A logo is a company's stamp of identity. Great design of a logo is what sets a company apart, at first glance, from the competition, potentially cluing in the customer or client to what their line of business is, what their company environment and philosophies of operation are, and hopefully evoking a positive emotional response.

Do Your Research. Learn everything you can about the company. What is the company's main function? What is their intended direction? Who is their audience? What is their style of operation? Do they want a corporate, secure look or one that is young and hip? Take all elements into consideration and brainstorm many versions. Often what you end up with is a compilation of the things that work best in two or three different sketches.

Design for Multiple Medias. A great logo should be designed to fit in multiple environments and work well in different sizes. Since the Web is such a huge presence in our lives today, most logos would be best designed with this media in mind first, with print to follow. The reasons for this are the limitations the Web imposes such as small font size, a limited Web-safe color palette, and the fact that serif fonts often don't translate well to the screen.

Start With the Typeface. A strong logo typeface is one that reinforces the company's image. For example, a company that designs and sells unique children's clothing could easily carry a font with loop-de-loops where an investment company would be better suited with a simple, straight-forward classic font. However, a really great logo font should also be manipulated in a program such as Illustrator, to get that unique not-off-the-shelf look, thus giving the company their own singular identity.

Keep the Art Simple. Make your artwork subtle but recognizable, simple and timeless. Look at some of the biggest names around. A little swish can carry a lot of meaning if used in the right way. Marry the design of the artwork with the font and create a look where the meaning is immediately evident. If the logo needs to be explained to each viewer, it's not an effective logo.

A Great Logo Works in Black and White as Well as Color. Be sure to test your logo to see that it pops in both color and black and white. If variations in shades get lost in the translation, add more contrast or reduce the number of variations. Remember, keep it simple.

Learn more about this author, Renee Sande.
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