Print management with a view to not only cost effectiveness, but also how your brand is expressed to its maximum impact across all above, below and through the line channels is vital to effective communication with your target audiences. Central to all this is the initial corporarate identity design, aside from its creativity and how it captures the spirit of your proposition, how effectively it can be translated across all those myriad expressions will determine its longevity and impact. There are some important things to remember when designing a new logo or corporate ID and here are some guidelines to a successful outcome:

A logo designed in a vector based program such as Illustrator allows for much more flexibility in terms of colours and will give you a much clearer image especially if you are planning to use text in the logo and you want to use it in large format. Bearing this in mind, it is inadvisable to use a photograph in a logo. If you can’t use a vector based program then make the design as large as you can!

Restrict your text to one or two fonts. Using too many fonts can make a logo look cluttered and unprofessional. Any text you want to use in a logo should be clear and legible, or don’t use text at all.

You may need your logo for a variety of purposes. Remember that just because something looks good on A4 print materials it may not be so wonderful after it’s been blown up to fit exhibition graphics or a billboard. Whatever you create should be able to work well from the smallest to the largest of applications.

You might need the logo to work on black or white backgrounds or dark or light coloured backgrounds so the logo should work equally well as a stand-alone element or in a coloured box. Allow for the possiblity that your logo may need to be used in mono (single colour) as well.

You may have seen logos that you like but it’s important to try to make your logo as individual as you possibly can. There is no reason not to incorporate aspects from other logo designs that you find appealing, but in the end you want to be noticed because your logo is original.