Creating a logo for an eCommerce website is a very specific challenge for a number of reasons. To begin with, you’ll often be working with a client with little (or no) experience with designers, or even with the concept of design. That can lead to some pretty literal design work, but it can also free you from the constraints of traditional logo design in the sense that you don’t necessarily have to consider how the logo will look in one color, a half-inch across, printed on the barrel of a pen. It isn’t better or worse than “traditional” logo design… just different. When you know that the primary (and often singular) use of your logo design will be in the header of an eCommerce site, your priorities shift. It’s a different world.
That’s not to say that some good old traditional logo design skills aren’t called for. Take the logo at the top of the post, for instance. It would be right at home on the barrel of a pen (or on a t-shirt or billboard) but it also has all of the elements you expect in an eCommerce logo. First, it’s horizontal. That’s not a requirement, of course, but since vertical space is much more valuable than horizontal in web design, you’ll find that the lion’s share of eCommerce logos are wider than they are tall. (There are always exceptions…) Second, it’s a quick read, both literally and figuratively. Not only can you read the copy, but the color palette and the stylized blades of grass give you a pretty good idea of what you’ll find on the site. Finally, it’s not challenging. In a lot of “best of” logo lists, you’ll find that the ability to hide the intent of the logo so that the viewer has to figure it out is a highly prized characteristic. If one has to look at a logo for a minute to “get it” designers go crazy patting each other on the back for their mutual cleverness. We love that stuff, too, but much of it simply isn’t practical for eCommerce. (There are always exceptions…)
Continue reading and see the rest of the logos after the jump…