McDonalds. Apple. Facebook. What do all these companies have in common? Genius logos. They’ve created logos so memorable that they don’t even need to include the company name anymore. As soon as you see the apple with a bite out of it or those golden arches, you know exactly what it means.
That level of logo skill doesn’t happen by accident. It’s not up to chance whether a logo will stick or not. Great logos have the same three things in common. Utilize them, and yours can be too.
1. I Like That Font!
What’s in a font? More than you’d think. According to Nick Carson from Creativebloq.com, if the letters are spaced far apart, the logo feels authoritative and clean. If they’re crammed close together, the logo feels more like a picture rather than words. Font is like visual voice inflection.
2. Choose Colors Wisely
Colors aren’t just colors: they are associations. Different colors elicit different emotions and different mixes do as well. Because logos are small and quick, stick to one main color and then maybe one or two supporting colors.
But which colors do you choose? Wassily Kandinsky with the Bauhaus School of Design argues that different colors pair best with different kinds of shapes: tart yellows work best with triangular designs, dusty reds work best with square designs, and soothing blues with circular designs . Without getting too deep into color psychology, these pairings just make the most sense to our brains.
3. The 50 Feet Billboard Test
The #1 most important question to ask when creating a logo is: If I saw this logo on a billboard 50 feet away over a busy freeway, would I still recognize it?
Above all else, a logo needs to be simple and memorable. Simple enough to recognize at a glance and memorable enough to recognize from far away.
The business of creating great logos is the business of creating immediate associations between viewers and your company. A lot of that has to do with your other advertising work on social media and other places, but a good logo takes half of that guesswork away. If you have a logo with a great design, smart colors, and that passes the 50 feet billboard test, people will remember it and associate it with your unique voice.
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