
There are a million people in the logo design industry today dishing out crappy logos in bulk for crowd sourcing sites. How do you as a serious professional stand out from the crowd and produce quality logos that don’t suck? Read on to find out.
1. Use a Visual Double Entendre
Some of the best logos in the world utilize a technique called a visual double entendre, which is an overly fancy way to say that it has two pictures wrapped into one through clever interpretation of a concept or idea.
The WinePlace logo below is a perfect example.

2. Color is Vitally Important
One of the most important considerations for logo design is the color palette. This is not a superficial decision, color carries meanings and communicates ideas. Sometimes you’re pegged to the colors of a brand, but other times you’ll have the freedom to explore. We love the rich palette used in the Zion logo below.

The colors here grab you and pull you in, they bring life to the illustration and give further context to the shape of the landscape. That being said, remember that a good logo is versatile and will still function well in grayscale:

Beyond a grayscale version, I like to also provide clients with a true single color version, using only black and negative space. This would be a little tricky with the logo above, but definitely possible. Always consider what it is that the logo will be used for and whether or not the various use cases require different versions.