A lot of people design logos only considering the aesthetic aspect of it; however, successful logos need to have depth and style at the same time. This document should help you come up with a logo that suits you and can represent your business adequately. This document will be extremely helpful to logo designers.

1. What Should Your Logo Look Like?

Express the Intangible...

Dingbats create abstract logos. Unlike pictorial logos (graphic representations of real objects), or symbolic logos (a globe, say, that signifies humankind), an abstract logo works by suggesting meaning. It is vague by design.
This is especially valuable when:

• You're a service business whose product is intangible.
• You wish to convey intangible qualities such as strength, partnership, vision and so on.
• Your company has diverse divisions or will in the future.

An interlocking group might suggest teamwork, partnership, or cooperation. An ordered arrangement can symbolize structure or security. A flower shape might imply growth.

Overlapping objects encircling a center might imply movement, planned action, or unity. Interlocking shapes might signify connection or group strength.

Suggest the Physical...

Many fine logos are based on physical objects. For example, to a printer a printing press is a thing of beauty, but to customers, it's a noisy, inky contraption. A printer, therefore, would want a logo that suggest the qualities of his or her press without actually revealing it.

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2. Use a Background to Add Beauty, Tension, Strength...

Set an Artistic Stage

A background is a simple shape you draw yourself that serves as a stage for your dingbat. Many dingbats look good—even great—on their own, but others are more effective with a background. Use a background to:

• Make your logo bolder
• Give your logo a more pleasing shape
• Smooth an uneven edge
• Intensify the color
• Create dynamic tension

Use simple shapes The best three background shapes are circles (and minor ellipses), squares (and diamonds), and polygons up to 6 points. These simple, symmetrical shapes keep the viewer's eye centered easily. Less effective are narrow ellipses, rectangles, triangles, and many-sided polygons, which tend to dissipate energy.

Target and Define

The dingbats that most often benefit from a background are those with organic shapes, many points, or uneven outer contours. The background corrals them into a compact, visual target that's ideal for use on business cards, stationery, and commercial signage of all kinds.

A background gives body and presence to an airy, organic dingbat, and it transforms it into a bold business symbol.

Different shapes may look good on your dingbat: Try several before settling. Note here the corresponding corner-to-point relationship of the polygon.

Reverse and Energize

Dingbats almost always look best light on a dark background. You'll find that reversing the dingbat makes the background dominant, which can make a dramatic difference.

Big difference 1 Reversing dingbat turns dark spikes into a light spark.

Big difference 2 In its natural state, exuberant spines radiate outward from this dingbat's bright center. Left, a dominant background restrains the spines and yields an intriguing, vaguely dissonant, and totally different image.

Scale and Reposition

Many dingbats benefit from the dynamic tension created by off-centering or rotating them. Different positions imply stability, movement, and so on. Be bold! This step needs your artistic eye.

Rotate, rescale, and move your dingbat to touch every edge. You'll find each hints at something different. Resting on the bottom implies weight and stability; touching the right suggests forward movement, and so on.

Which sunburst is best? The dingbat's size and position within its background affects what the logo communicates. Which of these sunbursts would you select?

3. Create! Transformations Expand Your Options...

Take It Apart

The dingbat straight from the box is only a starting point. Disassemble and rearrange its parts, and you'll often find many useful images hidden inside. Some ideas:

• Separate a section
• Realign halves
• Move each section
• Rotate one or more sections
• Delete part of it

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Transform One or More Parts

Dingbats are generally symmetrical. Rescale and reflect one or more of the parts. Here, three good images emerge from one dingbat.

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Use only Some of the Parts

Throw parts away: Individual pieces are sometimes more useful than the whole, especially when juxtaposed with a background. Look for surprises. Try these ideas.

Simply deleting half the dingbat creates a graphic sunrise.

Cropping results in an abrupt and unexpectedly interesting lower edge.

Build It from Separate Parts

One dingbat may not be enough. Duplicate parts or whole dingbats, then cascade or rotate them. Also, create fresh, new images of your own from two or more dingbats.

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Two ways to build Combine sections of a border font by stacking or rotating (above), or combine parts from two or more dingbats (left).

4 Add the Company Name

Make the Name Small...

Your name is what turns a logo into a business trademark. For stationery and papers that will be read at arm's length, a small, understated name has great authority.

Where? Align the name flush right or left with centers, edges, or other lines of sight. Background edges are an obvious place to start.

How wide? Limit the size of the name to the width of the logo. If the name is short, spread it out. Uppercase type is usually better at this than lowercase.

...or Make It Big!

For a delivery truck or exterior signage, the name must be very large. At outdoor sizes, the name dominates the logo, and typestyle becomes the key design element.

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Congrats on having a great logo. Now you can go ahead and print it, publish it, display it to your liking.