I have always liked to explain to the clients for whom I have worked their corporate image that a logo is like the clothes you put on. If you are not comfortable with it, it is likely to make you feel uncomfortable or even out of place on certain occasions.
In business, as in many other aspects of life, the first impression is very important. Your logo heads all your communication material and, therefore, is the first thing that the user who accesses your website or the person you talk to at an event and to whom you give your business card will see, if you are one of those who still use business cards (I confess that I always carry, although I usually have mysteriously only one in my wallet every time I deliver it).
Creating a logo is something complex that requires both technical knowledge and a somewhat hidden but fundamental factor to achieve success, such as empathy. Why? Very simple, because you are going to dress another person with the clothes they should wear, but also with the ones they want to wear and make them feel comfortable.
Who is the logo for
On the one hand there is the process of documentation and analysis. It is essential to understand the particularities of the sector and its potential clients in order to create a logo according to the needs of the brand. For this, among other things, it is necessary to investigate the competitors and the image they project. Everything influences and everything matters. There are common colors in certain sectors that we can use or skip, but it would be reckless to ignore them. For example, if you work on the brand of a frozen food company you will see that blue predominates, which seems very logical considering that it is a cold color. However, another very common color (we could say that it is the typical supporting actor in this sector) is red, which, a priori, does not seem to make as much sense as the other since it is a warm color. With this information, I insist, essential, we could make decisions in one direction, the opposite or none of them, but those decisions would be based on knowledge. If we are working on the brand for a frozen product, it will invite us to work with blue, but we will assess the possibility of breaking that trend to distinguish ourselves from others. Obviously, if we take the complicated path there will be some associated problems more difficult to solve.
Great, we have already taken an X-ray of what we are (or what our client is if we are working for a third party). We must now think about the people who will see that logo and for this we must analyze who buys or could buy that product or service.
With all this information we should be prepared to launch ourselves to create.
What a logo is (and what a logo is not)
There are different trends, but if you look, in recent years the concept of synthesis has been taken to the limit. A logo is essentially that, to look for the simplest way to explain a brand, however complex it may be. What has happened with many companies for some time now is that they have dispensed with any graphic representation beyond pure text. That is, they have opted for the logo.
It is necessary to open at this time a parenthesis to explain that a logo is truly a brand that is represented exclusively with typography. The explanation is necessary because the term has been extended so that we call logo to many that are not. In this sense, we can find several formats and terms that should be explained.
Logo
As we say, a brand represented only with typography.
It is the only resource in this case, so some brands opt for very characteristic fonts.
Imagotype
Combination between typography and one or several graphic elements.
There can and usually exist separate applications of these elements or with different position combinations.
Isotype
Exclusively one or several graphic elements.
The absence of text requires a powerful brand behind generally with a consolidated brand knowledge.
Isologo
Combination between typography and one or several graphic elements but all integrated in a single element.
It is indivisible.
Don’t torture yourself trying to remember these terms because it is easy that you will never need them and it will be even something strange if you use them outside the strictly professional environment of branding, don’t you think? In the end, everyone will say logo and we will understand each other well almost always.
How should your company logo be
The most logical and usual thing is that it is simple. As synthetic as possible. If you are able to get people to assume that you or your brand are a square, and when they see a square wherever it is they remember you, you will have achieved the squaring of the circle. Any simple shape is perfect, but the simpler the more used. Therefore, if a brand manages to get a green triangle to represent it, it will be difficult to change it no matter how much time passes. I suppose you know what I mean.
It must be synthetic
Have I already said it? Let’s assume it, synthesizing is not easy. It implies dispensing with everything accessory and this requires an effort that sometimes forces to eliminate options. If it is synthetic, it will probably be as simple as to be easy to remember by people. Synthesis is important especially today, that we are going to see our logo reproduced on screens of all kinds and where mobile navigation is imposed (with the evident size limitations that this implies).
Have flat colors
As a general rule, we must use flat colors and the least number of samples possible. Obviously there are cases in which not only is it advisable to skip this advice, but necessary. There are countless examples of visual identity associated with the variety of colors, so we could not propose a logo for them that did not incorporate that tonal diversity.
Use a single typography
As for the typographies, it is highly recommended not to use more than one (although there are always specific cases that can serve as an example for the opposite). It is advisable that it is own, created for that brand in a concrete way.
The space counts as much as the stain
A logo is then reproduced in countless formats and sizes. That is why it is very important to work studying how it looks when reducing or enlarging it. When doing so we will realize that if we do not handle well the gaps between elements, whether letters or graphics, this will generate some problems of visualization and compensation between them.
It must be legible
Eye, this is critical. A logo that has typography is designed to be read. In design applied to communication, in general the fundamental premise is that it fulfills precisely that function, that of communication. This is valid for a logo, for the product catalog of a website or for the flyer that announces a concert. If the message that is intended to be transmitted is not clearly read, the product is unusable or, at least, is limiting its communication possibilities, which in the end is what it is created for. If in that flyer we put the address so small that it is not appreciated people will not go to our concert or will have to use other elements of communication to find the location, which is obviously a failure. A logo, the same. Let’s dispense therefore with background photos, shadows or any other effect that hinders readability.
It has to be vectorial
This is not a suggestion, it is a necessity. The amount of different formats in which our logo will appear implies that it can be resized without losing quality and be able to be reproduced conveniently printed to any size and number of inks. For this it is necessary that we build it with tools that allow us to obtain a vectorial form. Then we will talk a little more in detail about this.
A professional will guide you and will be able to avoid future problems of reproduction of your logo.
Who should make a logo
Okay, we are telling you how to make a logo, but it would be reckless not to recommend you to hire a professional. Think that there are people trained and experienced in this and that is a fundamental added value. A person who knows the theory of color, who knows about typography and who has battled with the almost infinite problems that can arise when taking our communication materials to print, or screen printing, lettering, upload them to our website, app, or any format as new or old as it may be, and accustomed to working with specific and professional software, will be able to face any project with more and better criteria. We can not forget this.
If you decide to hire someone, check their portfolio before doing so. That will give you a clue of the result you can get in your case. As in any sector, there are people with more or less talent so use their catalog to decipher if you put yourself in the right hands.
How to make a logo
You don’t want to hire? Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.
First you must know where to build your logo. The powerful Adobe tools allow you to work vectorial forms. Illustrator seems the most appropriate option and, although InDesign is not exactly for this, it also serves perfectly (in fact, I personally find it more pleasant). If you are one of those who are up to date, you will surely value options such as Adobe XD or its magnificent competitor Sketch. There are many more options, use the software that you find most comfortable or with which you usually work, but remember, the result must be vectorial, so the program must allow it.
Sometimes an idea is so good that it only requires a good execution. If you have something original in mind, work it until you get a result to match.
Create a first version and, without deleting it, copy it and evolve the second. On the second do the same, duplicate it again and work on this one. You will have as a result a document with all the evolution of your logo.
Try that your logo is composed, as we explained before, of simple forms.
It is possible that you reach a conclusion quickly or that it takes you time. In any case, give yourself a margin of a couple of days once you have finished because it is a work that saturates our criteria and there comes a time when we are not objective. You can ask for an opinion at this time but it is important that, once you reach this point, let the logo rest. Do not look at it in that time. When you see it again you will have a much fresher mind and you will be able to draw more accurate conclusions. If you think you have a great idea in hand but it is the first thing that came to your head, be sure that someone already created it before you.
If you are working for a client the thing gets a little complicated. It is no longer about convincing yourself, but a third party. And sometimes, almost always, in the client there are several people opining which complicates even more the operation. There will be technical conditions that you must meet and those are unavoidable, but it is at this point where the empathy of which we spoke at the beginning comes into play. You will have to understand how you should dress that company and for this you must agree several people. The central point between them is usually correct although sometimes there are associated hierarchical conditions that will make some have more weight in the decision. In addition, it is possible that you meet with one or two representatives of the company and do not even get to know others that are even more decisive to understand what the company wants. Does not sound anything simple?
It is not. Therefore, when I see certain amounts that are charged for creating a logo I put my hands to my head because they would not even pay an hour of work and this is a serious process that sometimes takes weeks or months, depending on the size and the impact that that brand is going to have.
Define some guidelines to follow and do it taking into account that in many occasions the client will want to put their creativity into play through your hands. Therefore, limit the number of adjustments you will make in the logo by contract before starting to work. This is very important because otherwise you will be exposed to infinite changes until the other person or group of people seems that the result is appropriate. It is frustrating for both parties.
Where the logo will be exposed
In a world as global as the current one it is important to take into account aspects that in other times were less critical because the products did not always have international travel. White does not have the same meaning in Spain as in China and the representation of a cow will be interpreted in a very different way in India. Investigate where the logo will be used to be able to study all these conditions.
Conclusion
Your logo must represent you, define you and also has to do it for a while. If we avoid ephemeral fashions we will be getting it to last more than a year so forget about seasonal or passing trends. Obviously, if it has been designed by Salvador Dali, as in the case of Chupa Chups, it will be much more complicated to evolve it (although in the 80s this logo already changed substantially with respect to that version of the artist from Figueras) for the value that a figure like this brings to a brand. If you need inspiration, we can talk about representative logos in Spain that are able to survive even some of the companies that have represented, José María Cruz Novillo and Alberto Corazón are two of the exponents that have marked our environment. Do not have doubt, you have seen, you know and you remember hundreds of logos created by them.
Today we see how professionals solve issues related to the formal aspect in creative and different ways which opens a little more space to create. For example, before your logo should be identified with a specific color but today some brands choose to vary it using similar applications but with different colors (concrete and defined in the image manual, but more than one).
Another way to adapt to the new times is, taking into account the variety of devices and formats, the reduction of elements by size. This trend is very interesting because it manages to maintain unity using applications that vary formally.
Even some brands dare to modify the tracking or other values of their typography taking into account the size.
It is, therefore, the way of the sector to adapt its language to the needs in order to communicate in the best way in each of the variable scenarios.
So, whether you finally launch yourself to create your logo or if you are going to dedicate yourself professionally to the adventure of getting clients to whom to create theirs, do not forget the tips that I leave you in the post.
