Marketing Services > Branding > Logos

Your logo is a symbol, an emblem, an icon, sign, or graphic element that together with your wordmark, form a trademark and create a component of your brand.

Your logo should be designed with the idea that it is immediately recognizable. It should inspire trust, admiration, loyalty, and have an implied superiority. A logo can be used by a corporation, a non-profit organization (NPO) and can also be used to uniquely identify a product and/or service.

Great logos are developed using time-tested science and design methodology. Examples of great logos include: Audi and the four inter-connecting circles, BMW and the air-plane propeller, Apple Computers, Campbell's soup, and BlackBerry.

A logo is but one part of an organization's brand. A good logo should look identifiable not only in colour but also in black and white. Its shape and colours should be different from your competitors. A logo does NOT have to be a visual representation of your product or service, but rather it is an icon to identify you. Too often companies get caught up with trying to design a logo that is an exact visual image of their product or service.

At Deckers', we have Ten Criteria we use for logo development:

1. Visibility: Will it stand out in its surroundings to provide quick and memorable identification. Seeing how a logotype stands out among the clutter of a metropolitan downtown is a good visual test for many trademarks.

2. >Application: How well can the symbol be used in a variety of applications? From the resolution of a video monitor to the heat stamping on a product, it must withstand numerous technical applications.
   

3. Distinctiveness: Will the application distinguish itself from its competition? It is important to note that many legal decisions are made based upon how similar a mark is to its competitor, and many challenges have been won in the courtroom.
   

4. Simplicity/Universality: Is the symbol’s concept easy to identity? As those who have “overworked” a drawing will know, there is a point at which to stop embellishment. On the other hand, a few additional lines in a composition can make the difference in its readability.
   

5. Retention: Someone who will identify with a mark must play a game of mental tennis with it. If a symbol is too easy to read, the viewer will feel no sense of discovery and thus no personal equity with the mark.
   

6. Colour: It is good to design everything in black and white first, while keeping in mind the colour applications. A good symbol must work in a number of technologies – such as a fax or photocopier – that are unable to display the subtle nuances of some colour palettes or blind embossing.
   

7. Descriptiveness: Does the symbol revel to some extent the nature of the company or product? A good symbol is one that is able to do this without being an exact literal translation.
   

8. Timelessness: It was once hoped that a good trademark would last fifteen to twenty years. Now we are seeing complete turnovers of identity programs within a five-year period. Even so, you still need to be careful not to follow current trends, for they have a limited life expectancy.
   

9. Modularity: Will the potential mark be adaptable to numerous applications? We have seen the best marks diluted in their presentation by the way the support typography or other graphics elements are handled. All elements must work together to form a single voice.
   

10. Equity: The age, use and recognition of a mark is also a primary consideration in its development. Knowing when and what to redesign are important considerations for the designer.
    

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