Lance Smith | June 1, 2022
What makes a good logo?
This is a very subjective question. Each person may have a different idea about what makes a great logo. It is often the first thing that people see to identify your business, so it has to be simple, clear and reproducible on a variety of media.
Your logo also has to be distinctive and unique so that it doesn’t blend in with your competition. Not too distinctive though, otherwise you won’t fit in with the established industry you are competing in and risk losing the trust factor.
What makes a bad logo?
There are some obvious factors that can contribute to a logo turning out poorly. Choosing aesthetics, symbols, fonts or colours that are not suitable for your industry are among the most common.
People often like the idea of trying something that’s never been done, but if you go down this path, you risk losing the trust factor, which comes from sticking with the types of designs that have typically been successful in your industry.
Of course, you want to be somewhat unique, but if you are offering anything that is established, you need to respect the history and stay connected to it in some way with your design, otherwise you will be sending mixed signals to your potential customers.
You can also go too far with sticking to the norms. If you don’t express any uniqueness, you will blend in with the competition and your logo will have no impact.
The Real True Power of a Logo
Creating a good logo can be a grueling balancing act between function and form, which can turn into a very drawn-out process if you allow it. This can take months or even years (in rare cases) to make sure everything is just so.
However, contrary to what most people assume, the real true power of a logo actually lies much less in the original design being perfect and much more in the commitment to it, and most importantly, what follows.
The real true power of a logo is informed over time by the actual business that you do, the customers you touch, and the reputation that you create in the world.
Whatever your logo ends up manifesting itself as, if you fully commit to it, it will be the placeholder for all that you achieve with your business. It will become an anchor for everything that your business represents and whenever it is seen it will conjure in the mind of those who behold it, the truth of who you are as a company.
