Ideal Logo Structure: The Parts of a Logo

(and Why They Matter)

People think a logo is one thing. It isn't. It's a small system of parts that have to work together, and apart.

We learned this the unglamorous way: at the print shop, on WhatsApp profile photos, on a banner stretched across a showcase. After designing logos since 2009, including for more than 100 companies and NGOs across the US and Latin America, we can tell you exactly where logos break. They almost never break in the presentation PDF. They break in real life.

So let's open one up and look at the pieces.

01. Understand your competition

Compare all the logos within your market. This research may well reveal some entrenched branding conventions in that market sector, and that can sometimes help your process by playing on familiar visual associations.

But bear in mind that many of the world’s most recognisable logo designs stand out specifically because they eschew trends and think differently.

02. Ask the right questions

Strategy is becoming an increasingly important part of the branding process. What this means in practice will often depend on the scale of the project, but it all starts with asking the right questions.

03. Stay flexible during the process

Some conceptual, strategic ideas that work in theory may fall apart in practice when visualised; conversely, a compelling visual solution that emerges from left-field during the design stage can feed back into stage two and help evolve the strategy retrospectively.

04. Respect a brand’s heritage

Where genuine heritage and untapped potential exist in a mark, avoid throwing the baby out with the bathwater and consider bringing it to the fore.

05. Small changes are good too

Sometimes small changes are enough; a full redesign isn't always necessary. Doing little things to vary the original logo is OK, too.

06. Remember: a logo is just one ingredient

Logo design is just one small part of the modern branding process.

People now engage with a brand through a huge variety of different touchpoints, and the logo is not always their first point of contact with a brand.

Keep this in mind as you develop your logo design: stay versatile and flexible, and consider how the logo interacts with the rest of the brand experience, from packaging to tone of voice.