What Makes a Great Logo Design?

Logos are like any other form of advertising. They carry a message and communicate a brand to the public.

Logos can take on many forms. A logo can be serious, playful or whimsical. A logo can be a realistic drawing, a stylized drawing, a graphic icon-symbol or professionally styled lettering. (Much like my own logo above for VISIONEFX).

Hows Does a Logo Communicate?

A recent logo change was made by the worlds largest retail corporation Walmart.

The old logo on the left is edgy with all cap lettering. All caps letters tend to convey more authority or strenght.
Their new logo on the right uses 'Initial Caps' which is a mix of upper and lower case lettering. They have also used a completely different letter-text style.

Also the americana 'Star' icon has been replaced with a neutral 'Surprise' icon. All around the new logo has been designed to look 'more friendly' and 'less authoritative'.

Important Rules to Follow When Choosing a Logo Design

When ever you are choosing a logo design it is important to decide on the logo while it is in it's purest form; simple black and white. No color, no beveling, no gradients, no framing and no effects. Think of your logo as if you are seeing it on a poor quality black and white fax machine.

The point here is that if your logo looks good, reads well and communicates your brand in black and white then 90% of the real work has been done. Any coloring or effects added afterward is easy; BUT just as important! Case in point I recently visited a 'medical equipment' website. They has a great logo, but it was colored in 'baby power blue and pastel pink'. This are great colors for selling baby diapers, but not medical equipment. (I will go into color in more detail in another logo design article).

Below are some great logos for your review shown in black, white and shades of gray.

About the Author
Rick Vidallon is President of Visionefx, a Web design company based in Virginia. They provide services to national companies as well as small to medium businesses throughout the United States. Rick can be reached at (757) 619-6456 or rick@visionefx.net