A logo is the face of your business: you better be presentable.
Aka: a few guidelines to check whether you need a (new) logo or not.
1. Logo is not an icon
An icon is a graphic symbol whose meaning is globally known (restroom, location, phone, etc.). It’s useful to visually recognize information about a service or an action.
A logo, instead, must represent a business, an event, a professional in a unique way, so that the audience could match it to a specific identity.
2. Mass vs. niche
Let’s say you own a winery, and you want your logo to include a glass. Try to google “wine logo”: do you really want to be one of 100.000?
It’s probably better to stand out with something original, inspired by the history of your business maybe; literally no one, in front of the shelf, would ask: «This label doesn’t show anything wine-related, what’s inside?».
3. Keep it simple
A logo must be simple (≠ dull): the less elements it displays, the more easily audience would remember it. That’s why, for example, road signs are designed with no fancy frills.
Now let’s take a test, recalling only your memories: think about Nike’s logo and sketch it on a sheet; now do the same with Starbucks’. Which one looks better?
4. Make it responsive
That means: be sure your logo would be effective despite its size, application, color, etc.
That’s why it’s important to keep a neat edge between positive and negative bits, avoiding “artistic” outputs (sorry Leo) and designing smaller and smaller versions to make sure your logo would be recognizable even on tiny areas, such as browser tabs.
Shall we start?
Any question? Want to start a new project? Please ask!