An effective brand identity is crucial to your success as a business. Your logo is the entry point to your brand and must communicate your brand message clearly and attract the right customers. How do you know if your logo is up to snuff? The best way is to consult a branding expert that can review your brand brief and your marketing materials to make sure your visual brand is consistent with your original intentions. But, here are six hallmarks of great logo design that you can look for in your brand.

#1—Memorable

It really doesn’t matter how many people see your logo if they don’t remember it. Part of what makes branding so valuable is that when a brand is easy to remember and is immediately recognizable, it builds brand awareness in the minds of your customers. As they get to know and interact with your brand, your logo is attached to the expectations they come to adopt towards your brand. If your brand does a good job of fulfilling its promises consistently, your customers will become loyal and insist on your brand every time.

#2—Authentic

Your logo needs to portray who your company really is at it’s heart as well as hint at your brand promise. Before designing your logo, make sure you go through a brand strategy development process so that you know what your brand purpose, position, promise and personality are. Your visual brand can then be designed to reflect your strategy.

#3—Differentiated

There is a lot of white noise advertising out there, but only a fraction of businesses invest in their branding. By going through the effort of creating a great brand identity, you are literally putting yourself ahead of the crowd. A good brand identity will visually demonstrate to your customers what makes your company different from your competition, and you will attract the customers that align with your values.

#4—Sustainable

It’s important to avoid trends in designing your brand identity so that your brand will continue to look relevant and up to date and stand the test of time. Consistency is vital in the longevity of a brand, and although some brands need a little refresh from time to time, it can damage brand equity to make major changes.

#5—Flexible

When designing your brand identity, make sure you put yourself into the future of your business. Do you see yourself expanding or adding new products and services? Is your logo flexible enough to accommodate growth, or does it pigeonhole you?

#6—Meaningful

Your logo can go a long way in communicating your company’s message when it visually conveys meaning above just the words. Images, symbols, shape, color, fonts and design all play a role in infusing meaning into the graphics.