Once your company logo is established it is the face of your brand – and woe betide anyone who has to go through the process of a redesign and cope with the consequences. Redesigns have to be handled delicately as you don’t want to alienate your loyal customers! So the question is, what can you do to ensure that your logo design is as future proof as possible?
It’s all about context
The most important thing to think about is where your logo will be, and think about where it might be used in the future. This could include anything from the usual business cards, website and stationery to:
- Posters
- Presentations
- Adverts
- Emails signatures and templates
- Company clothing/uniform
- Packaging (such as: labels, wrapping, stickers, boxes, bottles and pens)
- Vehicles
- Signage
- Other equipment
Obviously your logo will probably only primarily be used in a few of these situations – but it is worth thinking about, because if at some point in the future you want to start using or selling branded products you don’t want your logo to look out-of-place.
Size
How big do you think your logo will be most of the time? How does it look shrunk down or filling a screen? Is everything still legible when it is small? How does the font look in different sizes?
Layout
Does your layout restrict your company logo in any way? A long logo can work really well on stationery but you might find that it looks odd on some kinds of packaging or equipment, or on your website. Of course you can ask to have your logo in a few different variations (for instance with and without a tagline), but it is best to keep your logo intact whenever you can to increase brand recognition.
Colours
What kind of background will your logo be against most of the time? A dark background? A white background? Do you expect that you will often print it in black and white? It is also important that your logo works in monochrome and doesn’t rely on colours or special effects to be visible – this will help your logo to be more versatile in different mediums (see below).
The colours of your logo are an important consideration – read more about choosing your logo colours here.
Versatile logo design
The simpler your logo design is the more versatile it will be. Something which looks good on screen may simply not be possible in embroidery, for instance. So if you plan to use your logo in different or unusual mediums make sure your logo is as simple as possible. It can be a lot to think about but your designer or project manager should be able to advise you if you provide them with a list of where you will be/envisage using your company logo.
Redesign is inevitable
If we showed you logo designs from the 1800’s, 1950s, 1980’s and the present day you would easily be able to put them in order (check out our pinterest board to see the evolution of big brand logos). Longstanding brands redesign their logo as their company evolves – the same brand values and feel may not always be true. Evolution is natural. But future-proofing as much as you can is excellent business sense.
