Logo, graphic, icon, image…call it what you will, a logo by any other
name is a group of letters and or symbols used in a consistent and
unique way to identify a company. It is the most prominent and stable element of marketing, and should be designed carefully to fully reflect
the branding of your product or service. Understanding the key aspects
of designing a logo will help you to develop a durable, on target identity.

1. USE
When designing a logo an important consideration is how you plan to
use it. A logo created for a website or full color stationery printing will
be designed completely different than one designed for faxing and imprinting on coffee mugs or t-shirts.

Most companies desire to use their logo for more than one application. Graphic designs that have gradients, transparences, and special effect
filters tend to cost more to reproduce and often need to have an
additional simplified version created. While choosing a logo design
consider how you want to use it now and in the future.

2. IMAGE STYLE
A logo represents your company. How it looks tells potential customers what kind of business you have. Make sure your logo adequately
represents you. For example if your business deals in financing your
logo should be conservative, contemporary, or even high tech. Creating
a whimsical design (although refreshing) could instantly take away credibility. When choosing an image style you should consider your company's philosophies and your customer/client profile.

3. FORMAT
Make sure you have and use the proper format for the application. Vector [AI] - Adobe Illustrator This format is editable in both PC and MAC software.

PDF - (Portable Document File) Format used by Adobe Acrobat, electronic publishing software for MAC OS, Windows, and UNIX.

Vector [EPS] This format can be used by most printing facilities. It contains font and color information.

Gif - (Graphics Interchange Format) This is a low resolution file used primarily for web pages and e-mail templates.

JPG or JPEG - (Joint Photographic Experts Group) This format allows for storing full color images with very high compression ratios. This format is used primarily for photographs in web pages.

BMP (300 dpi) This format can be imported into most PC application software.

Tif or Tiff - (Tagged Image File Format) This format can be imported into most PC and MAC software applications. The file size is large and can be used for the full color printing process.

4. ORIGINALITY
Your logo is a very important tool for branding your company. It should have a uniqueness all its own. When choosing a logo design try to pick one that will stand out from a crowd. It should immediately catch the eye and have more to offer when looked upon longer.

5. APPEAL
Before deciding on your logo, make you are completely satisfied with your selection. It will be with you for as long as you're in business. As years go by you may opt to update your logo but it should always have the same basic feel to it. After all this is how people identify you. Try to pick colors you know you'll love today and 20 years from now. Sure these nuances can be changed but often times they are a very important part of the design so try to get it perfect the first time.