Designing a logo is not an easy task but when your client wants a simple logo, that task suddenly seems much harder. What makes designing a simple logo harder is the mere fact that the word simple doesn’t necessarily mean minimalistic. A simple logo can mean that design elements have been brought down to bare essentials or that the logo makes use of clean typography. It can also mean the most basic concept you can think of.
Even though they can be tricky to design, simple logos are often more memorable, when done right. Just think of Gap, Nike, and Coca-Cola. When it comes to logo design, it doesn’t get any simpler than that. Not only are those logos easy to remember and recognize, but they can also easily be reproduced from memory by anyone who’s come into contact with those brands before.
A few characteristics of simple logos include clean and modern fonts or simple lines and illustrations. As far as color goes, they are black and white or often make use of a single color. In some cases, they also make creative use of whitespace to convey a hidden meaning.
In this post, we’ve rounded up the best simple logos that are highly effective. They are effective because they communicate all the meaning they are intended to deliver, in mere seconds and as you’ll see in the examples below, they indeed delivery their meaning and message perfectly. Use these logos to familiarize yourself with simple logo design principles and as an inspiration to create your own simple logo designs.
Opposite
Designed by Mike Erickson: “Idea here was complete opposite in every aspect. Evil/Good, Man/Woman, Sad/Happy, Black/White, opposite directions.”
World Rebalanced Conference
Designed by Aaron Bouvier: “Good ol’ Helvetica Bold + thick lines: simplified ID concept for PopTech’s upcoming 2011 conference World Rebalancing (the name was “World Rebalanced” at the time).”
Modern Electrical
Designed by Dustin.
Unholy Ladies Undergarments
Designed by Graham Smith: “Identity for a ladies lingerie and underwear seller of more provocative and risque nature. Think Ann Summers but more ‘devilish’. Needed to capture a stylish and elegant naughty and mischievous feel, but not seedy or cheap. Something to hopefully smile about when you see it.”
Five Points Pizza
Designed by Steve Hamaker.
Dutch Cowboys
Designed by Floris Voorveld: “A more or less well known blog in the Netherlands unveiled their new logo a few days ago. In my opinion it could have been better (to put it nicely).”
Guillory Camp
Designed by Dustin.
Type Division
Designed by Sergey Shapiro.
PERO
Designed by Mladen Zivanovic.
Circus of Magazines
Designed by Olivier Courbet: “Logo created for Circus of Magazines™, an online marketplace for magazines. It combines an open magazine and a circus tent in order to represent the online community and by extension the website.”
OneFactor
Designed by Dustin.
Artisan Créatif
Designed by Erik Ford: “Logo concept for an upcoming premium WordPress theme. This is heavily inspired by the hand painted signs of the 1930s and 1940s. The pixel icon is from our branding.”
Pitsford Cycles
Designed by Richard Wiggins.
Dhabiwood Studios
Designed by Birouty: Logo for Abu Dhabi studio, Dhabiwood Studios.
Graintalk
Designed by Graintalk.
Feathers Fashion
Designed by Elisha Leo.
Manuvo
Designed by Alen Pavlovic: “Client requested a super simple logotype version so I inserted the ‘wave’ theory right in there.”
Thrive
Designed by Aaron Allen.
Top Shelf
Designed by MontgomeryQ: “Incentive trip planning company. They wanted something to reflect the bartender’s phrase “Top Shelf” as in, the finest experience.”
Kings Poker
Designed by Jason Varga.
Atlantis Inn
Designed by Wade Winebrenner: “Brand identity for Atlantis Inn on Tybee Island.”
Union Type
Designed by Josh Hayes.
Nest 8
Designed by MontgomeryQ.
TechPad
Designed by Alden Haley: “WIP logo for a company that hosts office space for start up tech companies. I used really tight kerning for a sense of closeness and community. The square is to symbolize a “pad” and the bottom is an arrow pushing up into the square for ‘start ups.'”
Natural Day
Designed by Elisha Leo.
Globarista
Designed by Jon-Paul Lunney: “Identity for a coffee company specialising in trading coffee worldwide.”
Airupt
Designed by Deividas Bielskis: “Logo for cloud computing company.”
TS
Designed by Sean Heisler: “Proposal for a youth fashion brand named TS.”
Bringo
Designed by Leo: “Website for an IT/HR company.”
Belfast City Vineyard
Designed by Andrew Rossborough.
Pitchfork Monogram
Designed by Jared Granger.
Fawnd
Designed by Michael McMillan.
Eptic
Designed by jillz: “This is a logo designed for one of my clients. It’s called “eptic”. Logo is based on a hedgehog.”
Divvy Up
Designed by Michael Krell.
WhoWorks.at
Designed by Christopher Kennedy: “Got a phone call late at night asking to convert a napkin sketch into a logo. Just a typical night in the startup world. WhoWorks.at is an easy way to view people in your network that work at the site you’re visiting.”
Ninth Earth
Designed by Andrew Newhouse.
Not Found
Designed by crislabno: “An interactive web agency. Hiding bug/insect/bee behind D letter.”
Sacred Space
Designed by Saawan: “Path (Doorway) to the eye of insight (Enlightenment). For a spiritual organization.”
Jumsoft
Designed by Jord Riekwel: “They liked the curvy feel of the previous version, and they are confident it suits their company, because they do so much more than just software. This version has tiny adjustments to the shape and flow of most letters, and added a sugestion made by the client: the dot of the ‘j’ as a part of the ‘j’ big shape.”
Maraud
Designed by Richard Baird: “Logo for a record label based in the UK, the hut is loosely based on that of Luke Skywalkers family farm.”
Bowling Shoe
Designed by fools-e.
Architektura + Fotografia
Designed by macov.
Mathieu Straback
Designed by Mathieu Straback.
Steel Botanica
Designed by Alen Pavlovic: “Logo for the metal artist from USA who does sculptures and designs, builds and installs custom lighting, home railings, signs and any other home or commercial need related to steel.”
Edward Chetwynd Antiques
Designed by Robb Owen: “I tried to get a bit of a sense-of-place with this. The business is in darkest Wales so I designed the welsh feathers background for the masthead of the website. The cockerel is significant as there is a cast-iron cockerel outside his showroom (and his farm is overrun with chickens!).”