A logo is obviously very important to your business. It’s is the first impression most people will have of your business. It reveals your brand’s identity and invites customers to get to know you. It sets you apart from the competition. In addition, your logo should be highly usable and easily compatible with your marketing goals.

Tips for designing your logo

• Your logo is rarely going to stand alone. It's usually by other elements that represent your brand or company much more than the logo does. So don’t feel as if you have to add everything to your logo that represents everything that your business is. Your logo will be too busy and cause you problems as you try to use it. Your logo should be something that you can use alongside other elements that represent your brand.
• You need two versions of your logo. You're going to want a square version and a horizontal version. Once you've come up with a design that you suits your brand, you or your designer can rearrange your logo so that you have both a horizontal and a square version. The horizontal version is very useful and easy to use in websites. You can use the square version for profile photos and thumbnails. Vertical logos are awkward and difficult to use, especially in websites. If you absolutely must have a vertical logo, make sure you always have additional layouts available to use.
• It's best to use only one or two colors in your logo...maybe three, at most. You don't want a lot of different colors in your logo design because it is less versatile. Don't forget that you will need a version you can use on both light and dark backgrounds.
• You need a vector file for your logo. Let me tell you what a vector is not. A vector is not a PNG, a JPG, a JPEG, a GIF, a bitmap, or a TIF. Those are raster files. When you try to print them, they may appear fuzzy. Plus, every time you share a raster image, it loses pixels and, therefore, decreases in quality. A vector is a mathematical representation of the image. You can make a vector image bigger or smaller without affecting the quality of the picture. This is important when you want to put your logo on a shirt or other promotional materials, which require very large images to get crisp edges.
• What to do if you don't have a vector version of your logo. You can always get your logo redesigned. It's actually not a bad idea to freshen your logo every few years until you’ve firmly established your company’s brand, especially if you’re just starting out. If you already have your logo the way you want it, you can get it redrawn as a vector. This is very affordable. One of my favorite places to use for redrawing logos into vectors is Deepetch. They can complete many redraws for under $20.

Make your mark!

Your logo reflects your values and who you are as a company, but you also want to make sure that it generates the most possible value to your marketing efforts. Keep it simple, memorable, and user-friendly.