What Makes a Great Company Logo

The first step in establishing brand recognition is a great logo. If you have aspirations of playing with the big boys and running a successful company, your logo can be one of the most valuable assets of your business.
A logo is the ‘face’ of any company. While Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs are pretty well known CEOs, people still don’t always connect the dots back to their companies, Facebook and Apple.

However, there is an instant connection from everyone with an internet connection between their logos and their brands.  Why?  Because their logos are used in everything they do as a company.

Facebook is one of the most popular sites in the world, individuals see their logo multiple times a day when they update their status, upload pictures or share things they find interesting on other sites. The prominent Apple logo, on the other hand, is pasted across their product line (iPhone, iPod, iPad, etc.) and is present in all of their commercials and advertisements.

This isn’t Zuckerberg and Jobs being egomaniacs, its because their logos help build the brand of their business. People start to gain familiarity with a logo and the more people see a logo, the more they begin to trust a business.

But what makes the Facebook and Apple logos so great?

Each great logo share the same characteristics.

They’re simple, appropriate, timeless, adaptable and unique.  Some business owners fail to recognize that a strong logo helps consumers make decisions.  A poor design can actually demean a company.  Consumers don’t need to be graphic artists themselves to recognize clipart or a bad font choice.

So don’t settle on a logo because you don’t think you have time, money or enough artistic ability to create a great logo, instead recognize the key qualities beforehand so you can make an educated decision.

Simple

Simple logos are the best for so many different reasons.  A logo with a simple design gets straight to the point and has no distractions.  There is also no background noise or distractions and complement the other characteristics that make good logos great.

Appropriate

A logo should be appropriate to your brand and your consumers.  The Apple logo for example hits the nail on the head when it comes to making it appropriate for both.  Apple prides themselves on being on the cutting edge of technology. They don’t offer the cheapest products, but the best. Their products are slick and elegant and their logo encompasses all of those things. The design also appeals to their most passionate consumers, which are technology savvy adults, typically a little younger (16-35) and also have a passion for design.

Timeless

The worst thing a company can do is continuously change their logo throughout their existence because, like we said before, people being to familiarize themselves with a logo and that’s what consumers start to trust and base their decisions upon.

As you can see, since 1976, Apple has only changed their logo three times. However, the same basic concept as been around since the beginning.  The company has only updated the color scheme based on where the brand has gone over time.

Pepsi on the other hand, has drastically changed their logo throughout the years and is one reason why people tend to believe that Coca Cola is a stronger brand.

Adaptable

This is crucial when advertising.  A logo shouldn’t lose its affect when being printed on different mediums.  So Whether you plan on printing business cards, ordering promotional products, buying a newspaper ad or billboard, your logo should always have the same look and feel as the full color design.

Unique

Lastly, the obvious.  Making your logo unique is essential to separate yourself from the competition and other brands.  While relevant items can help consumers relate your logo to what your business does, you also run the risk of confusing yourself with another brand or logo.  This is the same with color, typeface, etc.

Did you know the blue and white triangles inside the BMW logo actually represent an airplane propeller?  This is because BMW used to make plane engines back during WW2.  Now their logo is unique to the car industry.