Every organization or business needs to have a striking and unique emblem. It serves as a visual shorthand for the group, so that people can look at an item or advertisement and immediately connect it to the owners. The human eye is much better at recognizing images than text, so having an emblem that draws the eye can make all the difference when you need to get attention quickly. There are a lot of factors that go into designing a good emblem, but most people can figure it out and get a good result if they keep a few basic rules in mind.
Use Color Wisely
Color is one of the most powerful tools that you have at your disposal when designing a new emblem, but you need to use it with care. It can make or break the design on its own, and even small differences in color will have a big impact on how it appears to a viewer.
Start by familiarizing yourself with basic color theory, to understand which colors look good together and which ones will clash. You should also try to understand the way that colors make people feel, to make sure that you are inspiring the right emotions with your emblem. It takes some effort to learn everything, but getting it right is the first step towards creating an excellent emblem.
Stay Simple
The best designs are fairly simple. It can be tempting to try to cram a huge amount of detail into an emblem, but most people have trouble focusing on more than a couple of items at once. Using more than that will make everything blur together into a jumbled mass and prevent them from getting a clear image in their head. A simple design will include one or two major elements that draw the eye, and a few details that make the design memorable.
One way to ensure simplicity is to start with a more complex design, and gradually remove elements from it as you refine it. Ask yourself what each of the details brings to the design. If it does not provide any clear benefits, remove it and see if the design looks better. In most cases, it will look cleaner and more elegant.
Use Negative Space
Negative space is a subtle and important concept it design. It is the background space that is surrounded by other items in the emblem. For example, the text between letters is a type of negative space.
Careful use of negative space can add a lot of depth to the emblem. Most people will focus on the other aspects of the design at first, and only notice the negative space as they start to move on. That encourages them to take a second look. Finding a hidden design can also be exciting, and that can motivate people to discuss the emblem with their friends or simply make it easier to remember. That is a big benefit from a marketing perspective, and it is more than enough to justify taking the time to hide a few shapes or symbols in the negative space.
Get Opinions
Managers should always trust their judgment, but it is also wise to get feedback on new designs. After all, the designer will look at it from the perspective of somebody who knows what it is supposed to represent, while a stranger will look at it just like a potential customer or client. That gives them an incredibly useful perspective, so it is worth getting a few people to look at the design and give their thoughts.
Be sure to have them look at the design in private, and write their thoughts down instead of saying them directly. It is easy for the designer to influence how they respond if he is present, which reduces the value of the testing. Having the testers look at the emblem while they are alone removes that risk and ensures that their advice will be as useful and accurate as possible. For the best results, repeat the process with a variety of diverse people to make sure that the emblem makes a good impression on people who have different backgrounds.
