Logos can contain a symbol, type, company name and tag line.
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Depending on how strong your branding campaign is, over time, your logo can just be the symbol or just the type.
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When I design logos, I always begin with the symbol. Depending on client preference, I either will or won’t incorporate the type into the logo. Every designer’s goal when creating a logo should be that one day, the symbol can stand alone yet still carry enough weight that it is recognizable without a tag line, type or company name.
Designing for your clients
Designing the logo is the most important part of the projects I take on because the logo anchors the entire page. Also, the Graphic User Interface look and feel is dependent on how the logo looks. Accents and highlights, if possible, draws inspiration from the logo. Thus, design of the interface can’t begin until the client has signed off on the logo.
One of the challenges with designing for clients is that clients do not know what they want. They only know what they don’t like. Here are some questions I ask so that I can close the gap between what they are looking for and what I deliver.
- What sort of logo are you looking for?
- Do you have an idea of how it should look?
- What are your corporate colors? Does the logo have to include these colors? Are you tied to these colors?
- Do you want your company name in the logo?
As a designer, here are some of the things to consider:
- Logo placement. Some designers only consider the website. They overlook business cards, corporate collateral and trade show items (t-shirts, pens, coffee mugs, etc).
- Type/Symbol proportion. If your type is 1/16th of your symbol, it may be fine on a website but if you try to put it on a golf shirt at 2 inches, your type will be unrecognizable.
- Black and White conversion. How will the logo look once it is converted to b/w? If you don’t think that it is a simple conversion, you will need to provide the client with a b/w version in your deliverable.
- Solid versus Gradient. I love gradients because it gives the logo depth. However, outside of the web, can you trust printing outlets to maintain the integrity of your logo?
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