What makes a good logo?

Designing a quality logo requires a lot of time, thought and planning. There is a process involved in creating a quality logo. It also takes considerable time to allow the logo to mature. A good logo can't be created in one or two hours.

So what makes a quality logo? Here are 6 elements that are found in nearly all iconic logos:

It’s describable
It’s memorable
It's simple
It’s effective without colour
It’s scalable i.e. will not loose quality when enlarged.
It’s appropriate
It's versatile
It's timeless

The first three points are somewhat similar. Since you want your logo to be easily remembered by customers, it has to be simply designed and describable. If it's describable, it is also memorable.

One of my favorite logos is the FedEx logo. It may look plain at first glance, but the interesting part is the arrow found between the e and the x. A logo like this cannot be produced without a lot of thought and planning. This logo holds true to the values of any good logo.

Point four states that a logo has to be effective without colour. Some designers work in black and white because a logo has to look good in its simplest form. Logos are often photocopies, so your logo has to look good in black and white. Your logo has to be effective no matter what the medium or colour. The last element of my logo design is colour because I do not want colour to influence by creativity.

A logo has to be in vector format so it's scalable. It has to remain clear when it's the size of a postage stamp or a billboard. It should not loose quality when resized. For this reason I design your logo in vector form and save it in .eps format.

Point 6 states that it has to be appropriate for the target audience. Research is essential to ensure your logo communicates to necessary message to your demographic. A global energy company will have a different logo than a children's toy store. Take a look at my bad logo examples.

Point 7 states that versatility is required for a logo. A logo is used for a variety of mediums and methods. It is important that your is effective no matter where it's printed.

Ask yourself; is a logo still effective if:

Printed in one colour?
Printed on the something the size of a postage stamp?
Printed on something as large as a billboard?
Printed in reverse (ie. light logo on dark background)

A logo should be built so that it may be used for a long time. Perhaps the best example to illustrate my point is coca-cola brand name. It has remained somewhat consistent through time.