One of the more obvious ways to brand a company or product is through a logo. Open up your fridge, flip through a magazine, surf the Internet and there they are. The moment you see them you recall products, commercials, good experiences and possibly bad ones – but the key point is you remember them. Below is a small collection of logos. You should recognize each one with a glance.

Not everyone can have a trademark as ubiquitous as Coke, Apple or the Miami Dolphins but a professionally designed logo is a great way to create branding. Don’t get me wrong, a great logo will not catapult you to profitability. But a well designed, unique logo that people remember can be a powerful weapon in your advertising arsenal.

Some companies spend a fortune to create the perfect logo that reflects their business personality and has the potential to become instantly recognizable by the public. Designing a great logo is not to be underestimated and is well worth the time and effort. Here are a few points to consider in (re)designing a memorable logo.

1) Your logo must be usable in a variety of formats; business cards, letterhead, advertising, brochures, and Websites.

2) Simple is better than complex. The acronym KISS is frequently used by logo designers. It means ‘Keep it simple, stupid.’ If you check the logos above you can see this point clearly.

3) Your logo should be usable in black and white form. This is important for newspaper advertising, faxes as well as logo placement on your products.

4) Never use a font, piece of clip art or image in your logo without making it unique. The last thing a business wants is to see that umbrella clip art appear in some obscure advertisement or heaven forbid the logo of a rival umbrella company.

5) Trademark your logo after you have designed it. A good logo should last you 10 years.

In the next part of this article I am going to create a logo for a fictional company, showing a step-by-step process you might find useful to (re)designing your logo.