How to Choose a Good Logo and Guide Your Graphic Designer

Choosing the right logo for your business is a crucial step in establishing your brand identity but it can go horribly wrong even when paying a lot of money to a designer who doesn’t understand how your logo needs to be used.

A well-designed logo will be versatile, easy to recognize, and effective across various platforms from web to shirts to stickers. Here are some key considerations and guidance for working with a graphic designer to create a logo that fits your needs.

Where To Get A Logo

1. Jeff recommends using a 99Designs contest
2. Fiverr
3. UpWork
4. A local designer

Key Considerations for a Good Logo

1. Versatility in Use:

• Your logo will be used in various formats, including social profiles, websites, screen printing, printing, and embroidery. Therefore, it must be adaptable to different sizes and surfaces without losing its effectiveness.

2. Readability:

• The logo should be easy to read at a glance. Avoid fancy fonts and thin lines at all costs. These make the logo difficult to read.

3. Recognition:

• An effective logo is easily recognizable. Name logos are excellent. Letter logos are excellent. Combination logos can be a problem depending on the layout

4. Single Color Effectiveness:

• Ensure your logo works well in a single color. You do not want a logo that requires multiple colors to be readable. This will allow for greater flexibility in its application, such as using different color schemes for various occasions or printing needs.

Design Recommendations

Based on the above considerations, here are some specific recommendations for your logo design:

• Avoid Fancy Fonts and Thin Lines:
• Stick to clean, simple fonts that are easy to read. Avoid using thin lines that can disappear when the logo is scaled down or printed in different formats.
• Create Versatile Icons:
• Your logo should include an icon that looks good both as a standalone square shape (for browser tabs, social media profile icons, etc.) and in a horizontal layout. This ensures that the logo is adaptable to different placements without wasting space.

Delivery Formats

When working with a graphic designer, request the following versions of your logo, each provided in .ai and large .png formats:

1. Icon Only:

• Black with a transparent background
• Your chosen brand color with a transparent background

2. Words Only:

• Black with a transparent background
• Your chosen brand color with a transparent background

3. Icon + Words:

• Black with a transparent background
• Your chosen brand color with a transparent background

Having these versions ensures you have the necessary flexibility for various uses and can easily make modifications as needed.

Additional Considerations

• Slogans:
• Including a slogan in your logo can be limiting if you need to change it in the future. For example, if your current slogan is "Luxury Balloon Decor," but you later decide to target budget-conscious customers, the term "Luxury" misrepresents your brand. Slogans can be added to your website or specific graphics as needed but don’t include them in the overall business logo.

Example Design Adjustments

• Icon Adjustments:
• If your icon design includes extra elements that extend beyond a square shape, consider simplifying it to fit neatly within a square. This adjustment ensures the logo looks good in confined spaces, like social media profile pictures.
• Color Variations:
• While incorporating colors in your logo is beneficial, ensure it also looks good in a single color. This allows you to experiment with various color schemes, including seasonal or thematic variations, without losing the logo's impact.

By following these guidelines, you can create a logo that not only represents your brand effectively but also stands the test of time in terms of versatility and recognition. Working closely with your graphic designer and providing clear guidance will help achieve the best results.