4 tips for creating a strong logo

Whether it’s black and white or filled with different colors, a logo is an important representation of your company’s brand. If the design is strong, people will associate your logo with your business for years to come.

“A company’s logo is its shorthand, a visual cue that tells a story of the brand’s culture, behavior, and values,” Su Mathews Hale, a senior partner at the New York brand-strategy and design firm Lippincott, told Entrepreneur.

However, you can’t just slap together a logo in five minutes and expect it to be effective. It’s important to put in the time and effort to create a powerful symbol for your organization. Here are four tips for creating a strong logo:

1. Choose the right colors
When designing a logo, it’s crucial to pick colors that help communicate your brand’s message. According to Martin Christie, a creative director at Logo Design London, “On both a conscious and subconscious level, colors convey meaning – not only in the natural world but also within the artifice of our culture.” Christie recommends sticking with one color when designing a logo.

For example, if you are trying to create a symbol for a restaurant, consider picking the color red, as it’s been known to stimulate people’s appetites.

2. Instill motion
Just think of how much more of an impact your logo would have if it introduced a sense of motion to the consumer. For example, take a look at Twitter’s logo of a flying bird. The symbol represents a company that is ready to take off.

“Whether soaring high above the earth to take in a broad view, or flocking with other birds to achieve a common purpose, a bird in flight is the ultimate representation of freedom, hope and limitless possibility,” Doug Bowman, creative director of Twitter, wrote in a company blog.

3. Stay away from cliche design trends
If you want to be unique from your competitors, it’s important to steer clear of cliche designs, such as random colored dots or arcs. These images are often easy to replicate and won’t help your company stand out. It’s important to think outside the box and not just draw the first image that comes to mind when you visualize what your company offers.

4. Be versatile 
If your logo looks great on T-shirts, but terrible on branded stylus pens, it will not have the same effect.  It’s important for your logo to work well across a variety of media and applications. One way to ensure this is to design the logo in vector format. According to PC.net, vector images aren’t made from pixels, so they can scale to any size without looking blurry. The quality of your logo will look the same, whether it’s on a business card or promotional bag.