Beauty may well be in the eye of the beholder, but a good logo tends to be widely acknowledged as a good logo. Some tried and true principles inform good logo design across a variety of industries and cultures, and churches are no exception. And while it should go without saying that a good logo won’t solve all your church’s or double your weekend attendance, a good logo can serve to shape people’s perceptions of your church. For your edification, we’ve put together some principles to measure a logo against. We’ve also created an example of what can happen when you follow the principles and, scarier yet, what can happen when you don’t.
Be Simple
Less is more. Less is more. Less is more. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, do your best to keep your logo simple. Busy colors, fonts, icons, and other visual flair might feel like means of grabbing people’s attention, but in reality these elements distract people from actually reading your name and determining what you’re about. Instead, use as few colors as possible and use no more than two fonts. When selecting your fonts and colors, make sure that your logo is easily readable. In fact, do an experiment. Decrease the size of your logo so you can get a feel for what it will look like on letterhead, envelopes, business cards, website headers, and social networking avatars. Is your logo still readable and recognizable at a diminutive stature? That’s a good indicator that you’ve kept it simple.
Perhaps the best argument for a simple logo is the most identifiable commercial logo on the planet: the Nike logo. You can easily picture it in your head—that simple sans serif typeface and the iconic swoosh. So great, yet so simple. Rather than trying to outdo NIke in order to get noticed, learn from them. Strive for simplicity.
A couple technical notes about simplicity: First, try to avoid using special effects such as gradients, drop shadows, reflections, and light bursts in the design of your logo. Your logo needs to stand on its own without these effects. If you want to apply these or other effects to your logo in certain situations, go for it. Just don’t depend on effects for visual interest when designing your logo. The other note is to avoid the incorporation of a tagline into your official logo. A tagline adds unnecessary clutter and size, and thus violates the simplicity principle.
Be Timeless
The last thing you want to do is redesign your logo every two years. However, that’s exactly what you’ll need to do if your logo is heavily influenced by a temporary trend. For example, a logo that features splatters or flourishes might feel contemporary one year but might scream out for an update the next year. That’s the thing about hot trends—they can cool off in a hurry. Keep this in mind as you’re exploring different fonts, color schemes, and illustration styles or before long you’ll find yourself re-exploring fonts, color schemes, and illustration styles.
Be Versatile
Earlier we mentioned trying to imagine your logo on business collateral and in various places on the Web. This exercise underscores the importance of a versatile logo. A versatile logo is effective on printed materials, T-shirts, PowerPoint slides, bumper stickers, websites, and everywhere else. Furthermore, a versatile logo is effective in black and white as well as color. Versatility is a testament to sound design and excellent visual communication.
Be Square
Believe it or not, the overall shape of your logo is important. If your logo is tall and thin or short and wide, it can be difficult to place your logo in certain contexts. The more square your logo, the better it will fit with other objects and elements. Obviously, this ties in closely with your logo’s versatility, but there’s an aesthetic component as well. A logo that is dramatically vertical or horizontal is not as pleasing to the eye as a logo that is somewhat balanced.
Be Appropriate
A logo must do more than look great. A good logo is representative of your organization. A good logo is consistent with your organization’s culture, values, purpose, history, and attitude. A cutting edge logo that attracts the eye is great, but if your church culture is traditional and conservative, the logo is not appropriate. In fact, some will find it to be misleading and will go so far as to regard your church with some degree of distrust. If you don’t like a logo that is appropriate for your church, work on changing your church culture first. Then, update your logo accordingly.
Be Independent
If your logo includes both an identity mark (like the white cross and blue circle in our good example) and logotype (the name of your organization), it’s important that each of these elements be able to function independently of another. The elements should complement one another, of course, but they shouldn’t overlap or intertwine. There may be times when you want to just use the mark or the logotype on a given project, or you may want to adjust the size of one or both elements. If the elements are dependent upon one another, you’re stuck using both each and every time.
Be Picky
After you’ve selected the right font for your logo, take time to adjust the spacing between letters and words. Don’t feel obligated to accept the spacing defaults in Photoshop or Illustrator, especially if something looks awkward.
Be Unique
Your church’s logo doesn’t have to look like the typical church logo. You don’t have to include a cross, dove, steeple, or flame if you don’t want to. Your logo doesn’t have to blend in with the other church logos in your geographic area. A unique logo can help distinguish your church in the mind’s of the people in your community, and will be more recognizable to people who are unfamiliar with your church. Remember, your logo should be representative of your organization, and you’re unique, right?
Entire books have been written on effective logo design, so obviously we didn’t cover everything here. However, applying these principles to your current or future logo should point you in the right direction. Good luck!