The best logos – the ones that give the viewer an immediate and clear sense of “you” – are clean and uncluttered. In general, less is more and simplicity is more impactful. Remember that logos are used in a variety of ways, on different platforms and in various formats and sizes, so fine details will be lost. A strong logo will have few elements, each of which can be identified easily and integral to what you’re hoping to communicate. If you have elements that don’t contribute to the whole, get rid of them.
A logo should be easily recalled after just a glance. A glance, after all, is typically all your logo is going to get from most people. Like any symbol, it should stand for something singular, and it should be easily recalled if, after a person looks at it, he or she can immediately describe its basic elements (“It’s three interlocking circles” or “It’s a dog with a bone”). A logo that’s complex, fussy, has multiple parts and pieces or is overly stylized will be difficult for the viewer to “get” and, as a consequence, easily dismissed.
Don’t settle for a me-too logo. Do a quick search of logos in your industry and look for patterns and avoid mimicking them. Telecomm is filled with logos featuring globes, technology and electronics with logos that involve swooshes, and dentistry with logos of teeth or smiles (or both – see below). These all make sense and communicate what the companies want them to, but if you do the same you lose all hope of getting noticed.
Modern” is “today,” but not so “today” that in five years your logo will look silly. And, modern is different than trendy. A trend is “hot today” and will naturally (sometimes thankfully) run out of steam – probably sooner than later. Modern, on the other hand, is less stylized and more restrained; it captures the relevant characteristics of the times without losing itself in detail.
The best logos are designed using principles of proportion and symmetry. Illustrated below, you can see how both the Apple logo and the Twitter logo utilize circles of proportionate values as well as symmetry to create a pleasing, balanced aesthetic quality
Your logo’s graphic device and your typeface work together (in what’s typically called a lockup) and enhance one another. Or they should. If your graphic device is clean and linear, don’t select a typeface that’s complex and playful (Fajita comes to mind). The two elements are really one, even if you determine times they can be used separately, and they must be complementary.
On t-shirts, baseball caps and, alas, fanny packs On pens, keychains and water bottles On very horizontal and extremely vertical banners On both black and white backgrounds (make sure your designer creates your logo in black and in white to satisfy these needs if necessary) Very large and very, very small Alongside other company logos, like those for specific products and service