I Need a Company Logo. Where Do I Start?

Logos are vital for commerce. We live in a visual society, and logos are more than just pretty pictures. The old adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words” holds especially true for logos. A logo is the primary visual representation of a company or brand. It communicates the personality and intrinsic value of a company. How many times have you seen a logo, and you think to yourself, “They look like a big company.” Or, “What a cheesy logo. Is this even a real company?” What do you want people to think when they view your logo? If you need a logo, where do you start?

The first thing you need is some direction. Do you have a mission statement for your organization? Are your brand personality and values defined? What is your current situation–new company, merger, rebranding for a specific reason? All these things come into consideration when designing a professional logo. Why is this so important? It’s information about your organization. Information that you want to communicate with your target audience. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words. It’s the difference between babbling senseless nonsense or communicating a well thought-out message. Once you have this information in place, you’re ready to start with the actual design process.

The next step is to work with an expert. Depending upon your organizational size and structure, you may have the resources at your disposal to create the logo in-house. However, logo design is an extremely challenging aspect of graphic design. Not all graphic designers are good logo designers. It is extremely important that you work with someone or a company that has expertise in the field of corporate identity development. The logo itself contributes to overall brand equity, and it is not something to take lightly.

Designing the logo is a process. Normally, it is best to focus on shapes and style. Color should not come into play at this stage. Once a selection is made, color variations should be examined. Color by itself can communicate different messages even when applied to the same symbol. Once the colors are finalized, they need to be specified to specific color values, such as PMS spot colors that are used by professionals in the graphics industry.

A final step is defining how the logo is to be applied in different situations–on light backgrounds, dark backrounds, in black and white, and next to other objects. Also, you can take it a step further and define what not to do with the logo, such as removing a symbol and keeping only the typeface.

As you are going through this process, keep the following questions in mind:

• Is it recognizable and memorable?
• Does it convey the meaning of my company or brand?
• Is it unique in the marketplace?
• Does it look professional?
• Does it have a timeless quality?
• How is it going to look across different media formats?

Now that you have a point of reference, are you going to develop a pretty picture or an iconic representation of what your organization stands for? Just remember to take it seriously, and hire professionals if you do not have a great resource within.