We come across logos every day, on television, on the net, and in the street. Logos are everywhere. There are thousands of them, and probably even millions. How do you find your place in this colorful universe? How to design your logo from start to finish? What is a logo? This article will explain why you should create a logo and how to design your logo successfully.
Why create a logo
Your logo embodies your company’s brand image: it represents the basis of its visual identity and expresses its values. It allows your customers to identify your company’s industry, services and products at a glance.
Generally speaking, when you create your own brand, your goal is to build a customer base and retain them. In this process, your logo demonstrates its importance by exerting a significant influence on your future customers. Indeed, a logo is the first impression people have of your brand, so it must be unique, original and effective. Therefore, it is essential not to miss your logo design and ensure that you convey as much information as possible about your brand through your logo.
You need to create a logo that will set you apart from your competitors, inspire confidence, and charm your future customers. To do this, you must start by carrying out an in-depth analysis of your company to determine, among other things, its target audience, its values and its mission.
Digital aspects of logo design and where to use the logo
The logo will not spread by itself: you have to help it become famous and recognizable, at least initially, when few people know about the company. To do this, you must actively use branding. This rule does not only apply to start-ups or small businesses. Look at the big brands: they use the logo and other elements everywhere: from packaging to the construction of amusement parks, with recognizable official symbols.
Standard places to use the company symbol are the website, advertisements and business cards. But there are dozens of resources to promote the brand with the logo.
Publishing your logo on the internet is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to do marketing. After all, you share more with connected potential customers: from a profile picture on Instagram to a signature in newsletters. Here are the primary tools:
- Company website or blog: place the logo close to the main elements, for example, near the slogan, company story or customer reviews;
- Favicon: the icon appearing next to the site name in the browser is particularly useful when the user has several tabs open;
- Profile photos on social networks: use the logo as a profile photo on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn;
- YouTube: if you have a channel, upload the logo as the main image and use it as a watermark to protect your content from theft;
- Advertising banners: by creating a banner to advertise on the internet, add a logo to it;
- corporate letters and newsletters: add the logo to the signature;
- Photographers: use a registered trademark to protect your copyright;
- Mobile application: when developing an application for Android and iOS, use your logo as an icon;
- Guest posts: When posting on partner blogs, remember this is another opportunity to use the company symbol.
Questions to ask before making a logo
Contrary to what many people believe, creating a logo is not easy. It would help if you asked yourself several questions before embarking on the creative process. Everything must be thought out, and you must leave nothing to chance. In addition to determining what your company’s characteristics, strengths and strategy are, here are the questions you need to answer:
- In which sector of activity does your company operate?
- What products and services do you offer?
- Who is your target audience?
- Who are your main competitors and what products and services do they offer?
- What colors would best represent your company?
- In your opinion, are there essential elements to incorporate into your logo?
- How do you want to use your logo?
Once you have all the answers to these questions, it’s time to move on to creating your logo.
Top things to consider before making a Logo
Target audience
As is the case with designing a website, it is essential to know your target audience well before designing your company logo. Therefore, you will be able to choose the typography, the colors and all the other elements of your logo so that it is as effective as possible and attracts your target audience.
Keep it simple, unique and memorable
When you are creating your company logo, the goal is for people to memorize it quickly and effectively. The logo is often the first stuff people will see of your business and is what helps them remember it. For example, if we showed you the logo of big brands like Apple, Nike or McDonald’s, you could definitely identify them at a glance. Why? These famous logos have a simple and unique design, allowing them to make an impression and be easily recognizable.
Do not put too much detail in your logo: opt for simplicity. If you overload your logo with details, it will be much less readable and have less impact when printed in a small format. Try to make your logo stand out and attract the attention of your customers and future customers: make it unique. Your logo should immediately be understood and associated with your business, and a simple and unique logo will stick in consumers’ memories more easily.
Be careful about the logo colors
The colors in your logo can say a lot about your business and the products and services you offer. Color is the first stuff people will notice about your logo. Therefore, you must ensure that you make the right choice of colors, as this will certainly have a long-term impact on your company.
To avoid the “rainbow” effect, we advise you not to use more than 2 or 3 colors on your logo and to choose one that will be more dominant than the others. Also, it’s good to make sure your logo is easy to read and has a good impact in black and white because there’s a good chance that your customers will print a page from your website or one of your documents in black and white.
Typography
Typography, also known as typeface or “font,” represents all the characters of the same family. When we talk about the same family, we mean how the letters were drawn. Fonts can be divided into several groups. The three best known are serif (with serif), sans serif (sans serif) and decorative fonts. In the image below, you will see examples of these three types of fonts.
If you want to add text to your logo, whether it’s the company name or the slogan, you should know that it is essential to choose simple, clear and easily readable typography. It is also strongly recommended not to use more than two different fonts in your logo. The choice of the “font” should not be made on a whim: you must analyze which era, style, and values it reflects before making your final choice. The wrong typography could give your logo the opposite effect of what you originally intended.
The choice of typography is a critical step in creating a logo. Indeed, the font chosen will necessarily be used throughout the company’s visual identity, ranging from the business card to the website. Thus, it is essential that it reflects the image of the company.
Keep it timeless
To last over time, your logo should not follow current trends. It’s best to keep your logo as timeless as possible to avoid having to replace it or make major changes in the near future. Changing a logo quickly or frequently can be detrimental to your business: you need to give people time to get used to it and to associate it with your company.
Among the popular logos that have lasted over time, we find the logos of Nike and BMW in particular. These two internationally renowned brands have kept the fundamental concept and the effectiveness of their logo while making slight modifications.
Keep it vectorial and declinable
Another essential element in the success of the design of your logo is to ensure that it is available, that is to say, that it can be used on all your communication media (business cards, posters, website, internet, etc.) and on a colored background, a white background or a black background.
To be suitable for all media, your logo must be created in vector format. This will allow it to maintain the same quality, whether it is very large or very small. Your company logo should have the same impact whether you look at it on your phone screen or on a giant billboard.
Logo makers for you to get a good logo
Looka
A huge list of logos will be presented to you and you can take your pick. You will be able to choose the font, and the color scheme and include shapes like diamonds, etc. The logos generated by Looka are modern and look very professional. It is a very good logo maker surpassing in terms of design many of the sites featured here.
DesignEvo
DesignEvo allows anyone to become a logo designer in minutes with a large list of professionally designed templates. It’s a really comprehensive multi-purpose logo maker tool to be sure to get a unique logo.
Canva
Canva is aimed at both beginners and professionals. It’s a versatile piece of software that can design images for anything from Facebook ads to blog posts and logos. Canva is a free online logo-making tool, so you can get started without spending a penny. However, if you want to unlock more premium features like some more professional icons, you will have to pay.
Designhill Logo Maker
Designhill offers unique designs. Start by choosing your five favorite design styles. Then their system will generate several models. Create the perfect logo by modifying the template you prefer.
Logaster
Logaster allows you to create a logo in minutes and you don’t need any special graphic skills. All you need to do is enter your business name and click the “Create” button. You can even create a business card for you and your employees and get your logo optimized for social media. Several different backgrounds are offered with different layouts.
In summary
By following these tips listed in this article, you will put all the chances on your side to successfully create your logo. One of the only points that could interfere with the quality of your logo is a limited budget or time.
You must remember that your logo will be considered “successful” if it is simple, unique, easily recognizable and durable over time. It should not be confusing with the logos of your competitors or other companies and it should be usable in all mediums, large or small. For your logo to be as effective as possible, you must also display it on all your communication tools: business cards, website, posters and others.
About the Author
Sammy Zhou is a digital marketer. She always tries to explore something new in her content and loves sharing tips and tricks on marketing. Works for a digital marketing company, she is passionate about everything related to marketing.
