Why most logos should work in a single colour.
Here a selection of flat, single colour logos from our portfolio.
Keep it Simple!
In the age of Web 2.0, many logos are awash with gradients, shadows, and lighting effects. This sort of complexity can be great if it’s what the project requires.
Many fledgeling designers will be told that a logo should be designed in a single colour or, that they should at least work in a single colour.
It’s actually more important to understand why a logo should work in a single colour. Previous wisdom dictated that a flat single colour design would work in most formats, including when being faxed or used on an embroidered work uniform.
Unless you’re very behind on the times, or, you like a bit of technological nostalgia, you probably don’t use a fax machine. Embroidered logos can also be very complex these days too if indeed an embroidered logo is ever required at all.
More up to date considerations for logo usage would be social media avatars, high-resolution screens and tiny favicons.
No, the reason that in many cases a logo should work in a single colour comes down to the ethos of minimalism, which applies not only to logos but also to design in general. If you start with something in its most basic form, then it’s probably going to look good or even better when you add to it.
Conversely, if you go straight in with the aforementioned complexities then you may never know if the design is working at its core.
Bells and whistles are a poor designer’s way of obscuring a logo which is devoid of substance.
– Big Dot
In conclusion, create logos in whatever style best suits the application but, making sure that it works in a single colour first is a great way of ensuring that the logo has substance.
Here are some more tips (not all of them I agree with) from Smashing Magazine
