What are the general requirements that a logo must fulfill?

A good logo must fulfill three essential requirements: it must be appropriate, aesthetically pleasing, and it must reflect the company’s credibility.

Appropriate: it means that the emblem must reflect, simply, the main features of the company or product.

Aesthetically pleasing: it means that the logo must be acceptable, avoiding visual difficulties since the visual perception is the most important factor to consider when designing.

Credibility: it means that people should feel identified with the logo and that the company seal of guarantee creates a climate of trust.

A logotype must have the two following characteristics:

1. It must be a synonym of the company or the product it represents.

2. It must penetrate people’s mind as a selling agent.

1. A logo accurately designed is the company’s presentation card: there is no conjecture about the kind of companies or the activity they carry out when we see a logo that says American Airlines, Microsoft, Toyota, etc. Another example of this is the army. Every branch of the army, and each group within each branch, has got their own logo. This way everybody is immediately identified.

2. If a company has a high quality product, it is immediately demanded by the consumer society. Then, consumers look for the logo of the product or company before acquiring the product to assure they are buying the brand they were looking for. Companies such as Benetton, Nike, Reebok, etc. make sure that their logo appears on every ad so that the consumers become familiar to them and they always expect to see these marks on their goods.

Why are logos considered to be a mean of verbal communication?

Verbal communication is the communication through words, whether written or oral. People express their ideas and thoughts through either of these means. But there are other non-verbal methods of communication such as signs, colors, gestures, etc. Logos are part of the non-verbal communication because they represent the company or product as a whole through only one word or icon.

In order to create a profitable logo, it is necessary to define the character and features of the company, to determine its goals and to know the characteristics that make it different from its competitors. Then, all these elements must be transferred to an icon which will help the company to accomplish its goals. For this to happen, there must be a symbiotic relationship between the graphic designer and his client so that communication and comprehension are not a problem. A logo is successful when:

it allows the immediate recognition of the company,

it express the company’s character or attitude,

it conveys a feeling of familiarity and credibility,

it becomes a guarantee marker.