When you are ready to give your logo the boot, consider just giving it a gentle facelift rather than doing away with it completely. Polishing and updating your logo may be all you need to create a new look and feel. Think of Pizza Hut’s logo – it still contains the same red roof, but now it’s drawn in a modern way with a modern font . Slanting the roof a bit and italicizing the font also went a long way to giving the logo a modern feel.
So why shouldn’t you throw caution to the wind and blow people’s minds away with a brand new logo that looks nothing like your current one? To be quite frank, confusion, my dear.
If you already have a recognizable logo and a pretty good customer base, you might end up losing your current customers if they don’t recognize your new logo. Are you willing to take that risk?
Whether you decide to overhaul your logo or to update it, take heed of the following guidelines of logo design.
Design your logo without color first. A great logo looks just as good and has just as much impact in black and white as it does in color.
By designing your logo in black and white first, you’ll have a much better idea of the readability and shape of the logo. Good design translates well in color and in black and white. Bad designs are the ones that rely on color to make them good. If you are hiring a designer to create your logo, ask for the first proofs to be in black and white. If he or she doesn’t understand why, or says you won’t understand the logo without color, consider switching designers. There will be times when your logo will have to be in black and white (if you advertise in a newspaper classifieds section, for instance) so you want to make sure your logo looks good and gets your point across without depending on color.
Next, evaluate your new shape. Logos are generally recognized by their shape before they’re recognized by color. Effective logos have unique shapes that differentiate themselves from competitors. Your shape must be clean and must be understood quickly.
Now, just because I’m using the word “shape” that doesn’t mean you can’t just use your business’s name as your shape – letters are shapes too!
Try not to get too fancy with the shape – people memorize logos like they memorize printed words. A complicated shape will be harder to remember. Complicated shapes also might not translate well in smaller printing areas, like in postcard printing or label printing. Make sure your shape works well on small areas as well as large areas, like a billboard.
Now, think about color. The color of your logo should obviously be pleasing to the eye, but the color should also evoke whatever feeling you want associated with your brand. It’s okay to use two or three colors in your logo, but try to limit it to a small number (unless of course you have a rainbow as part of your logo!). Too many colors can look psychedelic too close together and might put people off. If you aren’t sure what color(s) you want to use in your logo, try Googling “color meaning” to find what colors suit your brand. For instance, black equals seriousness while green can mean health or stability. Finding the right meaningful color will help your logo be as effective as it can be.
Source: http://www.ArticlePros.com/author.php?Andrew Michaels
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