What Are The Five Elements Of A Good Logo?

Keep it simple

You should always aim to keep your logo as simple as possible. People often want to incorporate too many elements into their logo to try and tell a story, but the complexity often gets lost in translation. You want your logo to be simple, which helps customers to recognise it instantly.

The best logos are straightforward, despite how tempting it can be to add more elements. Complicated logos often need to be explained to your customer. Consider the most well-known logos as an example. These logos, like Apple and Coca-Cola, are very simple. However, these straightforward designs ensure customers can recognise them immediately. Remember, simplicity always wins.

Keep it versatile

Throughout your logos lifecycle, it will be used in various ways, from large spaces like signage and vehicles to websites, business cards, and brochures, and even on small areas like pens. It’s important to remember that your logo needs to be versatile while maintaining its integrity. It’s also essential to make sure your logo looks great in colour and black and white.

Versatility goes hand in hand with simplicity. The simpler your design, the more likely it will be more versatile and look fabulous no matter where and how the logo is used. When you think of the biggest brands in the world, their logos are usually simple and are equally fantastic in colour, grayscale, black and white, or reverse print. They also work well in any size, whether printed on postcards, brochures, flyers, or billboards.

Make it memorable

It’s important to remember that all these points tie in together, so making your logo memorable is also making sure it’s simple. Your customers should be able to recall specific elements of your logo after only seeing it briefly. An important measure of the memorability of your logo is to envision driving past your logo at 100 kilometers an hour. Will your customers be able to recognise and remember it while only seeing it briefly?

Make it timeless

You want to make sure your logo is timeless and avoids changing trends. What will your logo look like in 10 or 20 years? Making sure your logo is timeless also ties back in with simplicity. Keeping it simple will enable your logo to be timeless. The most well-known logos have stayed the same or similar for the past 100 years. Rebranding is expensive, so you want to ensure that your logo stands the test of time. Think of logos like the London Underground or Coca-Cola that have been around for over 100 years and still look great.

Keep it appropriate

You want to make sure your logo is appropriate for your intended audience. You want to effortlessly combine colour font and graphics to convey your brand’s message and play on the psyche of your target audience. If you are a law firm, for example, if you want something professional, if you are selling toys, you want something colourful and playful.

So remember to keep your logo simple, versatile, memorable, timeless, and appropriate, and you can ensure that your brand will stand the test of time and become a staple in the minds of your target audience. If you want to learn more about branding, check out our other blog posts.