The success of an app depends not only on its usefulness but also on the marketing effort. It implies that for your app to get lots of downloads and be considered as a great app, it has to be of real value, and you must market it effectively. Once the development of the app is over, the next focus is usually on how you can get as many people as possible to download it and this is where marketing and finally the app logo comes in.

A successful logo for an app will make it stand out from the millions of the other apps in the marketplace. If the logo is mediocre, and it stands not to be noticed and even if the app was the best in the world, it won’t get its deserved share of the market. Presented here are a few tips to help you come up with a good app logo that will guarantee you a huge number of download ones the app is released-:

Reflect on the app

The design of a great app logo begins with an in-depth reflection on the app. This will form the basis upon which other design elements will be based. Of utmost consideration are what the apps is intended to achieve, the marketing message you need to pass around, the unique features it has over other similar apps in the app store, its color as well as the target audience. This reflection will let you know the best app logo design route to take so that you create a logo that will be in tandem with the expectations of the audience thus leading to general acceptance and success of the app.

Design on a unique and striking shape

One feature you will find in the icons of the most successful apps on the stores is their unique and striking shapes. The shape of the app icon is usually the central design element used to catch the attention of the eye and make people be aware of the app. To settle for the right shape of your app icon, you need to make it relevant to the applications which the app are intended to achieve. You are strongly advised never to use photos or images as the preferred shapes of your app icons since they don’t offer the versatility and uniqueness required of a good app.

Set the tone of the app

Getting the right tone is also instrumental in the successful development of an app logo. Remember, colors are a huge consideration when it comes to marketing and branding of your app, and you need to choose the right color palettes for your app carefully. Bring back your knowledge of the graphic design color theory and use the right colors that will pass the emotions as well as the message effectively to the target audience.

Apple advises that you should stick with a limited number of color palettes in your app design so that it remains clean, fresh, attractive and memorable in the minds of the target audience. Using lots of colors might end up making the app logo design to appear cluttered and even lose the intended meaning.

Add text, but only when possible

A closer look at most of the successful apps will reveal to you that they have distinct and unique shapes without any texts. The lesson drawn from this is that text is not necessary when designing an app logo. However, feel free to use text only when it is necessary. It further points back to the fact that you need to have a unique shape for your app icons so that it is easily recognizable and users can infer what its use by just looking at the symbol.

Don’t go with the trends

Just like in the fashion world, trends are very rife in the graphic design world. However, when designing an app logo, you should never base the design on current trends, however appealing it might be. You want your app to stand the taste of time and be relevant for many more years to come. This should not only be reflected in the development but also on the marketing and branding and so is the app icon design as well. Stick to the basics of logo design and create an app icon that will be relevant even after the current trends are long gone.

Keep it Simple

Finally, simplicity is very important in app logo design. There are millions of users looking to download various apps from the internet and they just have a few seconds to skim through the plethora of app icons and decide on which ones to download. The apps with simple icons will attract attention hence get more downloads while those with complex icons will be passed by the users leading to dismal downloads.

Check out these tips on how to build a brand from scratch!

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In only a few years, Google has managed to achieve a lot in branding, something that would normally take other companies decades of work with millions of dollars worth of resources. Their colorful logo is now a staple of the online experience that’s enjoyed by millions across the globe. But behind the beautiful logo that’s now the trademark and benchmark for online search experience, there is a rich history. It has undergone lots of transformations though the concept has never moved away from the typeface logo we see today. Here is a brief explanation detailing how Google came to have their current logo.

The story begins in 1996 at Stanford University where one of the co-founders, Larry Page was fledgling a research project code-names “Back Rub”. The project was later renamed Google, following a misspelled version of the word Googol. The idea was to demonstrate that Google had far much processing powers than any other search engine during that time.

The first Google Logo was designed by Sergey Brin, a co-founder in 1998 using the Gimp Software. This marked the beginning of the several iterations that were to follow under the supervision of Ruth Kendar, a professional designer hired by Google to oversee the development of a logo that would connect with their audiences and also match their marketing needs.

By 1999, Google’s success was already dwarfing the competition, and the Google logo was becoming more and more popular. It was at this point that the company brought in Ruth Kendar, a professional designer to continue with evolving the brand. Back then, Kendar had no idea how big the company would be, but she was happy to take up on the task and continue with the evolution of the brand.

Kendar’s first attempt at redesigning the Google logo was done with the Adobe Garamond as the typeface. Kendar’s idea with this first attempt was not to meddle up with the text since it would have interfered with the eligibility of the logo. She simply added her whimsy using two-dimensional O’s and primary colors. She then used a small pattern to join the Os together as a symbol of infinite connection. This design was liked by Brin and Page.

The second attempt by Kendar on the Google Logo saw her focus her attention mainly on the Os in the middle of Google. She introduced a further hint on the infinite pattern as well as a target to symbolize the search engine’s accuracy in helping people find what they are looking for on the internet. Her reason for doing was that the founders wanted to pass a message to the competing search engines that Google was a reliable search provider, and most importantly, it had an algorithmic complexity but an easy to use application.

The next redesign of the Google logo saw a modification of the layout and the typeface. The designer decided to use overlapping circles and ITC Leawood and joined them with a cross hair to show that the business was intertwined and had a global presence. But Kendar thought that her new design was more like an Olympics logo and not that of a leading search engine. This made her thinking on how to change the logo to remain within the context of the business.

In the later version, Kendar came across Catull, the typeface that is now synonymous to the Google logo. This typeface gave the logo more corporate looks while at the same time appearing to be slightly playful in the sizing of the letters. Though this was a step towards the right the direction, the overall design appeared to be busy, and it was difficult to mark out the final meaning from the Google logo.

With the feedback from the previous design, which featured a magnifying glass and a crosshair Kendar simplified the redesign, eliminating the crosshair but keeping the magnifying glass and adding on it a smile – to reflect on the great user experience of the now world’s largest search engine.

Slowly, Kendar realized that she was on her way back to her very initial iteration, and once again reverted to the Leawood font. She introduced a touch of dimension as well as some shading to the top of the Google logo. The reason for this was to make the Google logo appear to be floating on top of the white layout. At this point, Kendar was advised to try more simplified approaches that will make the Google logo simpler while retaining its corporate look.

Finally, Kendar got the design right after playing around with the colors and never deviating from the typeface. She ended up using primary colors, but rather than having the colors go in order, she used a secondary color on L, to illustrate the idea that Google doesn’t have to follow the rules at all times. That is the current logo you see each time you use the giant search engine.

The Google logo has stood the test of time and is now an iconic mark that has helped the company realize the immense success they have had in the past few years.
Learn how to design a basic logo here!

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