Your logo is kind of a big deal. In many cases, it’s the most visible expression of your brand identity. If executed properly, it can serve as your hardest-working and most reliable brand ambassador. It forges meaningful connections to your audience, reinforces your brand strategy across all channels (day and night), and generates countless impressions across all touch points. Again, it’s kind of a big deal.

Needless to say, with so much riding on a logo, it’s important to get it right. Every detail should be thoughtfully considered to ensure it’s working as hard as it needs to for your brand. So what makes a successful logo? Here are three benchmarks we use to help guide us during the design process.

Your logo should be meaningful

A logo should be leveraged to help tell your brand’s story. It should align with your core brand strategy. Drawing inspiration from your brand’s vision, mission and values is a great place to start. You should also consider how the logo will reinforce your brand’s position in the market. All the attributes of the logo (color, typography, graphic style) should be dialed in precisely to ensure your logo is sending the right message. A meaningful logo will help promote a deeper connection to your audience.

Your logo should be simple

The core function of a logo is to identify your brand. Not describe everything you do. For all we want a logo to say and do, the logo design process truly is an exercise in restraint. There is a tendency to try and add too many elements to a logo. Try to strip the logo down to its bare essentials. Do away with superfluous details and unnecessary ornamentation. Think more abstract. Less realistic. If you pack too many elements into a logo it can feel convoluted and you risk compromising recognition and recall.

Your logo should be versatile

Your logo will need to exist in a variety of places. Does it work at small sizes, like on digital ads and social media? Does it translate to larger sizes, like on a billboard or the side of your building? Does it work locked up with a tagline? How about in a horizontal orientation? Or something more vertical? The more versatile you can make it, the more useful (and interesting) the logo will be for your brand.

Your logo can be considered the purest, most concise expression of your brand and is the cornerstone of your brand identity. Is your logo working as hard as it should? Let us know if you want to explore it. We love talking logos and all things brand-related.