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We can safely bet that there is not a day in your life that goes without you coming across a logo. Every single business has a logo as its brand identity. A logo is more than just a symbol, it is how people recognize a brand or business. Think of Netflix, your first visualisation would be the letter ‘N’ in red against the black background. A study shows that logos influence consumer behaviour towards a brand.
Before jumping in and designing a logo, follow these to design a logo that best reflects your brand’s personality.
Be thorough with your business needs, goals and your unique selling point which will help you understand the ‘how’ of designing a custom logo.
Tell your brand’s story through your logo and etch it in people’s minds.
Know what message you want your logo to convey, because a message is what differentiates a powerful logo from a normal one.
Colours are powerful in evoking emotions and are very crucial for logos and branding, researching colour psychology will help you choose the right colour for your brand logo.
Creating your logo in black and white will get you started and can also be used when a medium doesn’t need a logo in colour.
Scalability is the use of your logo on different mediums in different sizes and orientations, hence designing a responsive logo is extremely important.
You can have the urge to design a logo that keeps up with the trend but be warned that trends fade away. Logos should be timeless, so a big no to following the trends.
A boring logo has no purpose to serve your brand identity. A logo should elevate your brand identity, think beyond limits, think differently, and bring in your brand’s touch to the logo you design.
The whole process of designing a logo requires a lot of work, therefore, creating some basic sketches is a great place to start. Adobe Illustrator is one of the best software that will help you create vector designs.
Overcrowding your logo with a lot of elements will make it visually complex and is definitely a bad idea. Keep it minimal and convey a unified message.
Now that we have discussed the pre-work of designing a logo, let’s get into the actual process of designing one.
Designing takes a lot of discipline and it is an iterative process. We have broken down the process of creating a logo into 5 steps which will guide you to make a logo that stands the test of time.
The beginning is always the most crucial step of anything that we do, as quoted by Aristotle - “Well begun is half done.” The goal of this step is to gain as much understanding about:
This step is very essential to make the rest of your process hassle-free.
This step involves making decisions before getting into the design process. To make better decisions learn about the types of logos and decide what colours are you going to use in your logo.
Types of Logos:
Broadly logos are of 3 types, logos that only consist of text, logos that only consist of a symbol, and logos that are a combination of both.
Lettermark
This type of logo usually contains 3 or 4 letters that are the initials of the words of their organisation name. It is perfect for organisations that have 2 or more words in their name.
Some of the best examples are NASA, IBM, and HP.
Wordmark
Wordmark type of logo is similar to letter marks but they have the complete business name. These logos work very well in registering the brand name, but make sure that the name is easy on the tongue.
Some of the best examples are Google, Coca-Cola, and Disney.
Symbols or Pictorial mark
The logo symbol or an icon works like a charm for well-established companies, but you can nail it too with a thorough understanding of the broader perspective of your business and the emotion that connects you with people.
Some of the best examples are Apple, Twitter, and World Wildlife Foundation.
Abstract Logo
These logos are a type of image-based logos, usually in abstract forms and shapes. They usually represent the uniqueness of each brand and the values they stand for. Abstract logos are the best choice to represent brands globally whose names can be difficult in other languages.
Some of the best examples are Nike, Mitsubishi, and Pepsi.
Mascots
Mascot logos contains illustrated characters as a primary element which can be fictional characters or even real people who represent the company. These logos tend to get easily registered in the minds of people and are designed keeping in mind the target audience or sometimes the brand’s vibe.
Some of the best examples are KFC, Mailchimp, and Pringles
Emblems
Emblems are badges that consist of the elements within. They give a classic traditional feel and are highly used by universities, sports teams, and government organisations. A lot of detailing goes into these logo designs which makes them rich in look.
Some of the best examples are Starbucks, Harley-Davidson, and Warner Bros.
Combination mark
As the name reveals, these logos are a combination of text and images. They are usually used by brands to align with different use cases, where sometimes they use the text and sometimes the symbol. They are one of the most versatile logotypes used popularly by several brands.
Some of the best examples are Dropbox, Taco Bell, and Domino’s Pizza.
Once you have decided on the type of logo you want to design, the next step is to decide on the colours that you want to represent your brand. Remember in step 1 we spoke about brand personality? (I saw that you scrolled above to find it, that’s okay :P) it will help you choose the right colour for your brand logo.
The madness begins, after all the research and decision-making now you get to start designing your logo. Finally! This step involves all the information gathered in the first 2 steps.
There are 2 options to go with to design your brand logo:
Since we are talking about making your free logo online, we shall discuss option 2.
An online logo-maker tool is the best choice for those who don’t have much design experience, time and money.
Our logo maker tool is a completely free tool designed for businesses with thousands of options to create a perfect logo. See for yourself how easy it is to create a logo with our tool and you will know why it is the best logo maker online.
By now you either would have a single logo design that you crafted with all your heart or a handful of logo designs that are too good to choose only one. Testing them will steer clear of everything that you don’t need.
A great design is only as good as it works. Consider these parameters to test your logo:
Scalability
You will be using your logo pretty much everywhere and on different channels, so make sure it is of high quality in any size. A vector file is a must-have for your logo as they have no pixels and is easily scalable. Other formats like PNG and JPG are also important.
Colours
Having a black-and-white, all-white and all-black logo with a transparent background will make it versatile to be used on different channels. Test your logo in all versions to not fall into trouble in the future.
Use cases
Test your logo based on the core applications according to your industry type or your personal needs. Logos are popularly used on websites, social media profiles, app icons, posters, business cards, emails, packaging, invoices, textiles, metals, wood, and a lot of other daily-use things. Modify elements in your logo as required for the different use cases.
Variations
Break down the elements in your logo and create variations. You always can’t use all the elements in all the places. Have a primary logo, sub mark logo, wordmark logo, and a favicon.
Once you have completed the 4 steps, now you have the final piece that’s going to stay for a long time and represent your brand. Then isn’t it important to have some guidelines on how and where to use your logo? Well, it is!
Create some guidelines about the size, positioning, and orientation of your logo. Make a list of changes that can be made to your logo if a need arises and the things that should never be changed, the different typography your logo can take form, the colours that can be changed according to different channels and the elements that can be used separately.
It might feel like it is a lot of work that you are doing to just create a logo, but when you see the results and your brand being recognized well because of your logo, it will feel like a reward for all the work that you put in.
Lastly, a logo is not what defines your brand, it is your work, your people and your culture that defines your brand, nevertheless, your logo is a powerful medium to represent your brand without speaking a word.
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, Yourstore
21st October 2022