There’s been a lot of talk about logos this year. Whether businesses are driven to tweak their logo every few years out to stay on trend or the get attention for the latest products they launch, more 20 major brands have changed their logos this year.

Some companies, like the International House of Pancakes or “IHOP”, opted to conjure up feelings with logo design. Wired pointed out in an article this summer that IHOP’s new logo is all smiles, with the company revealing a cheerful new trademark.

Meanwhile, mobile phone service giant Verizon pared down the red and its antenna-like “V” atop the logo, settling for a check at the end of the company name.

Along the same lines, music app Spotify nearly eliminated the black from its corporate namesake. It also changed its citrus-lime green logo to a more fluorescent shade. According to Digiday, because Spotify didn’t make a huge announcement and let the new brighter logo just show up on phones and mobile devices, it supposedly caused users to “freak out”. Spotify users quickly took to Twitter criticize the logo — new in color only — with one person notably calling the logo “slime green”.

And of course, with the news everywhere this September, you’ve already heard that search engine behemoth Google got a logo reboot as well.

While many in both the business world and the press thought Google’s new logo was strangely less interesting or more childish like refrigerator magnets, some gave it praise. Either way, it wasn’t the first time a Google logo design upset someone. According to Entrepreneur magazine, most of us get used to a comfortable corporate brand so much that we simply hate logo redesigns.

It begs the question: What makes for a “good” logo”? To some extent, there must be some universal principles, right?

Inc. magazine tried to simplify the guidelines of "good logo design”, stating some sensible but obvious points: a logo should be unique, timeless, adaptable to various media and, above all, business appropriate.

Putting on a designer’s hat, there are specifics on what design elements make a good business logo. In late October, Slate.com highlighted a new book called Logo Modernism, which was put out by Taschen, a publisher well known as an authority in art and design. In the article, Slate dished out about a hundred different examples of aesthetically pleasing logos that use only black and white. The article’s author selected the logos from Taschen’s compendium, heralding them as examples of what good corporate logo design looks like.

If you thumb through the many black and white logos in Slate’s article alone, you see a lot of great design. But very few among them are internationally-famous brand logos. Instead, much of what is on display are logos of public sector organizations such as the Saratoga (NY) Performing Arts Center or Rostock (Germany) City Council. Or they are logos representing single events like Germany’s 1965 Panorama Exhibition or small business outfits like Italy’s Idea Books.

That’s not to say that multinational corporations can’t have bold black and white designs. And when it comes down to it, should every top-quality logo have prominent black and white elements in it? Or should it at least have a black and white version?

This summer, Medium addressed the topic of black and white logos and their necessity today. “Not so long ago colour was a premium to reproduce, so it was standard practice for a business to have a black and white version of its logo to use in single colour documents which could be printed at a fraction of the cost,” the page author, known as Logo Geek, opined. “Now however print costs have been considerably slashed removing the need.” The article doesn't suggest that cost influence all design efforts but the Medium article underscores that clear and sometimes contrasting elements really do make for a great corporate logo.

Often where black and white or, more specifically, single color logos work best isn't the company letterhead or the sign illuminated outside of your building. It is important to consider where else your logo light be featured. In the design process, it’s important to consider whether the logo could be added to a printed retail receipt customers save after a purchase, on a glass door or window, or on promo products.

On the subject of trade shows and business events, Medium mentioned that, “If you plan to promote your business at exhibitions and events you will most likely want to have promotional merchandise such as pens, notepads and bouncy balls. Due to the process involved to produce these it’s common to have the logo printed in a single colour.”

Whatever your line of business, your logo must speak to what your company is all about. If you have a new company, your company has grown, or your business has changed and the logo has to be updated, call in the design experts: Idea Custom Solutions.

Even better, if the customers you serve are in need of a brand refresh, you can partner with Idea Custom Solutions to sell them custom logo design. Providing such an essential element of a company’s image means customers are likely to come back for your help on everything else that will feature the logo — business cards, brochures, promotional products and more. Logo design is a gift that keeps on giving -- for you and your customers!