For startups just beginning their journey, the idea of branding is usually a stressful one. In years past, a company could work on a product or service and worry about the marketing later. Think about all the annoying local ads for car dealerships, plumbing services, and injury attorneys that fill the commercial breaks for your favorite shows, and you see just how little thought went into making those ads memorable. Just thirty seconds of telling people about the service and throw a phone number on the screen. Usually it helps to have the same number for all 10 phone digits (Call 555-555-5555).

Entrepreneurs in 2019 are well aware of the importance of marketing and want to make their product look innovative and new. They lose sleep over wanting to have the perfect Instagram-worthy logo and color scheme. The brands they’ve followed for years are international and ingenuitive. Brands like Apple, Google, Tesla, and even Coca-Cola.

What Makes a Logo Stand Out?

By far, one of the most common requests I get is logo creation. Even though you can get a logo for $5 on Fiverr or create one for free on Wix or Squarespace or even sites like LogoMakr, these business owners want something that didn’t come out of a template, but stands out and is original and creative.

Original Logo design is also one of the most time-consuming projects I do. I have spent hours going through revision after revision only for business owners to say, “Yeah, but, it needs something else.” I don’t know how many revisions Edison had to go through when General Electric was starting out, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t have catalogs of similar-looking logos.

It’s tougher to design original logos in 2019 because it seems like everything has been done. Just log onto Envato’s Graphic templates and you’ll find a ton of logos that all look pretty similar.

The Best Logos Are Simple

The truth is, logos don’t have to be rocket science. In fact, while branding and marketing should be in mind when creating your product or service, it should never be the main thing unless you’re a marketing or creative agency, in which case, you wouldn’t be asking me to design your logo. Your main focus should be your product or service, making sure it’s the best you can offer your customers.

The best logos are simple. And in an emoji and copy-and-paste culture, the simpler you can make your logo, the better.

And that is why I want to suggest you choose a logo that is one color. Two colors, max, but one-color if you can do it. You want the gist of the logo to be that it is recognized by its icon. Yes, Google can make a four-color logo because those colors are part of who they are as a brand. But anyone can look at that iconic G (and the one before it was upgraded) and know exactly what company they’re looking at.

You’re not Google. And if the Google logo is in all-white or all-black, there’s no denying its identity.

There’s a reason Apple changed its icon from the rainbow pattern to a solid color. Or why Nike has always been a solid-color swish. Or why Facebook’s simple typography doesn’t need an icon because no one can quite replicate that font. Yes, Amazon may have a black title and gold half-smile (or is it a curved arrow? Or both?) but you can always tell it’s Amazon even without the smirk/arrow. The “Z” is curved.

These aren’t extraordinarily difficult designs to produce. A graphic designer could easily create the same look in minutes. But the people who created them did understand the value of simplicity.

Simplicity isn’t the same as Easy or Shallow

But there’s something about these logos that stands the test of time for a reason. If you think an original creative marketing team looked at these companies and randomly said, “I don’t know, why don’t you just throw a half-smile on that Amazon word and call it good.” or “I just took a bite out of this apple. Hey! Why don’t we just do that?”

There’s a depth to these logos that hit our subconscious minds. They tell a deeper story than just an icon with a bite taken out of it. The Google logo is the simplest looking sans-serif font that’s bold because they are all about being the easiest search tool on the planet. They may offer hundreds of services but their main site will never be more than a white screen with the familiar Google logo (or doodle that happens to say Google on it) and a search box. First priority for Google? Searching made simple. The Nike swish is a check-mark reinforcing their tagline “Just do it!” (simple.) Facebook is just the word on a blue background but that font is never quite replicated the same way, standing for the way Facebook was a social media company that was completely simple and original, making it stand out from earlier social sites like MySpace and Friendster. The simple blue bird icon for Twitter also happens to inadvertently form a “T” and is much prettier than the earlier “T” logo for Twitter (and makes it stand out from the other famous “T” in Tumblr).

Amazon’s smile is a happy face indeed, but the smile/arrow perking up the “Z” pays homage to the simple “Click here” cursor to make a purchase when everyone still shopped at brick-and-mortar stores.

While you shouldn’t focus more on the logo than your actual business, you should give thought to how much of your story a simple icon and logo can tell. And this only works when you know exactly what your vision is and what you want your customer’s experience to be. If you’re a lawn service, what makes you stand out from your competitors? How can you show that in a simple icon?

Simple Logos are Timeless

Logos may change for companies over time, but when the vision is set and easy for anyone to understand, that will never change in how that icon is presented. New times may call for a more rounded or more squared version of the icon or font, but it will always serve the same purpose. Google may have changed from a bookish serif font logo to a bold simple font, but the four colors (simple colors, nothing needs to be complicated, remember?) remain the same, and the bookish font was always easy to identify even if it was all one color. It meant the same. “Nothing will be easier to use than us.”

Walmart may have made major changes to its logo and color schemes, but the star is still there. It’s an easier to identify starburst now. Target never had to change its icon.

The Golden Arches in the McDonald’s logo tell you a story. Sure it has the letter “M” in it, but it also announces that you won’t find fries as golden as this. At least that’s what I see in McDonald’s. And say what you want about McDonald’s but it’s hard to beat those fries. And if you say it’s not, I question your humanity!

I’m kidding, but only a little.

Some Companies Use More Colors, but They Keep it Simple.

And simplicity is really the point. And simplicity really means “memorable.” Yes, you can make any logo out of a simple letter with a distinct font, or a flat icon, but what can make that stand out from other companies that may try to use a similar font or icon? Can you make any changes to it that will help to tell your story or vision to your customer just by looking at it? These are the questions to ask when creating a logo.

When in doubt, trust your vision and find a symbol that displays that. If you have to, hand-draw it or have a designer or creative friend draw it and go from there. The point is, your icon shouldn’t have to belong to anyone else because it’s part of who your company is.

What do You Think?

Do you agree? What are some logos that stand out to you? What do you think of when you see them? Leave a comment and let me know. Or leave a comment about anything that comes to your mind at all. What do you think makes a logo stand out?