How do you know if your logo design is any good? Think about some of these things while you look at your work...

Q:Is this design readable?

If you cannot convey in an instant what the logo says, it's poorly designed. One of my first corporate ID professors taught me this: Print out your logo at about 6" wide. Tape it to the wall and step back. Step back some more. Keep going. If you can't read it from across the room, start over.

Q:Does this design work in color/black & white/grayscale?

Make sure you devise a black and white and a grayscale version as well as your color version. Take your client's print needs into consideration. It will need to work on a twenty-foot sign, and on a 1/2" phonebook ad in grayscale.

Q:Will this work on varied backgrounds?

Logos need to be readable on flat colored backgrounds, and busy (think photographs) backgrounds. Try it on both.

Q:Will this work in print and the web?

Put it online and double check.

Q:What color considerations are there?

Are you dealing with spot colors or process colors? The client will need to communicate this to any print service where they might take the logo.

Q:What's the hook?

Typing out two words with a font does not a logo make. It's text. It lacks design. A logo should have a concept. A cohesive, binding, unified sense of purpose to convey a message beyond what the text element tells you. It should convey a "feeling" that reflects what it signifies.

Q:Is the hook successful?

Sure you know what the image is supposed to convey...but will others? Show other people. If they don't immediately seize on the hook ("Oh yeah, it looks like a pirate flag!") then try again.

Q:Does the logo include an icon?

Logos can include icons. Think of the Windows logo. Can the icon stand alone? Icons are meant to be instantly recognizable and maybe eventually come to be just as understood as its text component. It may not convey the idea as well as your text, but the tests above can all be applied to an icon.

Q:How do I know if the final piece is REALLY understandable?

When you've got something to show, show someone whose opinion you trust. Could they read it instantly? They're not as emotionally invested as you are. You've been working on this thing for a week, your brain is conditioned...their's isn't.

Q:How can I get good at logo design?

It's the answer you don't want to hear: Practice. Mentally dissect the logos you see. What makes the good ones work? Buy lots of books about logo design. Another great place for logo design is your local supermarket or liquor store -- plenty of awesome labels (I especially love wine labels) to look at. Bookstores are great too.

Hope this is some help. Stop by the logo gallery in the Services section for some of my designs, both comics related and non-comics related.

~Nate Piekos