A well designed logo is a great investment: It can give your company a competitive edge, increase customer loyalty, and create brand awareness. It can be a wordmark (or symbol) or it can be completely typographic, or both! Here, let's discuss the 6 essential factors that can help create a well designed logo for your business.

(Also see my previous article on the 9 most common logo mistakes you should avoid.)

A logo should be simple

Your logo shouldn't be overly complicated. Simplicity can often make logos more memorable and recognizable. McDonald's is well known for their golden arches, while Apple has largely relied on keeping things clean with the bitten apple (in a variety of color variations) since 1977. The simplicity of these logo designs helps them to look iconic no matter where they are displayed or how big they become.

Below, the CitiCorp Plaza logo (I designed this real estate logo at least 2 decades ago!) mirrors the way the buildings "stack" when you are looking at them, and easily identifies who and what they are while keeping the Citibank branding.

Distinctive logos are memorable

A striking design can help your brand stand out from others. Nike has its swoosh and Starbucks is recognized by their green siren; both examples are easily distinguishable from other companies because they each offer something unique. One way of achieving this might be by using uncommon colors or shapes in your design so it doesn't get lost among other brands on marketing materials.

Consider too, do you want a logo mark or just a typographical logo? A mark can add distinction and further identify what your organization is all about.

Below, I designed these logos for an interior design firm, and the accompanying furniture recovering service. Though their design marks and artwork are a bit intricate, they still convey the owner's design sensibilities and a sophisticated, stylish taste.

Well designed logos are timeless

Your logo should be timeless in the sense that it has no references to current trends and popular culture (so you can use it well into the future). This matters, because logos are often used on everything from business cards to clothing.

A good way of thinking about this concept might be if someone saw your brand’s shirt at an event 20 years later; would they recognize it? If not, then maybe you need something simpler which will stand out rather than blend in over time.

This makes me think of Nirvana, whose melting smiley face is still recognizable decades later (and on many shirts from Target!).

Logos should have relevance

The other factor is that your logo has to be relevant to what you do as well as the target audience and customers. Nike's swoosh was designed with runners in mind, while DC Comics' Batman symbol (which isn't actually written out) is well known by comic book fans.

You want customers to feel a connection with your logo and remember it when they see it again, rather than feeling like the company doesn't represent them (or you!) in any way.

The Tour through a Lens logo is for a local Chicago photography tourism business, so it felt natural for me to design it with a bit of the Chicago skyline (I am loathe to use the whole skyline on anything!), emanating from the hint of a lens, all coming from the business name.

A well-designed logo is adaptive

Another important aspect of well-designed logos is that they're adaptive. This means the logo can be used across a variety of mediums and still have an impactful design, feel recognizable, and stand out from others.

How will your logo design look at 1" tall, or 10' tall? It should be created as a vector and from that, you can create size-appropriate versions for the web, print and other applications.

Whenever possible, creating images or icons to accompany and represent your brand, product or service will help to build more recognition. Think Mailchimp's 2018 rebrand, with its fun and fluid illustrations. Logos with great illustrations or handwriting (but not Comic Sans!) show personality and are memorable, and are quite popular lately.

And sometimes, you break the rules

Look at ways your logo may have different interpretations depending on how it's used in different colours or sizes and use that to great effect. The best example of this is the FedEx logo, which looks great in a variety of colors, for their different services:

A well-designed logo should be simple, distinctive, timeless yet relevant to your audience, and adaptive. As you can see from these guidelines in addition to some well-known (and lesser-known!) logo examples, there are many factors that go into a great design. Let me help you create your own well-designed logo by following some of these key principles for success!