Making the wrong logo
A surefire way to produce a design you’ll regret later.
We’ve all been there…
The CMO is explaining that they want to get this logo design right.
There’s a lot of pressure riding on this one.
You’re taking notes, ready to learn and then to put their requests into action. You soon realise that their description of a logo is an amalgamation of company values, the origin story, a five-year-plan and the CEO’s favourite colour.
This is a common misconception about logo design. It comes from what we’ve learned from poor logos rather than what we’ve observed from the best.
What we can observe from bad logos is that they’re often asked to do too much.
There is too much meaning, literal or metaphorical. This often results in complicated, busy and unprofessional combinations of different elements, and the final product is altogether unmemorable.
The best logos are incredibly simple and robust. The shapes and words are very easy to remember, and if there is any ‘meaning’ or significance, it is subtle.
One of the best ways to test this is to hold a logo in front of you and study it for 10 seconds. Then, try to sketch it out on a piece of paper. If it’s a solid design, you’ll be pretty close with your attempt, and that’s because professional logos (with a few famous exceptions) are built to last, and that means keeping things simple, easy to observe and using shapes which are easy to interpret.
“professional logos are built to last, and that means keeping things simple”
The purpose of a logo is to identify something, not to explain it.
When we remove this unnecessary expectation, we are freed up to design a truly memorable mark, something sturdy and versatile, something which can take on it’s own significance given enough time and exposure.
This does not mean that the logo is random or unimportant. The logo should be a natural follow-on from a brand strategy. It is the strategy which helps you with your positioning within the market, and this equips you to make the design appropriate.
So, if you are designing a logo for a charity, the mark should fit within that genre of design. If it is a b-corp startup within the ethical fashion industry, there will be another set of expectations for brands within that sector.
Finally, the logo concepts produced will always have the target audience in mind. How can this logo connect the company to its intended audience? Because we are designing this for the long-haul, the brand identity will form a strong bond with your community, creating a sense of recognition and trust.
To avoid making a bad logo, think of it as a flag, not a map.
Good logos are like flags: they say “you are here”. They are recognisable from a distance, and they create a sense of space, of ownership.
Bad logos are like maps (or, more specifically, tourist-maps) which explain everything about where you are. There’s lots of information, it can be confusing and difficult to remember.
We want flags. Not maps.
So when your team leader asks you to design a logo and it’s beginning to sound more like a map, feel free to warn them. Have them draw a picture of the Union Jack, and then an outline of the United Kingdom. Ask which one was easier.
If you can convince them to build a logo which is a flag instead, they’ll thank you later.
