What makes a great logo? A great logo is distinctive, appropriate, practical, graphic, simple in form and conveys an intended message.

There are five important design elements a great logo should follow:

  • Simple
  • Memorable
  • Timeless
  • Versatile
  • Appropriate

Simple
A simple logo design allows for it to be easily recognized and allows the logo to be versatile & memorable. Great logos have something unique without being overworked.

Memorable
Second to simplicity, is a memorable logo design. An effective logo design should be memorable and have a simple, yet, appropriate design.

Timeless
An effective logo needs to be timeless – the logo should not looked dated after a few years. Will the logo still be effective in 5, 20 or 50 years?

Coca Cola is a great example of a timeless logo. The Coca Cola logo has barely changes since 1885.

Versatile
An effective logo should be able to work across a variety of mediums and applications (In print or online, large or small). The logo should be functional. For this reason a logo should be designed in vector format, to ensure that it can be scaled to any size. The logo should be able to work both in horizontal and vertical formats.

Appropriate
How you position the logo should be appropriate for its intended purpose. For example, if you are designing a logo for children’s toys store, it would be appropriate to use a childish font & colour scheme like in the logo for Toys “R” Us.

It is also important to state that that a logo doesn’t need to show what a business sells or offers as a service. ie. Car logos don’t need to show cars, computer logos don’t need to show computers. The Harley Davidson logo isn’t a motorcycle, nor is the Nokia logo a mobile phone. A logo is purely for identification.