A logo is a stylized representation of a brand image. Logo design is one of the measures to improve brand image, and has the role of making a company, brand, product, service, etc. memorable and differentiating it from competitors.
In this article, we will provide an overview of logo design, what makes a good design, how to think about it, design tips, and what not to do. Not only designers, but also those in charge of companies who are thinking of outsourcing logo production should understand the basics of logo design.
A logo is a stylized representation of a brand image.
A logo is a stylized representation of a company, brand, product, service, etc. using decorative letters and shapes.
A logo has the role of giving an impression of a company, brand, product, or service, and differentiating it from competitors. Additionally, by disseminating your logo along with high-quality products and services, you can help gain trust and create added value.
The market is not the only place where logos can exert their power. A logo that reflects the company’s ideals can also help with inner branding, which helps spread the philosophy and vision within the company.
A logo is an important symbol that is the “face” of a company and is the key to branding. If you are aiming for further growth and prosperity for your company, put your heart and soul into logo design.
Logo type
There are several types of logos. There are three typical types of logos: “logotype,” “symbol mark,” and “logomark.” The characteristics of each are explained below.
A logotype is a decorative letter that represents the name of a company, brand, product, or service. When we talk about logos, we usually refer to this logotype.
The biggest benefit of using a logotype is that it makes it easier for people to remember the name of your company, brand, product, or service.
A symbol mark is a Japanese-English word that combines the words “symbol” and “mark,” and is a graphic representation of a company, brand, product, or service. Also called symbol logo.
The benefits of using a symbol mark include making a strong impression and making it easier to remember, and making it easier to convey the company’s worldview.
A logo mark is a Japanese-English word that is a combination of “logotype” and “mark,” and is a combination of a logotype and a symbol mark to express a company, brand, product, or service.
A major advantage of logo marks is that they have the benefits of both logo types and symbol marks, and are highly versatile, as they can be broken down into logo types and symbol marks as needed.
5 conditions for good logo design
If you are going to design a logo, you want to make it a good logo that everyone will love. It is said that a good logo that captures the hearts of many people has the following five conditions.
Simple and easy to understand>
impressive and easy to remember
Unaffected by the times and trends
Appropriately conveys the worldview
Can be used in any medium
simple and easy to understand
The colorful and detailed paintings are extremely beautiful. However, even if you can appreciate its beauty, it may be difficult to understand the message the painting is trying to convey the moment you see it.
A logo should instantly convey your company’s message. Therefore, when creating a logo, it is important to keep the design simple and easy to understand.
impressive and easy to remember
The primary purpose of a logo is to help people remember it. Therefore, when creating a logo, it is important to create a design that is both impressive and easy to remember.
A good logo not only has a unique and unique design, but also one that will naturally become memorable.
Create a logo that is more impressive and easy to remember by conducting tests and checking to see if it is a memorable design.
Unaffected by time and trends
Once you decide on a logo, it doesn’t have to remain the same forever. In fact, many long-established companies go through several iterations of their logo.
However, the core design is often something that is loved in any era. When deciding on a logo design, it is important to choose a timeless motif.
It is also a good idea to consider whether it can be changed over time.
Appropriately conveys the worldview
How would you feel if the logo of a beauty salon targeting young women used a bold, extremely thick calligraphy font?
Many people probably won’t be able to recognize it as a beauty salon logo at first glance, and will probably feel very strange about it.
A logo must properly convey your worldview. So, always keep your philosophy and vision in mind when designing your logo.
Can be used in any medium
A good logo is one that can be used in any medium, small or large, vertical or horizontal, color or monochrome.
When designing a logo, consider various usage situations and create as many patterns as possible.
It is also important to create the image in vector format so that the image quality remains the same no matter the size.
Concept of logo
Good logo ideas don’t just come to you out of the blue. There are several steps you need to take to create a good logo.
Below are five steps you should take to come up with a good logo.
1. Deciding on the theme
2. Research
3. Idea generation
4. Production
5. Creation of guidelines
1.Determine the theme
In order to create a logo that conveys your company’s message at a glance, it is important to first decide on a simple and clear theme.
The purpose and wishes of creating a logo, such as why you are creating a logo, in what situations you will use the logo, what effect you expect from the logo, and what kind of image you want the logo to convey. Let’s organize and decide on a theme.
2. Research
Once we have decided on a logo theme, we conduct extensive research on everything surrounding the company, including its philosophy, story, business results, customers, and rival companies.
When conducting research, we use “3C analysis” to identify the market (Customer), competitors (Competitor), and company’s environment (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat). It would be a good idea to use a framework such as SWOT analysis to identify the
3. Idea generation
Once we have gathered the information necessary for logo design through research, we will generate ideas based on the theme.
Even if you think it’s probably going to be rejected, don’t deny it, and draw all the ideas that come to mind freehand on paper.
When you can’t come up with an idea, try using ideas such as Osborn’s Checklist, which expands the range of ideas by answering nine questions.
4.Production
Once you have a solid idea for your logo design, you can move on to creating your logo using design production software such as Adobe Illustrator, which can create data in vector format.
Create logos that are large and small, wide and narrow, in full color and grayscale, and in a variety of patterns for any usage scenario.
In addition, when checking the quality of the created logo, use testing tools such as “Logo Lab” that can check the visibility and balance of the logo from various angles, or conduct tests and questionnaires with not only employees but also customers. We recommend that you do the following.
5.Creating guidelines
Once your logo is complete, create guidelines that outline the promises you’ll make when using it.
The guidelines should include basic logo data such as color, font, and minimum size, as well as the wishes and story behind the logo, and prohibitions when using the logo.
By creating guidelines, you can prevent your logo from being used in undesirable ways.
Tips for choosing fonts
In order to design a good logo, it is important to keep a few tips in mind. Font is an important element that greatly affects the image of a logo. When choosing a font, pay attention to the following three points:
typeface
Weight (thickness)
visibility
typeface
There are as many typefaces as there are stars, but they can be roughly divided into two types: Gothic and Mincho. Gothic fonts are simple, unadorned typefaces that are designed to have a constant thickness in both horizontal and vertical strokes.
On the other hand, the Mincho typeface is designed so that the horizontal strokes are thin and the vertical strokes thick, and there are triangular decorations called “Uroko” at the end of the horizontal strokes, the beginning of the vertical strokes, and at the corners. In European fonts, Gothic fonts are called sans-serif fonts, and Mincho fonts are called serif fonts.
If you use a Gothic font, your logo will give a casual and friendly impression, while if you use a Mincho font, it will give your logo a dignified and elegant impression.
Weight (thickness)
The weight (thickness) of the font also affects the impression of the logo. Thin weights give a feminine and calm impression, while thick weights give a masculine and active impression.
The impression of the logo also changes depending on the combination of typeface and weight. Gothic fonts with thin weights give a sharp and sophisticated impression, while Gothic fonts with thick weights give a strong and lively impression.
On the other hand, Mincho fonts with thin weights give a delicate and elegant impression, while Mincho fonts with thick weights give a classic and solid impression.
visibility
When choosing a font, it is also important to keep legibility in mind. Fonts with unbalanced glyph shapes or inconsistent thickness should not be chosen.
It is also a good idea to avoid using fonts that are easy to misread, such as when looking from a distance, it is difficult to tell the difference between handakuten and dakuten.
Also, be sure to check that the text does not become blurry when you enlarge it, or that it does not get crushed when you reduce it.
Layout tips
Layout is a term that refers to the placement and arrangement of text and graphics. If the layout of the logo is extremely long horizontally or vertically, or if it is uneven, it will not only be difficult to use, but also spoil the aesthetics.
When considering the layout of the logo, be aware of aligning the letters and matching the height and width of the letters and images to fit it into a nearly square shape so that it can be used on both portrait and landscape media. is important.
By keeping in mind the golden ratio (1:1.618) and silver ratio (1:1.414), you can create a more beautiful layout.
It is also important to arrange the letters so that anyone can read them accurately, and to arrange the letters and figures so that they can be instantly recognized.
Color scheme tips
When choosing a color scheme, pay attention to visibility. It is best not to use pure colors with 100% saturation and brightness as they will cause the eyes to flicker. If you really want to use a pure color, lower the saturation and brightness little by little to improve visibility.
Also, be careful not to use too much color. We recommend that you limit the number of colors you use to 2-3. When choosing a color, first choose an image color that matches the company’s concept and target, and set it as the main color.
When choosing a main color, it is important to understand the image the color has. Red conveys images of passion and excitement, blue conveys intelligence and exhilaration, green conveys an image of peace and health, yellow conveys brightness and casualness, and pink conveys images of cuteness and love.
After choosing the main color, choose a secondary color. For sub-colors, if you are looking for harmony, choose similar or similar colors, and if you are looking for impact, choose complementary or contrasting colors.
You can check whether the combination of main color and sub color is good or bad using a “color contrast checker” etc.
Modeling tips
A logo must be beautiful and easy to understand, no matter the medium.
A logo that is distorted or poorly balanced will make the viewer feel uncomfortable. Therefore, it is important to keep the golden ratio and silver ratio in mind when designing.
Also, if the drawing is too detailed, it will be difficult to instantly recognize it, and it will disappear if you reduce it, so we recommend pursuing simplicity as much as possible.
What not to do when designing a logo
A logo doesn’t just have to look good. If you don’t keep a few things in mind, it will be difficult to create a really good logo, and it can also pose a big risk.
Here are some things you should not do when designing a logo:
design plagiarism
stuffing elements
Rely on the power of color and effects
difficult to see
Not conscious of the situation and size of use
Not aware of universal design
following trends too much
ignore the atmosphere of the times
design plagiarism
When designing a logo, it is an effective way to refer to various logo designs as reference materials.
However, using a design that you think is good almost exactly as it is is plagiarism and copyright infringement, so you should never do this.
Also, even if the designs happen to be similar, there is a good chance that it will lead to a lawsuit, so be careful.
Once you have decided on a logo design, use tools such as “Graphic Image Park” or “Google Image Search” introduced by the Japan Patent Office to check if there are any similar designs.
stuffing elements
Some people may want to create a logo that conveys everything about the company just by looking at it, so they try to include as many elements as possible in the logo.
However, the more elements you include, the more complex the logo design becomes, making it harder to understand and less memorable.
When designing a logo, define one core concept and pursue a simple yet unique design.
Rely on the power of color and effects
By incorporating high-impact colors and using effects such as gradation, you can easily add personality to your logo design.
However, the power of color and effect is not absolute. If you place color and effects at the core of your logo design, monochrome media will not be able to achieve the full effect.
Remember that colors and effects are secondary, and create a logo that conveys your message in any medium.
difficult to see
A logo design that is hard to see is also fatal from a design standpoint. The factors that make it difficult to see are related to size and number of colors.
Displaying large, clear, and simple text eliminates unnecessary information and makes it easier to convey information to users.
On the other hand, if too many small characters are packed together, it becomes difficult to read, and when the display is further reduced, it becomes almost unrecognizable.
If there are many colors, too much information will be displayed in a small space, making it difficult to see. In this case, it may be easier to see by reducing the number of colors.
Avoid actions that reduce visibility as much as possible.
Not conscious of the situation and size of use
When thinking about logo design, you need to consider the situation and size in which it will be used. When creating a logo design, it is important to be aware of when and in what situations it will be used.
For example, if you are creating a logo for a product aimed at young women, a strong design that uses a lot of blue or black would not be suitable.
You also need to be aware of the size. It is necessary to consider the logo design with the assumption that it will be applied to websites and printed advertisements (newspapers, magazines, posters, flyers, etc.). For print ads, your logo design will likely appear smaller.
Conversely, when displaying on digital media such as digital signage, it is often displayed in a large size. In such cases, it may be necessary to work out even the smallest details.
When creating a logo design, it is always necessary to be aware of the situation in which it will be used and the sense of size.
Not aware of universal design
Universal design means “design for everyone.” Universal means “whole” or “universal,” and universal design means designing something that is easy for everyone to use, regardless of age, gender, nationality, etc.
Universal design covers a wide variety of areas, including buildings, systems, objects, and services. This concept of universal design also applies to logo design.
Pictograms are design drawings designed to be understood by people of all ages and nationalities, and are commonly referred to as “emoji” or “picture words.”
Easy-to-understand examples include green emergency stairway marks, restroom marks representing men and women, and question marks at information desks. These marks are universal and allow people to understand the meaning of a place at a glance, without using language.
When creating a corporate logo, considering the design from the perspective of universal design and pictograms, you can create a design that will be more memorable to people.
Please refer to the following page for detailed explanations regarding pictograms.
following trends too much
When it comes to logo design, it’s not a good idea to follow trends too much. This is because a trend at the time of its popularity may have died out in a few years.
Once a company has decided on a logo design and released it to the world, it will not be changed frequently, so it must be considered with the premise that universality is important. In other words, the logo design you create at this point in 2023 needs to be considered on the assumption that it will still exist in 2033, 10 years from now.
It takes several years, even tens of years, for corporate identity (CI) to become recognized in the market. When designing a logo, you must consider the present and the future.
ignore the atmosphere of the times
I mentioned earlier that universality is important when designing a logo, but at the same time, “contemporaneity” cannot be ignored. It is also important to read the contemporary atmosphere and trends, which are based on universal design and responding to diversification, and incorporate them into the design.
Corporate activities are primarily aimed at the “market” (general consumers), and it is not advisable to ignore social conditions. Many designs appearing in the world are influenced to some extent by the trends and fashions of the times. In order to be loved over time, it is necessary to incorporate trends to some extent.
Sites that can help you with logo design
Designing a logo from scratch is difficult not only for beginners but also for professionals. The more logos you look at, the more likely you are to come up with a good idea. Below, we will introduce three sites that can be helpful when designing a logo.
logo stock
Dictionary of brand/company name/logo marks
Logopond
logo stock
This site introduces logos of various companies, organizations, brands, and events. It has a rich search function and provides detailed explanations of each logo, making it very helpful. Don’t miss the article that summarizes knowledge about logo creation.
Official website:
Logo stock | Logo design gallery
Dictionary of brand/company name/logo marks
This site explains the origins and meanings of company names, brand names, and logos, focusing on famous companies and brands both domestically and internationally.
You can search for logos of companies you are interested in by using the filtering function by industry or alphabet.
This site has many logos created by overseas designers.
You can browse a variety of logos, from commercial ones to those created as part of a hobby. By using the tag function, you can efficiently search for logos related to keywords.
Many companies do not have in-house designers and outsource design work. Therefore, we will explain the market price when requesting logo design from an outside company.
With Lancers, you can compete with a budget of 27,500 yen.
We also recommend that you use the competition function of Lancers, a major platform that allows you to request work from freelancers and sideline workers, and ask Lancers members to create your logo.
It costs a certain amount to hire a production company, but if you use Lancers’ competition, you can request a logo design from a budget of 27,500 yen.
Among the members registered with Lancers, there are many professional designers with extensive experience and experience, so you may be able to find your favorite logo design while keeping costs down.
Even if we do not receive any logo proposals, we have a money-back guarantee, so your request fee will be fully refunded.
The current market price for logo design is direction fee of 10,000 to 50,000 yen and design fee of 30,000 to 100,000 yen.
According to data from Aimitsu, a business matching site, the average cost of logo design as of July 2023 is around 10,000 to 50,000 yen for direction and 30,000 to 100,000 yen for design.
Logo design direction costs are costs incurred from planning to drafting logo production, but are often included in the design cost.
The average design cost for logo design varies considerably, from 30,000 to 100,000 yen. This will depend on the designer in charge and your requests.
Other costs such as correction fees and trademark registration fees may also be required. Correction costs generally start at 10% of the design cost, but are often included in the design cost.
The trademark registration fee is approximately 100,000 to 150,000 yen, and is only required if you wish to register a trademark.
summary
A logo is the “face” of a company and is an important symbol that is the key to branding.
Logo design requires five elements: simple and easy to understand, impressive and easy to remember, universal and timeless, properly conveys your worldview, and can be used in any medium. Companies can reap significant benefits by designing a good logo with these features.
Companies that want to focus on branding should use the logo concepts and design tips introduced this time, as well as the websites that can help with logo design, to create a logo that will be loved by everyone.
