New Logo Design

How to create a new logo design for your business.

For the entrepreneur, a new logo design is as significant an event as a parent naming their first child. There is no doubt that it is a highly emotive experience and usually marks the start of the entrepreneur's dream becoming a reality. Add some artistic influences to the already established desire of the entrepreneur to be different and many a new logo design gets caught in the moment and fails to properly address the commercial realities to the long-term detriment of their enterprise and brand.
This article provides some pointers on how you can create a new logo design that works best for the commercial aspects of your business.

a“A logo should look just as good in 15-foot letters on top of company headquarters as it does one sixteenth of an inch tall on company stationery.” Steven Gilliatt

                                                                        

Background - New logo design

I am a great admirer of creative artists, but I believe that artistry is not always the most appropriate choice in the machinery of business. As an entrepreneur and business person I have sometimes found the need to curb creative flair whenever I believe that it may impact negatively on the long term commercial consequences and outcomes of my new ventures.
This tension between creativity and commerce is never more evident  than in the design of a new logo. An artist's natural leaning is towards uniqueness and artistry, while my business instinct is to look for a  logo design; that is easy to reproduce accurately 100% of the time, that translates easily and authentically unto all mediums, that provides future flexibility for a dynamic and changing organization and is visually unambiguous and distinguishable like the branding iron on cattle herds.
However, I usually find that once everyone is working on the same page, the right logo for the business is generally assured.

 

As I see it, the logo and the brand are symmetrical with our personal name and character. The name we are given at birth has no relationship with the character that we will become. The logo then is just a name which we make into a brand depending on the choices and decisions we make about what our enterprise stands for. The key thing then with logos, as it is with personal names, is simply that others can remember it easily, associate it with us and spell and pronounce it correctly at all times.
 

So, if you are going to make a commercially sound logo, then why not follow the principals established by those brands that have already reached the top and are rated as the top 50 logo designs in the world. I have taken as my source the report by BusinessWeek on ‘Top 100 Global Brands Scoreboard’ published on their website [1]

It is not usual for entrepreneurs to copy the strategies and tactics of global corporations, but on the topic of designing a logo, I think we should. Firstly, because we can, secondly because it costs no more to get it right at the start and finally it can remain the one constant for stakeholders and customers as the venture grows, morphs and changes on its journey to hopefully become one of the world's Top 50 brands and logos. Anyway, by aligning your trademark with the top brands, at least gives your fledgling enterprise a perception of much greater size than you are, particularly on the level playing field that is the internet - you get the chance to punch way above your weight, so why wouldn't you?
www.wordle.net - New Logo Design

The key to good new logo design is to get early traction in the marketplace (i.e. recognition & association). Artists may emphasise that this is done by creating a unique, eye-catching and vastly different logo while I believe it is better achieved by being ever the same ... time after time after time.

For me it is more about consistency than it is creativity. It is my belief that we will brand our mark on the market's consciousness quickest, by reproducing it faithfully 100% of the time. However, the choices we make with our logo design can make this task an easy or near impossible proposition.
                                                                     

Top 50 Brands & Logo Design

According to Business Week's ‘Top 100 Global Brands Scoreboard’ report, the top 50 brands & logo designs in ranking order were:

Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, GE, Intel, Nokia, Walt Disney, McDonald's, Toyota, Marlboro, Mercedes-Benz, Citi, Hewlett-Packard, American Express, Gillette, BMW, Cisco , Louis Vuitton, Honda, Samsung, Dell , Ford, Pepsi, Nescafé, Merrill Lynch, Budweiser, Oracle, Sony, HSBC, Nike, Pfizer, UPS, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan , Canon, SAP, Goldman Sachs, Google, Kellogg's, Gap, Apple, Ikea, Novartis, UBS, Siemens, Harley-Davidson, Heinz, MTV, Gucci and Nintendo. 

You would think that an analyis of this list should give some good pointers to a good commercial new logo design. So here then is a description of a logo designs that conforms as near as possible with the emphasis supported by these top 50 global brands (the (%) identifies the percentage of these brands that hold to this view) :
 
        • The name does not describe the product sold (94%)
        • The by-line tag is not included inside the logo (90%)
        • The font style is clean and clear (84%)
        • The logo design uses one colour only (74%) (white & black not counted as a color)
        • The logo design uses letters only without the symbol (74%)
        • The logo design is a made-up name or an ACRONYM (72%)
        • The logo visual is rectangular in shape (66%)
        • The logo design is one word only (62%)
        • The logo design includes the trademark symbol (54%) and is placed in the top right (48%)
        • The name is 6 letters or less (52%)
        • The name uses upper & lower case (44%) (excluding ACRONYMS)
        • The background is filled and solid. (52%)
        • The pronunciation includes three sounds/syllables (44%)
        • The predominant color base is blue (40%)
New logo design 
I must admit that I am no artist and as boring as it might be, I have applied the principles already established by the top 50 brands in the world to design the new JENO logo design below (the boarders are my own touch to complete the visual picture) 
I know it is not creative or fashionable but then again the No.1 brand COCA COLA is not fashinonable either because it was created some 60 years ago using a font of that era yet their message and look is considered contempory. Sure, there is some still some scope for artistry here but I believe only within the confines of proven commercial application. Just as a tip, if you want to guarantee consistency, at least in color reproduction,  then choose either (Coke) red or (Ford) blue, because every medium and suplier has these two colours always in their range and always in their stock.
 
Red Blue Skyline - Image source: by mugley - flickr.com
Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic 
 Furthermore, if you want some evidence that consistency beats creativity, in long term commercial logo making, then just go look at your city skyline at night and figure out the percentage of illuminated top-of-building signs that are not either red or blue in color. My guess - it will be less than 15%.
 
While you are they also figure out the % that you would describe as creative art Vs a standard name ... another less than 15% result I would suspect.
 
 
 

Open new logo design competition

.... and finally, to experience the sheer mind-numbing choices in new logo design where creativity rules and where sound commercial judgment may not - check out the YouTube Video "Open logo design competition".
 
It was a competition where 147 students and staff were asked to create a new logo design for the University of applied sciences Kufstein, located  in Tyrol Austria.
 
Perhapse they could have done it so much easier by just following the lead of the top 50 brands detailed below.
 
 
 
                                                                                                                                  

Analysis of top 50 brands as a basis for new logo designs

Below is my full analysis of the top 50 logo designs that we should use as a guide on how to develop a new logo design:

Colors Used – (excluding black & white) One color only (i.e. SAP) 74%, Two colors (i.e. IKEA) 20%, More than two colors (i.e. Google) 6%.

Color Choice – Predominantly blue (i.e. GE) 40%, Predominantly red (i.e. Coca Cola) 24%, Predominantly black (MTV) 12%, Other (UPS) 24%.

Background – White (i.e. Intel) 48%, Solid (i.e. Coca-cola) 52%.

By-line included – Yes (i.e. Nokia) 10%, No (i.e. Dell) 90%

Font – Upper & Lower case (i.e. Marlboro) 44%, Acronym (i.e. IBM) 18%, All upper case (i.e. TOYOTA) 28%, All lower case (intel) (i.e. 10%)

Name Choice – Made up/Acronym (i.e. Nike) 72%, Dictionary/Person’s name (i.e. McDonalds) 28%.

Shape – Rectangle (i.e. Cisco Systems) 66%, Square (i.e. LV) 16%, Circle/oval (i.e. Ford), Other (i.e. Harley Davidson) 10%

Logo symbol -  Included (i.e. Honda) 26%, Only letters (i.e. Gillette) 74%.

™ or ® included – Yes (i.e. Oracle) 54%, No (i.e. Gap) 46% and placed Top right (i.e. Dell) 48%, as a full stop (i.e. IBM) 41%, other (i.e. American Express) 11%.

Font style – Clean, clear or standard (i.e. Sony) 84%, Script or fancy (i.e. GE) 16%

Words – One word (i.e. Microsoft) 62%, Two Words (i.e. Merrill Lynch) 22%, ACRONYM (i.e. BMW) 16%

Sounds/Syllables – One (i.e. Dell) 8%, Two (i.e. intel) 32%, Three (i.e. IBM) 44%, four or more (i.e. Coca Cola) 16%.

Name meaning – Describes the product (i.e. Nescafe) 6% No relation to the product (i.e. Canon) (94%)

Letters used – 6 or less (i.e. citi) 52%, 7 to 10 (i.e. Gillette) 28%, Greater than 10 (i.e. Goldman Sachs) 16%.

                                                                                 

 Southbank Institute of Technology


Entrepreneurial courses offered by
Southbank Institute of Technology, Brisbane Australia.
 
                                                  

For more information

or
or
see these books that cover the topic of logos and branding in far greater detail and supplied by Oliver Sykes
 

About the author

These days Peter Baskerville likes to call himself a New Venture Architect. This is because he is keen to impart the knowledge and insights he has gained from establishing over 13 new ventures (involving over 30 outlets) to help budding entrepreneurs of today design and build sucessful new ventures.
 
As a teacher, mentor and coach to hundreds of 'real world' new venture intenders, Peter now wishes to share his expertise with the millions of intenders scattered across the globe who have been brought together via the medium of the internet. He has contributed many works on entrepreneurship here on Knol and on other content publishing platforms. He fully intends to continue expanding this body of work as well as provide value-added resources via his website, designed to help people start and succeed in their own business.

 

  

References

  1. Business Week
    Business Week Website

Comments

Comments are moderated, and will not be visible until one of the authors of this knol approves.


Geetha Kandiah

Insightful Analysis

Hi Peter,

Thanks for directing me to this article and thanks for sharing your research with us. The analysis you made of the top brands was very interesting. I will definitely direct our clients to your site when they have difficulties in choosing a brand. We wrote an article on our site www.kass.com.my on choosing brands (http://www.kass.com.my/html/news_details.aspx?Source=&ID=36) but your article provides a step by step guideline to new businessmen.

Would you mind if we feature your article on either our Facebook Discussion page or our newsletter KASS expose?

Regards,
Geetha

Last edited Aug 28, 2009 1:07 AM
Report abusive comment

John

Consistency is Key

Peter,

This is the first article I've read on knol. Now I'm hooked! My colleagues and I are actually in the middle of finalizing the logo for our startup. Your insight will certainly help us move along. The point you make about consistency is especially relevant, as we plan to roll-out a significant amount of promotional material featuring our logo upon going live. Thanks for sharing, and I look forward to reading more of your articles.

Regards,
John

Last edited May 18, 2009 4:54 AM
Report abusive comment

Preet arjun

Luckily read !

Hey Peter..I just happened to land up at Knol and while exploring the stuff, luckily came across your article..Im in the process of naming my startup and designing a logo for the same!
Thanks a lot for putting up the Analysis of the Top 50 brands as it really has valuable info that would now help me guide how to brand my startup!

Thanks a lot ! Great work done !!
Preet

Last edited Aug 22, 2009 9:10 PM
Report abusive comment

Murry Shohat

Excellent as usual

Peter -- I've conducted logo design contests and have designed several logos in my time. I am not a designer. Your article is SPOT ON. Simplicity is extremely important. Companies can have a system of logos stemming from a common theme or graphic element. All in all, I find the stylized name logos -- Intel and IBM being two great examples -- best overall.

Great job as usual but fix those typos (e.g. borders not boarders, unless you've got humans living in the logo).

Murry

Apr 2, 2009 11:02 AM
Report abusive comment

Oliver Sykes

Analysis of Logos

I did enjoy the statistics though ... it's interesting to see the patterns that exist among professionally designed identities.

Oliver

Last edited Feb 3, 2009 3:31 AM
Report abusive comment

Oliver Sykes

The Premise Is All Wrong

---"The artist's overwhelming desire is to make a logo that demonstrates their creativity and artistry, while the entrepreneur should be looking for a logo design; that is easy to reproduce accurately 100% of the time, that translates easily and authentically unto all mediums, that provides future flexibility for a dynamic and changing organization and is visually unambiguous and distinguishable like the branding iron on cattle herds."---

What this tells me is that you have never worked with a real design professional, only amateurs. A professional knows that design is not art, it is communication, and should be clear to the target audience in all media. The best designers provide solutions that meet ALL of the above criteria, PLUS adhering to the brand values of the organization, AND manage to make it beautiful too.

I am assuming that you do not view a designer as anything more than someone who "knows the software" or "is creative", rather than a true professional consultant who solves business problems. Knowing how to use a word processing program doesn't make me a writer, understanding the mechanics of language does. The same goes for design ... there are amateurs and there are professionals. The people you have had experience with and a professional design consultant are two entirely different cases and should not be confused with each other.

Last edited Jan 30, 2009 3:32 PM
Report abusive comment

Frank Donavan

Excellent writing

Very inspirational Logo making content. I will have to tell my graphic designers to read this.

Last edited Jan 27, 2009 12:49 PM
Report abusive comment

Krishan Maggon

Great Analysis

Peter,

I rarely read management articles or knols bur your analysis of logo designs is very revealing and interesting. It is keep it simple and short. Great work?. Thanks

Last edited Jan 28, 2009 4:12 AM
Report abusive comment

Jason Quinten Kincade

Timely!

Peter,

I happened upon your Knol at the perfect time as I am planning to design a logo for my website---soon I hope! I was envisioning an unusual eye catching, 'artistic' design plastered with flashy colors for impact. Your Knol with its strong advocacy for a more conservative approach, backed up by convincing statistics, has convinced me to reconsider.

Thanks,
JQK

Last edited Jan 27, 2009 3:18 AM
Report abusive comment
Peter Baskerville
Peter Baskerville
Course Facilitator - Entrepreneurship Education at Southbank Institute of Technology
Australia
Article rating:
Your rating:

Knol translations

Activity for this knol

This week:

77pageviews

Totals:

6945pageviews
22comments
©2009 Google