How to Design a Logo

Logos are a necessity for all brands. It’s more than just an image or group of letters in fancy fonts that help people distinguish your product from competitors. Your logo is the face of your company. It tells people who you are and what you stand for. It is the cornerstone of your branding. It helps customers connect to your brand.

Designing a logo is a step-by-step process. Here’s a quick guide on how to create your own unique logo:

Who are you?

A picture is worth a thousand words. Logos communicate who you are, what kind of personality your brand has, and even what you believe in.

The first step in designing your logo is figuring out your brand identity. Recall why you started your company, what values you uphold, and what makes you different from all the other companies in the same industry. Ask yourself what your brand’s goal are and what it’s doing to achieve it.

Consider what your brand’s personality is like. What impression would you want your customers to get when they see your logo? Fun? Professional? Classy? Laid-back? Creative? Customer-oriented? All these adjectives help you narrow down what kind of image and style you can use for your logo design.

Research

Research is an important step in making your logo design. In this step, research all the necessary and relevant information you need in shaping your logo design.

Determine out what symbols or images you can use. See what kind of colours would fit your brand. Do they show your brand’s personality?

Learn about your competitors and their logo. What kind of logo do they have? Why did they choose this image? What kind of personality is their brand trying to portray?

It’s also important to see what are the latest trends in logo design. What style of logo design is in right now? What’s out of style? Is using gradients still a thing?

While research tells us what we can do with our logo, it also tells us what not to do. It helps us avoid common logo design mistakes such as creating a generic logo, or worse, a logo that’s similar to someone else’s.

Brainstorming and Sketching

Behind every great idea is a brainstorming session. Now that you have all the necessary information and narrowed down your options, it’s time to start creating your logo design. Using a pencil and paper will do.

Create different versions of your logo. Try different images, styles, shapes, and forms. It doesn’t have to be perfect or detailed. Sometimes it’s best to keep it simple. What’s important in this step is to get all the ideas out on the table. It’s okay if it doesn’t seem coherent, relevant, or even remotely good at the moment. Put it all down on paper.

Brainstorming alone is okay but it’s best to do it with a group of people. Different ideas from different people help make the process faster and easier.

Creating the Initial Draft

Once you’re done brainstorming and decided on what style and image to use, it’s time to create an initial draft. Create different versions of your logo design. Try different styles, shapes, and forms. It doesn’t have to be perfect just yet. You’re still solidifying your idea here.

One very important thing to keep in mind when creating your own logo is taking into consideration how your logo will look on different surfaces. A logo should always grab people’s attention and communicate the message you want it to communicate. Therefore, make sure that your design enables your logo to stand out on big surfaces such as banners as well as small ones such as flyers or business card logo. Whilst also ensuring that your logo will look great on other locations such as your company letterhead design or your email signature!

Also, consider here the colours you are using, how will the logo look on a white background, how will it look on a colour background?

Refining

Once you’ve created your initial drafts, pick the best ones you have and narrow it down to at least three different versions. Create more refined drafts, complete with the colours and fonts already. Use an online logo maker or have someone help you. Use different colours and fonts you think would suit your brand best.

When you’re done, print your logo designs, and compare and contrast your choices. Have someone take a look and give their input. Ask around, and make a poll, see what other people are reacting well towards.

Finalizing

Once you’ve decided on what logo design you’re going with, refine it and finalize all the tiny details. Create different versions of it, if possible. You never know if you’re going to need it someday.

Top tip; Keep different versions exported for various different purposes – for print, for web, transparent background, white background, large file, a small file. It’s a small task to do now while you have the design files open, but you will make your life so much easier as and when you go to use your logo!
Now you’re ready to use your logo. Spread it wide and far – it’s the only way to make it recognised.

Time to update your email signature, social pages, website & print your new business stationery and maybe use one of our Business Starter Packs!