To design an amazing logo, there are a few skills which are absolutely necessary, these are: design abilities, creative thinking, and expert application. Whereas new designers with ability can create and deliver usable designs, it takes time to fully master the craft.

Logo design is an important part of taking care of a company’s branding yet it’s not an isolated element but an aspect that must go with all other design materials. These design materials today range from designing a brand’s office supplies to their aesthetics on social media, yet the brand mark or the logo rests as the focal point of most branding efforts. Thus making sure that your logo is impeccable remains of utmost importance. These 5 expert tips insightfully present the case points necessary to master a logo design.

1) Know the competition
Before you start designing anything it’s vital that you conduct a thorough research of your target market. Ask your clients about their competition before you get started and then take it forward from there. Compare the logos that their competitors have and their value in the market. This practice will help you understand the branding styles that are popular in the target market. That information can be very useful in figuring out what kind of visual associations are considered reliable and relatable by the people. However, don’t forget the most recognizable logos in the world are ones which don’t fit in the trends and appear out of the box.

2) Strategize with the right questions
A branding project starts off with asking questions, the answers to which lead a team to then deploy the right strategy. It’s important to implore deeply into these six important queries which Michael Johnson points out in his book “Branding-In Five and a Half Steps”. These are; what’s the reason that we are here? What do we do and how? How are we different? For whom are we here? What is of most value to us? What is our persona?

3) A flexible process
Formulating a strategy does not mean that it’s written in stone. Instead, it’s a back and forth process because there will be many ideas which seem great in theory but are not suitable to carry out in practice. Similarly, there can be design aspects and visual solutions that happen in the design phase that can help evolve and fine tune the strategy.

4) Revere the client’s heritage
Whether your client wants to upgrade their existing branding for a more modern look or they want to entirely revamp their identity, as a designer your job is to be aware of their heritage and conceptualize according to it. A client’s previous logo may have illustrated their heritage smoothly in which case the potential of that design should not be rejected. Designers should keep their ego aside and not directly dismiss the evolution of their client’s identity.

5) A logo is just one ingredient
Today, it’s very important for designers to remember that a logo isn’t necessarily the first point of contact that a customer has with a brand and neither it’s the most visible aspect of the identity always. Thanks to social media, people now interact with a variety of contact points. This is extremely significant to remember as you must design a logo that can harmoniously interact with other elements of the identity experience, like the voice tone and packaging.

These principles command that a logo must be flexible and versatile without being so trendy that it goes out of style fast. The best logo should advertise the heritage, identity, and voice of the brand while following a practically applicable strategy. Lastly, it should uplift the brand image higher especially against competitors while also agreeably going with all the other design elements that a brand would need.