The Logo: the Great and the... Grey
Let me introduce you Logo the Great. While looking at it you might find it somewhat simple and stark. It tells you a little from a first impression but it kindda makes you want to find out more, doesn't it? It sometimes turns its back at you letting you guess… You can remember it - who can't? Even your five-year-old can describe it, no problem. It lingers even when it has only its black clothes on. It sure makes you think it means business.
But who or better said what is Logo the Grey? Well, it is a different sort of a crowd. You can't say it is white neither black. Neither good nor bad. It is sort of "in the middle". Got away from the black list but didn't quite make it in the hall of fame. What was it? A pink elephant that walks down the street, or a pink elephant that eats a pink ice-cream? Hmmm, can't remember… Wait, was it pink or purple? It definitely was cute though. The sort that makes you feel good instantly, an open book, nothing intimidating, nor intriguing. Oh, yes trendy and sort of overly decorated.
So what are the secrets of Logo the Great? What could Logo the Grey learn from it to get far away from the grey zone, from mediocrity?
Well first of all, Logo the Grey should strive to become easy to remember, even for a little one who should have enough words in her vocabulary to be able to describe it.
It also should be distinctive, unique, one of its kind. The logo design should not be similar to other brand names, on the contrary. Nobody likes being confused with somebody else. We do want to make Logo the Grey become more like Logo the Great but not alike .
We should not forget to mention the relevancy of the logo. An appropriate logo design for an institution, a hospital, for instance, will be more conservative, more formal, more "serious" while a suitable logo for a store that sells lollipops will be more playful, more in a happy, easy-going vein.
So what to do to accomplish that? The basic rule is: stick to a simple appearance - a symbol - a shape, a sign, an (abstract) image, the name of the brand, etc. It doesn't have to have a tag line, nor fluorescent colors. It doesn't need to try to impress with the size of it... It doesn't have to tell everything about anything. The logo design should be an invitation to find out more about what it stands for.
Simple is not the same with simplistic. Simple actually is the capture of the essence, an abstract representation of a complex reality. It is values, purposes, features of groups targeted translated into color, shape, characters.
The rest is just technical details. Like scalability - the ability of the logo design to be adapted, to look good on a business card or on a billboard; or the ability to look good without colors.