What makes a good logo?

Adrienne Yancone of the creative agency, DIE CREATIVE discusses what it takes to achieve compelling logo design.

It’s one of the most important facets to getting your business noticed and remembered: creating the logo. Whether you’re going for classic and simple, like the Coca-Cola logo, or evolving and surprising, like the ever-changing Google Doodle logos, yours must be able to reflect the essence of your company and boil your entire purpose down into a simple phrase or image.

Adrienne Yancone of DIE CREATIVE, teaches at the University of Pennsylvania school of Design, and has worked on design projects for global companies such as Old Navy, Boost Mobile, and Coca-Cola. A logo design expert, Adrienne took the time to answer my questions about how to approach the logo dilemma:

What makes a good logo?
A good logo is one that embodies the identity of your business in an interesting way. In many ways, your logo can be thought of as the face of your business. Often times, it is the first image that people interact with and as such it is an important tool in making a first impression. Your logo doesn’t need to say everything about your business, but it should certainly give people a sense of who you are and make them want to know more.

What are some specific elements that make a logo successful? Are some of these elements decided by what the logo-user’s profession, or are they universal?
In our studio we definitely look at each design on a case by case basis, but in general I think a more successful logo is one that is considered in light of the identity of the brand as a whole. Rather than just thinking about the logo as a discreet graphic, I think it’s much more effective to consider how the logo can be extended across multiple media, at various sizes and in different applications.

What is it that sets a compelling logo apart from the rest?
A more compelling logo design is one that is considered as a part of a larger investigation into the brand’s identity. For example, beyond the graphic mark itself, it is well worth considering a greater visual identity system that includes primary and secondary typography and colors.

What advice would you give a small business owner who is beginning to search for the right logo for his/her business?
It’s worth consulting with a professional designer. As a small business owner myself, I know that we tend to try to do everything on our own, but it can be very difficult to look at your business objectively enough to distill your message into a singular graphic statement. I think people often feel that this service is out of reach in terms of cost, but that really isn’t the case. It can be difficult to get that second chance to make a first impression so I think most people would agree that it’s money well spent.


To learn more about Adrienne and to see examples of her work, visit: http://www.diecreative.com/