I've thought about this a lot really, and every time I go in the Contests forum it really confuses me. Anyway, I'll get to the point. If you look around, 99% of successful companies have extremely simple logos, yet people still want over complicated logos and flashy text. Look at Nike, Adidas, Tesco, or pretty much any big shop or website for that matter, do any of them have complicated logos? No. They're all either a picture you could make in paint or some text. I understand why they do this, for corporate identity, so people can quickly look and recognise the logo, yet people holding contests don't really like these sorts of logos. Anyway, so the question, what makes a good logo? In my opinion it is a simple design that is easily recognisable.
people holding contests DO like simple stuff.... the text is just a secondary thing which has to be there if possible and not if it cant be... the main thing is the graphic logo... btw, i make logos, u can PM me the link when u start a contest or just ask me to make it
a good logo needs to fit to the company/ bussines it represents and of course it needs to be easy to remember and to recognize in my opinion people that hold contests are not the type of businessman that would be willing to spend money on a good logo, most time they are just tring to save some money which doesn't work in the long run
There are two types of logos essentially. There are the ones that make you go "Wow", and there are the more simplistic ones that have more of a meaning and are more memorable. In the long run, the "wow" logos have complex illustrations and therefore go off faster, while the simple ones are timeless. When professional companies are approached, being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, it's not a question of making a decent design because with that budget it's easy to find someone who is a good drawer, so the client looks for meaning and such. So people just want to get their moneys' worth, I mean would you pay $50 of your hard earned cash on someone typing out a font?
That's a good point, and I understand what you're saying and I can relate to it, but surely getting a fancy logo is far worse than getting a font that will give you a corporate identity?
That's not so important with websites, here it's more of a decorative way to display your name. When it's surrounded by so much content it's not really what defines the website.
I like the saying that a good logo can be drawn on sand with just a stick. If a company owner wants his logo to literally illustrate what the company is doing, that's a first step to failure. It's not a comic book, it's a brand...
Agreed, you see very few clothing companies with clothes as their logo, and I'm yet to see a leading supermarket chain with food as their logo. But then, maybe it's different online for smaller websites?
I've read a lot of logo design books and that always comes up . I'd really love to take my hobby of entering logo design contests into a real logo design process. The problem is that nobody appreciates the simpler designs.
do you know whats funny? there is a clothingdiscounter here in germerny that got a t-shirt in it'S logo but all-in-all hecky is right seeing the difference between online an normal businesses
The way I see DP logo contents is it's kids working for kids with a little bit more money than they have Real businessmen (as in the type that exist in the magical place called offline) pay hundreds of dollars minimum for a logo, but can use it more effectively as it's more thought out in the first place When I design logos for companies I'm usually $200 bare minimum, and half of that is sitting with the client, at their workplace discussing their options and also learning what their business is about. i.e if its a clothing store I'll go try on some of their clothes, if it's a restaurant I'll eat there to soak up the atmosphere Then I'll go research the competition and get ideas, then pencil out my own ideas and discuss them again with the client until they're happy, only then will I go Illustrator and create a couple of final samples I've seen so called "competitions" on here where someones entered and then been asked to do 10+ revisions because the person doesn't quite know what they actually want, and the people entering are just taking shots in the dark to start with, all because there is no communication to start with, so they end up with poor, cheap logo's that reflect whatever the current trend is (e.g Web 2.0 shite at the minute) I've actually travelled half way accross the country before to have an initial meeting with one client, again because he wasn't sure what he wanted. This sit down meeting allowed me to go away and create a logo that he was happy with in the first draft, with only one minor revision. This saved time in the long run, and hence saved him money overall, especially factoring in the fact he was impressed enough with that to then say he wanted me to do his letterheads, compliment slips, catalogue and website, and since I'd already met with him, I was able to do this more quickly and efficiently without so many revisions
kye172, what a post, +rep! I agree with what you say, but here on DP there are designers from all over the world, so maybe the contest holder wants to get a variety, and I think that's where the issue lies: variety. If people design with different styles, then he/she will get a lot of different entries, and I suppose that's why they hold a contest online. Also, it'll be much cheaper a lot of the time
simple logo is the best, In my point of view the logo should be meaningful, simple, everyone should easily understood .
what a post kye the real *art* would be to get the same result only talking to the client via the internet but I know that there is a big difference you can't grab the atmosphere or the way words are spoken ..... I personal like the idea of kids working for kids in dp logoconstes. I remember when the company my dad is working at got a new logo and I first saw it I told him I could have done that withing 5 minutes using two pencils but as you said it's all about the atmoshphere you need to reflect in the logo and I think the payed arround a million € for it
There are also well-branded companies with more "complicated" logos, you just chose to hand-pick the ones that have simple ones (take into consideration that they've started branding since 1970s, when simple was pretty much all you had). For web branding, a flashy, glossy logo can do quite well, especially if you integrate it into a website that follows those conditions. For "offline" branding, you have to take into consideration aspects like printing the logo out on posters, business cards ( thus you need to have it made in vectorial, so you can size it up - usually complex stuff looks crap in vector, so you're forced to keep it simple). You also need to factor in what the company buying the logo does for a living. Are they making clothes and need the logo stamped on each pair of sock they produce? Then obviously a complex, big logo, is not the way to go. Are they a car dealer that allows for a more complex logo because they'll rarely have to use it outside their office/park? I think it's all about taking each case individually. Best of luck!
I prefer logos that are bold, eye catching, and have defined edges. Anything that I'd be able to scribble on a piece of paper when I'm bored. Anything that I can see once and remember for weeks.
Like the nike tick. In a geography class my freinds and I spent the whole lesson trying to get the best imitation of it .
I do have a couple of clients that I mainly use email to communicate, however there is no excuse for picking up the phone and actually talking to them to start with, as I think it's more professional and it's a damn site easier for them to convey how they feel about their work, your designs etc than trying to figure it out in an email. As for people posting here on DP for a variety of different styles, you make a good point, however, I feel a good graphic designer can offer multiple styles like this, as an agency will have multiple people to colaborate ideas with, and a freelancer will obviously have friends in the industry. Personally I know two very talented graphic designs, and between the three of us we cover an extremely wide range of styles, enough to cater for anyone in my opinion. I tend to be more focussed on clean, simple, professional designs (from doing a lot of web design), one of my friends is an excellent vector Illustrator, and the other has the grunge / freehand drawn stuff down to a tee now. Don't get me wrong on DP's talent pool though, I do see a lot of people with some serious talent at making good looking images, however they're still taking shots in the dark and making it hard work for themselves due to lack of business knowledge and communication knowledge, and unfortunately it's not something you can just download an eBook on and read about, you have to actually go into the big wide world and liase with business owners to gain experience in understanding peoples needs and more importantly, understanding the way the clients try to explain that "image in their head" that they want their logo/leaflet/website etc to look like. I reckon there is quite a good market for something with these skills to earn a fair bit by designing very little - if you're naturally good at this sort of stuff you could easily understand the clients needs and then give accurate job descriptions on DP and get cheap logos done that don't need 10+ revisions because you've done the communication work yourself. I've done it with using a friend to design a logo before as I was busy at the time, and it worked well as I gave him a very specific specification and hence he came back with 2-3 very specific designs based upon this, client chose one and didn't require any revisions, he vectored it up, coloured it and job done. I'll shut up now I'm waffling