Logo, colours, typefaces: where to start

Start with what you want to say

Before any drawing, three sentences. Who you are talking to. What sets you apart from those who do the same thing. The tone you want: serious, warm, precise, direct. These three sentences guide every choice that follows, and they avoid the « I like it, I don’t like it » trap where logo projects get bogged down.

Also look at what others in your sector do, not to copy, but to know what you need to move away from. If everyone is blue, blue will not set you apart.

The logo: simple, legible, adaptable

A good logo is judged on three things, and none of them is « pretty »:

• Simple: recognisable at a glance, memorable after seeing it twice.
• Legible: at favicon size as on a sign, in black on white as in white on colour.
• Adaptable: a horizontal version, a compact version, a symbol alone if the name is long. Each medium will have its own.

Test it small, in grey, printed on a sheet of paper. If it holds there, it will hold everywhere.

Colours: one main, one accent, contrast

A useful palette is short. One main colour, which carries the identity and appears everywhere. One accent colour, brighter, reserved for what must catch the eye: a button, a link, a word. Neutrals for text and backgrounds. Beyond that, you are no longer choosing, you are decorating.

And one non-negotiable requirement: contrast. Text must be readable on its background, for everyone, including outdoors in the sun and for people who see less well. The W3C accessibility guidelines set precise thresholds; a good designer checks them before showing you the palette.

Typefaces: two families, no more

One for headings, which gives the character. One for body text, which can be read for a long time without tiring. Two families that complement each other by contrast, not two cousins that look almost alike. Add a third and the whole thing starts to drift.

Check the licence: a typeface is either bought or chosen among free ones, and its use on a website, in print and in an application is not always covered by the same licence.

The guidelines: what makes it all usable

The brand guidelines are the instruction manual. They say where to place the logo and how far from the edges, which colours go together, which typeface at which size, and what not to do. They are what lets a printer, a developer or a new colleague produce something that looks like you without calling you.

• the logo in all its versions, with its clear space and minimum sizes;
• the palette with the exact codes for screen and print;
• the typefaces, their weights and their hierarchy;
• a few applied examples: a card, a letterhead, a post, a web page.

Conclusion

In order: what you want to say, then the logo, then the colours, then the typefaces, then the guidelines that put it all together. A successful identity is not the one you notice, it is the one you recognise.