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Branding/Brochure Blog

Some tips for designing a new Law Firm logo



Posted on Monday, March 12, 2018

Many examples of logo design are available online to view and the need to be different is more critical than ever, and with that comes the challenge of being different.  Every company must have a logo and a web site for their services or products, service, making the design for a world-class logo even more important. But how can you design something original that stands out on the web when logo design seems to be such a low-standard commodity these days? How can you create something original, something with quality, that’s quirky enough to catch people's eyes?

A logo design needs to communicate a brand message, and keep in mind that your own interpretation of your brand cab differ from your clients, so keeping an objective mind when designing your logo is important, as is making a very honest assessment of who you are, what you do, and what your demographic is. Looking at your competitor's logos can help in this regard as well. It also helps to look at old logo if the firm has been around to get a sense of history, and/or to avoid past mistakes the logo and brand has made. It’s possible that the firm is very tied to its history, so linking their past to the present might be a very good branding idea.

Research is important when designing a logo. This can be very time consuming but well worth the time it takes to look at dozens, even hundreds of different logos. If you have the ability to do it, place these logos in a single graphic file so you can look them over all at once. Make a note as to which ones work and which do not, and why. The best logos are usually easy to figure out why they work. be careful not to imitate the ones you like, but often you can use them for inspiration and that is enough. When you're looking over all these logos looking for ideas, it should become cleared which ones would work for you and which would not; that is when you realize you are closing in on a brand. After creating a sheet of logos, it’s a good idea to write down what you like and don't like, then stop looking at the graphic designs for a while.

In the last few years a trend began towards clear and functional typography and this trend continues. Creating a custom typeface will sometimes mean that it becomes dated quickly if it is too fancy, so keep it simple and easy to read. If the words in your name or brand are unusual or hard to read then even more reason to keep the typeface simple, whereas simpler and more common words or phrases lend themselves to more creative expressive layouts. Sometimes there simple method of removing or joining different parts of letters is enough to make your design pop. A gimmicky font that is too fancy is most likely already being used on thousands of other websites or business cards, so keep your font choices simple and elegant. Also make sure the font style matches the brand, that is one of the most common mistakes designers and companies make.

Keep in mind that your logo will need to look good in black and white and not just in color. If your logo design has a color that is critical to its meaning, the logo might lose that meaning when it does not have its color included. It's possible this can be overcome, but it needs to be part of the logo design discussion.  To make it work on both light and dark backgrounds a logo needs to have versions that will work on both. it also needs to look good at different sizes so make sure when you shrink it down it doesn't look bad, like in newsprint or mobile devices. Printing the logo at different sizes can show you how it will look ahead of time. Creating an insignia version of the logo is a good idea, as it a grayscale version.

Sometimes a logo is accompanied by a tagline that together conveys the brand message, and together these elements should have cohesion between them. Each element should be able to stand on its own, i.e. the tagline without the logo, and vice versa, not relying on each other, but when together they should be stronger.



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