Keep it simple stupid – Logo design 101
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The old K.I.S.S acronym is pretty much rule 1 for many logo designers. A simple logo is memorable, describable and instantly recognizable, everything a good logo design needs.
Convincing potential clients of this however isn’t always so easy. Why not make them more detailed instead of less? they ask. Compare these complex logo designs on the left to their simple partners on the right and you’ll see why.
If you were to now look away, could you remember what any of them looked like with clarity? Could you describe one to someone? Could you even read what they said without having to examine them?
These are the problems with overly complex logo designs. Here are the logos again at a greater size.
As you can see all are professionally rendered, artistic, creative and aesthetically pleasing, but these properties aren’t what logo design is about.
They’re far to complex to remember with any clarity, would be difficult to describe accurately, would always have to be printed at the highest resolutions and obviously don’t work at small sizes.
What do you think?
Are you convinced? Or do you still fancy the complex stuff.
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You’re right about them not working at smaller sizes, it could be tough to read some of those off a business card even.
Jaydee,
To be honest I couldn’t even figure out what the Exclaim logo ( middle image ) even said before I read the name elsewhere.
Came across this on StumbleUpon, nice.
So, so true. And you are totally right about trying to get business owners/clients to see this. Even some not so great graphic designers do not seem to grasp this concept. Great article. Thanks for sharing!
Tiffany,
Oh well, nothing to do but keep fighting the good fight I guess.