Eric M. Strong 

If you take a look at the companies with the largest bank accounts you will find at least five things in common with all of their logos. It would stand to reason that companies with smaller budgets could benefit from emulating these same concepts into their own logos.

 

1. Legibility

This is the most important element of any logo. If people can’t read a logo, it defeats the whole purpose of having one. A business is better off with a plain “Arial” font if the professional logo is unrecognizable.

 

2. Iconic Symbolism

When possible a logo should have a graphic representation of what the business is or does.  If a symbol isn’t a good idea, there should at least be a part of the logo that can be identified as a unique property of that company or product. This is especially important in today’s world of trendy icons.

 

3. Black and White Conversion

 This is especially important for small business logos, due to the fact that they are more likely to use black and white or single colors in printing. While printing costs continue to shrink as technology continues to grow, there will be less of a need for logos to be converted into a single color. However, the principles of design for a black and white conversion should never be ignored. Basic Design principles such as line and shape should never be left behind for the sake of gradients and texture. If a logo looks good in black and white it will look good in color, however the opposite is not always true.

 

4. Depth

A business logo should never appear to be flat and should be a three dimensional as possible. This can be achieved by overlapping design elements, adding a drop shadow, tilting or skewing your text, and adding a bevel affect. Depth can also be achieved by creating the illusion of a 3D element such as a road or stream vanishing into the distance, or adding a 3 dimensional shape such as a cube or sphere.

 

5. Graphic Shape

Using a graphic shape around or behind your logo or design helps create a strong visual composition. A graphic shape such as an oval around your text helps to unify all of your elements together.  A good test is to make a silhouette of your logo to see if you can find a shape within the silhouette within your design.

 

Take a look around at the auto industry and see how they have incorporated each of these elements into their logos. After that go out and incorporate these principles into your own designs. If it’s good enough for billion dollar companies it’s worth trying on your small business.