Without a doubt logos are some of the most commonly overrated and underrated elements in branding. This apparent paradox arises partially due to the fact that a logos are perhaps the one of the oldest forms of communication in human existence and have therefore had many twists and turns and ups and downs throughout history as effective, annoying, powerful, meaningful, overused, abused, misrepresented and reused.

What?! Says the reader. Logos haven’t been around since caveman times -– there are no stick drawings of Neanderthals developing carpal tunnel syndrome while agonizingly etching out a logo of a wooden club in Adobe Illustrator. This is ridiculous.

Let’s analyze what we mean by logo; a symbol attached to a meaning. In this context, logos have been around for thousands of years. Stick drawings in their own sense are symbols attached to a meaning. A stick man holding a stick spear has a meaning attached to it and the viewer of said logo (symbol) develops both an emotional response and intellectual response to the image.

source: http://blog.insideview.com/

In the modern era many business either place too much emphasis on the logo trying to incorporate every element of their business into one graphic and other take the opposite design route; picking a stock image to represent a company (or any organization for that matter) to its clients and customers. Both these approaches ignore the primary focus of your logo which is creating a symbol for your audience to understand.

The most effective logos are those which have a purpose behind them, that is to say there is an end goal in the design that leads the designer to create specific graphic elements that sync seamlessly with an organization’s mission statement, overarching purpose and long term objectives. We’re not making logos to have them ‘look nice’ rather we want logos to inspire trust, to invoke courage, to rouse emotions.

So when you visit our logo starting checklist, we still want to know about the colors you like, the typography you prefer and what other logos you like, but we also want to know why the logo is being created in the first place – we want to know about your business and we want to know about you. The real elements that drive an effective logo and an effective symbol are the intangibles. Tell us your idea, tell us your goals and we’ll turn them into a visual work of art.