When it comes to seeing a logo that makes you think, “Why didn’t I think of that?”, what exactly in the design gives you that impression?
There are four critical elements that can be seen in every great logo design:
1/ It must be describable
2/ It must be memorable
3/ It must be effective without the use of colour
4/ It must be scalable i.e. effective when scaled down to an inch in size
Points 1 and 2 go hand in hand, because if you can’t describe what a logo looks like then how will you be able to remember it? Point 3 is vital because we’re a long way away from the paperless office. Think of your company letterhead arriving in an office via fax, or having been photocopied. It MUST work in black and white because the chances are that’s exactly how it will be viewed. Point number 4 is important for things such as office stationery (pens, pin badges etc.). All those little things that too often people forget about.
I’ve chosen a logo to illustrate the four points:
The above logo is for Open University (OU), the UK’s leading distance learning organisation. You can view the OU website by clicking here, where you’ll see the logo used in context (and in a much smaller size).
There are a number of text variations to accompany the OU mark. This gives greater freedom for those reproducing the logo in different formats. For example, the top right mark (above) wouldn’t fit on the side of a pen as well as the centre right version (above).
What I enjoy most about this mark is its simplicity (the ‘O’ inside the ‘U’). The OU logo has evolved over the years. It didn’t always have the glass effect that is a common trend amongst today’s logos. You can read more about logo trends by clicking here (opens in a new window – courtesy of LogoOrange). Remember, however, trends don’t last.
Take a look at how the OU logo used to appear across it’s range of marketing materials (below):
The same dinstinctive, memorable, scalable, describable, reproducable mark was used to set the Open University apart from its competitors.
There are four critical elements that can be seen in every great logo design:
1/ It must be describable
2/ It must be memorable
3/ It must be effective without the use of colour
4/ It must be scalable i.e. effective when scaled down to an inch in size
Points 1 and 2 go hand in hand, because if you can’t describe what a logo looks like then how will you be able to remember it? Point 3 is vital because we’re a long way away from the paperless office. Think of your company letterhead arriving in an office via fax, or having been photocopied. It MUST work in black and white because the chances are that’s exactly how it will be viewed. Point number 4 is important for things such as office stationery (pens, pin badges etc.). All those little things that too often people forget about.
I’ve chosen a logo to illustrate the four points:
The above logo is for Open University (OU), the UK’s leading distance learning organisation. You can view the OU website by clicking here, where you’ll see the logo used in context (and in a much smaller size).
There are a number of text variations to accompany the OU mark. This gives greater freedom for those reproducing the logo in different formats. For example, the top right mark (above) wouldn’t fit on the side of a pen as well as the centre right version (above).
What I enjoy most about this mark is its simplicity (the ‘O’ inside the ‘U’). The OU logo has evolved over the years. It didn’t always have the glass effect that is a common trend amongst today’s logos. You can read more about logo trends by clicking here (opens in a new window – courtesy of LogoOrange). Remember, however, trends don’t last.
Take a look at how the OU logo used to appear across it’s range of marketing materials (below):
The same dinstinctive, memorable, scalable, describable, reproducable mark was used to set the Open University apart from its competitors.
1 comment:
Thank you for referencing this.
Regards,
David Airey :: Creative Design ::
Post a Comment