The importance of a company logo cannot be stressed enough. A logo establishes professionalism, gives the company an image, and creates brand identity. These reasons should be more than enough to convince you to create or have a logo made for your business. Before you do, however, make sure your logo design is trendy enough to compete with those of other companies. Here is a quick guide to the top four logo design trends of 2008.

Hi-tech fontsNothing conveys contemporary style in logos more than the use of hi-tech fonts. This is precisely why these fonts have been widely used in logo design in 2008. Hi-tech fonts use straight edges and simple shapes. These types of fonts are commonly used in logos of companies in the computer industry, such as Compaq. Oracle uses a hi-tech font in its logo design as well.

Hi-tech fonts can be made by changing existing fonts to give them more straight edges or by creating entirely new fonts using software like FontLab. There are, of course, premade hi-tech fonts that are easily downloadable from the Web. Some photo editing programs come packaged with premade hi-tech fonts as well.

Transparency

Transparency establishes a very elegant look for logos. This design technique, which has been employed in a number of logos designed this 2008, gives viewers a special image. With transparency, your logo design can convey images of growth, unification, or combination.

Some unique effects can be achieved through the use of transparency. It can be used to make logos brighter or provide the illusion of a bright spot. Transparency also allows logos to have subtle transitions, which are definitely eye-catching.

Waves

Waves are an excellent effect to use in your logo design and have been very marketable in 2008. They inject flexibility and flow into the design. Also, waves suggest movement and speed.

This effect is achieved by fading out from one color to another. The process may sound simple, but it is actually very hard to execute. This may be one reason why waves have been very sought after in logo designs.

3-D

Logos with three-dimensional effects are becoming increasingly popular. Using 3-D in your logo design gives your logo a very refreshing look. This technique involves taking a basic shape, adding a transparency effect, and utilizing your distortion tool to complete the effect.

3-D logo designs are very effective because they stand out. Also, they connote uniqueness. One downside in using 3-D effects, however, is that these logo designs are harder to print. The design generally looks cleaner on the computer screen than it does printed out.

Despite the minor printing drawback involved in using 3-D effects, a number of companies have been very successful employing this technique in their logos. Companies in the technology industry, such as Microsoft, seem to favor 3-D effects the most.

Keep it simple

As alluring as all these effects may be, do not attempt to use all four techniques in your logo design. Pick one or two that you wish to incorporate in your design and be assured that your logo will be a quality design.