According to perhaps the world’s greatest designer, Leonardo Da Vinci, ‘Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’. For instance, this is true for the most basic bicycle through to a million-dollar supercar. Even though the supercar is complex, every single component results from a rigorous simplification process. This process takes time, expertise and sophistication. Simple is beautiful. The same principles apply when designing a simple logo. So, the design process will consider dozens of parameters that combine to influence the final design. The skill is honing these influences to an elegant and effective logo. Ultimately, spending time arriving at the perfect logo is worth it because it’ll become your single most important brand asset. So, how is it done?
Every Great brand has a Simple Logo
Designing an effective, memorable logo is not easy. The aim is to allow the emblem to communicate just enough information without becoming complex. In fact, this struggle for simplicity has plagued even the most iconic brands. Take Volkswagen, for example. Seriously, who doesn’t know what it looks like? It’s clever but simple and easy to recall. However, they had one of the most complicated designs around when they started.
And they’re not alone. The art of the simple logo is a contemporary essential. In other words, as marketing has become more sophisticated and multi-channelled, corporate branding has had to step up to compete.
A Simple Logo is Instantly Recognisable
By this, we mean not just recognisable as a brand but also for the kind of business. A good designer will work with you to create an icon that makes you stand out amongst your competitors. Of course, this will take research and competitor analysis. But rest assured, get this right, and you’ll have a powerful tool that’ll help you build effective brand awareness. Great logo examples are the iconic Nike ‘tick’ and FedEx with the clever ‘arrow’ in the white space.
Great Logos Must Be Easily Usable
Making sure that your new unique logo can be used in any medium is part of the design process. For instance, using graduations in colour may seem appealing for use on the internet, but they can fail when reduced to grey-scale or just black. Also, consider how well your logo will work, either huge or reduced to the size of a postage stamp. A great logo must be unique and memorable. Furthermore, it must work equally well across all channels such as print, video, internet, social media and work clothing.
