especially helpful when it comes to the choice of your color palette, which can say a lot about your brand. Colors have a great impact on emotions and behavior, so you can employ color psychology to connect with your audience.

Beyond Time And Space

The latest logo trends are an easy way to make your logo instantly memorable, but that will make your design obsolete in a year or two. In order to build a loyal customer base, you need to go beyond the surface of trends and craft a logo that will stand the test of time. Trendy designs are just the opposite of a unique concept.
In order to make your logo truly immortal, you need to go beyond space as well. Your design will appear on postcards and pens, but also on billboards, maybe even planes. This means it needs to leave the same impression across a wide scope of sizes. This basic principle of versatility goes for each element of your design, color included. In some forms of print, it will need to appear in black and white and look equally impressive.
As you can see, knowing your brand and target audience inside-out is half of the job. The other part lies in simple, timeless, and versatile approach to design. These principles are simply guidelines for your creativity that will lead to unique logo design.