When it comes to successful logo design, it may be smart to approach it as science as well as an art. Rather than just drawing up a design which looks good, it might pay to put some serious thought into how and what the design should end up looking like. Here are six simple tips that will help improve your logo design.

1) Do some research. It's not enough that a logo just looks good, although that will help. How does it look good in terms of the business? Does it directly reference the business and the brand? Is it historical in some way? More importantly, is it something that will appeal to your target audience? Is it distinct from your business rivals? Don't jump in blind.

2) Scale appropriately. Your logo should be of a design which works in any location. Case in point, the new instagram logo, which scales up and down and looks great regardless of the screen it's seen on. Companies such as Google and eBay have also changed around the logo and icon designs with the intention of making them look uniformly good regardless of whether its on a computer screen, a billboard, or a small mobile phone screen. While this might not apply to your business, just think how it'll be good to have your logo work well on any product: pens, notebooks, bottles.

3) Stand out with your fonts. It seems that the moment a good font becomes popular, it becomes popular everywhere, with everyone jumping onto the bandwagon. People got bored of Times New Roman because it was overused. People grew to hate Comic Sans because it was overused and often in inappropriate situations. Don't follow the mainstream and pick the same fonts everyone else is using, otherwise it too can become overused. Pick something different. There's plenty of fonts out there that haven't struck it big yet, so to speak.

4) Study the success stories. Look at the biggest and best companies in the world. Look at how they brand and how their logos work. Sure it's a bit of a chicken and egg situation as you look at whether the brand is iconic because of the business success, or if the business is successful because the brand is iconic, but it's more inspirational and helpful than trawling through endless free galleries of minor logo designs.

5) Consider the psychology of it all. Plenty of information about the mental aspect of advertising is available. The use of colours: with red being bold and passionate, or black being sophisticated and professional. The use of shapes and designs to convey subtle messages about stability, or style, or playfulness.

Originally seen on: http://www.creativebloq.com/features/6-ways-to-improve-your-logo-design