Top 5 Ingredients to a Successful Logo

I’m thrilled to announce that four logos I designed were chosen to be published in the upcoming book, TrademarksUSA by David E. Carter. (The 4 chosen logos are shown above.) I’ll post an update when more information is available, but in the meantime, I want to share my top five ingredients to a successful logo.

1. Tells a story. A logo needs to be more than just a pretty picture… it needs to tell a story about your business. Some logo stories are up-front, while others provide a deeper meaning that you may not understand at first glance. A logo can even include both, and that’s where the magic really happens!

2. Differentiates. You don’t want a potential client getting you confused with someone else and wind up being their client instead! A one-of-a-kind logo, that tells your unique story, along with a stand-out name and color combination all help create differentiation.

3. Scalable. A successful logo design works both in large and small scale… think billboards and promotional pens. One of the main attributes that allows for this scalability is keeping the design elements simple. Here is an example.

4. Must work in 1-color. Often times, especially with the internet being a huge marketing focus, this is overlooked. People are too quick to think that since the number of colors you can have on the web doesn’t matter as much as it does with print, you can go crazy with gradients, and colors. While this may work in some situations, you still need to have a 1-color version that tells your unique story. Here is an example.

5. Has the back-up to support it. If you think that the logo is the end-all-be-all to your business success, I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but it’s not. In order for your logo to be successful it needs to have a solid support system including a strong brand and marketing strategy, consistent messaging, and well-designed identity materials. These along with your unique logo will create a solid foundation for a creating a memorable business.

Happy branding!