10 unique qualities of a good logo design to help your business standout

These days, with so many logos in existence, it’s not hard to find examples of great, and not-so-great, logo designs in use. What makes the difference? What makes a logo design work well? And, more importantly, what can your company do to ensure its logo represents you effectively?

In this blog, I’ll educate you on 10 unique qualities of good logo designs.

But first…

What is a logo?

There are many definitions of what a logo is. But one stands out to me. It goes like this: logos serve to represent a given organization or company through a visual image that can be easily understood and recognized.

Logos give identity and make it easy for you to introduce your company without words.

Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos said, “A brand is the very identity of a company” and I couldn’t agree more. Creating a brand for your product or service can give you an upper hand over your competitors. You can start by taking a critical look at your company’s logo.

Why do I need a logo?

Identity

Do you see how cattle breeders burn them with a hot iron to mark them? A logo gives your company identity. We all attribute a bitten apple to Apple Inc. or the swoosh to Nike. So, a logo tells your potential customers who you are and what you do. This boils down to giving you a brand.

Gives You A Professional Look

When you have a logo, it sends out a message that you mean business and that you know what you are about. This will make your potential clients take you seriously before contacting you. There is this saying that goes like this “You get what you give” so if you want to get respect, get yourself a good image and it starts from your logo. In short, the logo is the face of the company.

Separates You From Competition

When you get a logo design for your product or service you set yourself apart from your competitors. People’s attention gets caught when they see something out of the norm. So yes, go ahead and turn heads with your logo.

How to differentiate a good logo from a bad one

Are you ready for this? Are you ready to turn heads with your logo? Let’s look at how a good logo design should look.

• It Speaks: A good logo speaks to your target audience the moment they see it. It tells who you are and what you do before they approach you to ask for details. So choose images that give your audience insight into your company. For example, if you are in food or fashion there should be a symbol representing each in your logo.
• It’s Unique: A good logo like I stated earlier turns heads. I remember admiring the logo of Nike because it was like nothing I’d ever seen. That’s the effect a good logo should have on a person at first sight. In fact, a good logo should make a person believe in love at first sight.
• Corresponds: A good logo should match the content on your website. Imagine visiting the site of a company whose logo design is a man baking bread only for you to read the copy of the site which talks about their ability to make the best beads in the world. Creepy right?
• Uniformed: A good logo is uniform in every way possible. From the colors to the text. A logo with colours that don’t blend and tiny fonts and too much information make it painful to look at.
• Relevant: A good logo should be relevant to the company and what it stands for. I remember being asked in school to create a fictitious company. And that included getting a logo too. Our name was Spektrum Concepts and our logo had an S and C. What made it unique was that it was relevant to what we stood for as an event planning company.

A bad logo is:

• Vague: A bad logo doesn’t send any message. It’s hard to read or understand. And when this happens you cannot achieve the aim of making your audience fall in love with your brand at first sight. It takes five seconds to grab your customers’ attention with your logo. If the picture takes longer, your logo needs work. If people can’t understand your logo, your brand is headed for massive failure and we definitely don’t want that.
• Cliché: Lea Michelle said, “Uniqueness is what makes you most unique”. If your logo is like every other one flying around town, then you should know it’s nowhere near uniqueness.
• Not catchy: Aside from the obvious fact that your company should have an easy-to-understand logo, it should also be catchy. The colors should blend well. For instance black goes really well with yellow, red goes with white, and so on. A bad logo color doesn’t correspond with the kind of business the company is involved in. Imagine a hospital’s logo made with pink and black. That’s more appropriate for a fashion company.

10 qualities of a good logo

Now let’s look what a good logo should have. Here are 10 qualities of a good logo.

Targeted

Do design for your intended audience. Don’t forget the customer.

A good logo targets specific people. It addresses their pain points and that will make them pay critical attention to the logo. For example, if a stationery store is thinking of a logo, they should consider factors that will draw students and parents to their store. That means having books, and pens and student-related icons in the logo. Remember also that the colour is key.

Simple

Do streamline your design. Don’t overcomplicate things.

It is important to note that if your logo is hard to understand, your audience will find it hard appreciating it. They will definitely not pay much attention to your message. And that means no clients, no jobs and no profit.

Versatile

I’m a versatile person and I’m still trying to learn newer things because you never know when those skills will come in handy. The same goes for a logo that’s one way. This makes it boring and less appealing to the target audience.

Memorable

A good logo sells your brand. I remember the first time I tasted Shawarma from a restaurant. Boy! It tasted like heaven. I craved for it every day and no matter the different ones I ate, nothing tasted like the first. That’s the same effect your logo should have on your targeted audience. They should long to see more from you and what you have to say about your brand. Look how people stand in line to be one of the first people to get the new iPhone products. That’s because they’ve sold their brand so well.

Original

Fresh ideas built from scratch are amazing. When your logo is original, you don’t have court cases of some competing company accusing you of identity theft. It also portrays you as a creative person. Even if you have to copy, it should have a new thing about it.

Competitive

A good logo should have your competitors having sleepless nights. It should leave them wondering and guessing. If your logo is competitive, it means it’s unique. So go on ahead and knock that logo into uniqueness.

Timeless

A company’s logo that is undeniably timeless is that of Coca Cola. Even after 100 years, they still stand tall amongst other logos. Don’t you find that inspiring? I know I do. Push for your logo to be traced back to you after centuries.

Ask yourself: Will this logo still be relevant in a year? In five? Can it withstand years or decades of changes in the industry?

Iconic

Your logo should mean something to you as a company. When my class was working on the Spektrum logo, we got so many questions on what our logo colours meant to us and when we told them what they meant, they appreciated it more. Don’t create your logo because you want a symbol to represent your company. It should have meaning attached to it. This portrays originality and uniqueness.

Appealing

Your logo should be appealing enough to draw customers in. Colours affect a person’s choice. For example, eateries usually use brown to make people hungry which in turn will cause them to buy food. Always attract customers.

Relatable

Your audience should be able to relate your logo to what you do as a company. If your logo says unisex clothing but your services are only for men, it will make them think you can’t so what you said you will do and that’s bad news for your company.

I’ll like to hear from you, what makes a logo stand out? I’m looking forward to seeing your thoughts in the comment section below.