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