Whether you’re starting a business from the ground up or redesigning your company’s brand to have more impact on your customers, your logo is an essential component of your image that deserves the time and attention required to get it right. Many corporations choose to go with a subdued, simple logo to set a formal tone, but what about a business that’s both professional and colorful? Is it possible to create a logo that’s both elegant and engaging?
What Makes a Logo Stand Out?
One of the marks of a great logo is that it pops, catching the eye on a busy street corner or in the midst of a page of other logos. Business logos can be funny, cute, colorful, or sophisticated, but one thing they all have in common is that they’re meant to be noticed.
That’s why the most important consideration of any logo is whether it will be noticeable and legible in a variety of situations. A great logo should be clear and recognizable at any size, small or large. If you can’t shrink it down or blow it up without losing something, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.
Classy, Elegant Logos That Pack a Punch
Now that we’ve established how important it is for your logo to have an impact, we need to think about style. Do class and elegance equate to dull colors or hard-to-read fonts? Not necessarily, but there is definitely a trade-off that must occur.
- Simplicity: There is elegance in simplicity, and one of the most effective strategies in creating a refined, polished logo is to keep it brutally simple: just text, or a simple shape with as little lettering as possible.
- Colors: The color scheme of an elegant logo can’t shout in reds and yellows the way a more light-hearted emblem might. Dark, saturated colors carry more poise and gravitas than brighter hues.
- Contrast: For the sake of legibility, it’s important to balance darker colors with soft, light text (known as “reverse type”) or to set dark lettering on pale colored backgrounds to make text and symbols easy to recognize.
Several companies have mastered the art of creating logos with both class and impact: Tiffany and Co., for instance, is recognizable and polished in its signature “Tiffany blue” color scheme, while BMW’s logo is impossible to mistake thanks to its clean, simple form and block lettering. Designing a powerful yet refined logo isn’t impossible, but it certainly is an art form all its own.