The Art of the Logo
Logos are difficult to design - if you don't think they are,
then the chances are that you have a bad one. Every website
needs a logo, and you should lavish a lot of time and attention
on yours.
Your Logo is Your Face
When visitors happen across a website that they haven't seen
before, one of the first places they look is at your logo - and
that's when they start to form impressions of you. A good logo
can make or break trust in your site, and be a big factor in
whether anyone takes you seriously. Branding experts know this:
logos can produce positive reactions (like recognition), and
negative ones (like revulsion), but both are equally strong.
Having a bad logo is, effectively, like having an
untrustworthy-looking face.
Keep Pictures Simple
If you do include an image in your logo, keep it to one, and
keep it to simple shapes. You don't want your logo to become
'busy': just suggest what you're getting at, instead of pasting
in a full-colour photograph of it. In fact, you should keep your
logo to as few colours as possible, if you want it to make an
impact.
Typography is Important
Don't let anyone deceive you into thinking that the most
important thing about a logo is how many little shapes and
pictures it has in it. What draws visitors' eyes about logos is
the typography: the font on the words.
Unfortunately for logo design, there are a hundred or so fonts
that come with Windows and Office, and they've become
overwhelmingly common in amateur logos. You're never going to be
taken seriously if your logo appears in Times New Roman, or
Verdana, because everyone else's is too.
So where can you find a less-common font. Well, take a look
around sites like fonts.com and typography.com for a start.
Personally, I often like to use fonts that I've seen in
advertisements and found appealing: you can identify any fonts
you can scan using a service like WhatTheFont
(www.myfonts.com/whatthefont) - it will take a look at the
letters and tell you which font you've found.
Of course, commercial fonts can be expensive. Don't pay
ridiculous amounts, but don't be afraid to pay a little: the
chances are that you'll be getting a much better font than you
would be otherwise.
Avoid Clich