TOP TEN TIPS
Corporate Style / Logo Design
1 Keep it simple and smart
  The best logos in business are simple and memorable. A good strong image will be remembered and recognised.
2 Make it clear in Black and White
  A corporate logo and style should reproduce clearly in black and white for photocopying and faxing purposes.
3 Choose colours and stick to them
  Corporate colours are an important part of corporate style. Choose your colours and then get a Pantone colour reference for them to pass on to printers and other suppliers producing goods using your colours. This will maintain consistency of your colours throughout all media.
4 One or two spot colours can save you a lot
  By choosing one or two spot colours instead of a full colour design, reproduction costs can be greatly reduced for a range of media, in particular for stationery and corporate literature. Dark blue is a very versatile colour for single colour designs.
5 Not too many icons
  A corporate style should not include too many different icons. A single logo with a simple direct message should suffice in most cases. If a company has several different subgroups, their individual identities should form a family of style which tie together as a whole.
6 Start with line art over bitmap
  A corporate logo may need to be reproduced at any size in the future. If the initial design is in line art form it can be scaled up to any size with no loss of image quality. It is much easier to convert a line art design to a bitmap than vice versa.
7 Include a tagline
  Taglines stick in the memory far better than logos or colours. Associate a tagline with your corporate identity, because you're worth it!
8 Think of the future
  In many industries, the key services and products of a company may change over time. Do not tie your logo to your current key business unless you are certain of its longevity.
9 Permeate the entire business
  Corporate style and identity should permeate all areas of a company's marketing from pens to stationery, literature, web site, fleet vehicles. It should be designed to reproduce at any size in any media with no loss of impact or clarity.
10 Don't abandon all the good work
If you have been using a particular identity for a number of years, think very carefully before completely redesigning it just to keep up with the times. If your logo is starting to look dated, a few subtle modifications are often enough to make it look contemporary again. Don't discard an identity you have spent years developing.
Page URL: http://www.adscreative.com/topten/logo/
Date created: 4th October 1999
Date last modified: 22nd February 2000
Webmaster: Bruce Wilkie
Inquiries: studio@adscreative.com