Best 7+ Tips For Designing A Logo
What Is A Logo?
A logo is a symbol used to identify a company, organization, or institution. It is the representation of your brand. A great logo is memorable and straightforward in execution. It will leave a lasting impression on people and make them remember your brand over time. Here are the top tips for designing a logo.
- Logos must be simple.
- They must work across all mediums, from digital to print to clothing and anything in between.
- Readability in all sizes is essential. Logos need to work from being only 16 x 16 pixels small to being put on the side of a building.
When To Start The Logo Design Process
It is never too early to start designing your logo. It’s better to start as early as possible. Whether you are a new company, an existing company thinking of updating your logo, or a business looking to re-brand, it’s ideal to hire a good logo designer early in the business planning process. This way, the overall look and feel of your branding is part of the process and can help drive business decisions early.
General Considerations When Designing Your Logo
People have certain expectations when it comes to businesses. One of the first things you’ll want to do is to analyze what others in the same industry are doing. As a general guideline, you’ll want to choose something that is not too different from your competitors but, at the same time, something that is not too similar either. If you do something too unexpected, you run the chance of people “not getting” your logo and then overlooking you as a credible option. Or, if you do something that is too similar to your competition, you’ll run the risk of looking like a copy cat.
The Importance Of Fonts In Logo Design
Fonts are an integral aspect of logo design and branding. It’s important to know which fonts to use. First, let’s define what a font is. A font is a collection of letters, numbers, and symbols that share design features. Most fonts fall into the following basic categories; Serif, sans serif, script, and decorative.
Serif and sans-serif fonts are the most common style. Serif fonts have “the little feet” on the top and bottom of each letter. The ones without those extensions are sans-serif. As a general guideline, if you are going for a more traditional look and feel, choose a serif font. If you want to be more contemporary, choose a sans-serif font.
Script fonts are those fonts that “mimic” handwriting. Often with large loops and ornamentations, these fonts are more suited for elegant brands.
Decorative fonts are a catch-all category that contains fonts that are hard to define or blur the lines between styles. These can lend an air of playfulness to your logo.
Where to Find Fonts To Use In Your Logo Design
Here are a few of the many places online where you can get fonts.
Free Fonts
Google Fonts: Offer a good amount of free fonts to use as you wish.
DaFont: Offers lots of specialty fonts that you can’t find elsewhere.
The League Of Moveable Type: It’s not an extensive library, but they offer nicely designed fonts.
Paid Fonts
Adobe Fonts: Has a good variety of fonts to use at your disposal.
Lost Type Co-op: If you’re looking for something a little different, this is the place to go. Their fonts are offered with the pay as much as you like business model.
My Fonts: They offer over 130,000 fonts at varying costs.
Please read all licensing for each font that you want to use. There may be hidden clauses or costs.
It’s never too early to think about what font to use when designing your logo. Fonts, like symbols, can convey feelings you can use to portray your brand. Choosing the right font is an essential aspect of logo design. Here are a few tips for designing a logo when selecting fonts.
Do
- Choose fonts that are easy to read and consistent with your overall brand’s tone and feel.
- Choose a font that is appropriate to your industry.
Don’t
- Choose trendy fonts.
- Choose fonts that are too hard to read.
- Choose too many fonts. Please keep it to one or two fonts.
The Importance Of Color In Logo Design
Color is probably the easiest way to portray a certain feeling in logo design. Here are some basic meanings of colors and how they affect the perception of your brand.
Red: Associated with energy, passion, and power. Often used in food brands.
Orange: An excellent choice for industries that are fun yet professional. Often used in food and sports logos.
Yellow: Approachable, cheerful, and friendly. Great for brands that pride themselves on customer service.
Green: Associated with nature, this is a good choice for brands that want to convey an organic or natural feel.
Blue: Professionalism, trust, and reliability. Great for those in the tech industry and the health sector.
Purple: This is playful and is associated with wealth and wisdom. Often seen in cosmetic, fashion, and candy brands.
Pink: Invigorating, active, and youthful. Usually found in the fashion, food, and cosmetic industries.
Black/Gray: Elegant, sophisticated, and modern. Often found in fashion and high-end brands.
The Importance Of Symbology In Logo Design
What symbol or image do you want to represent your company, organization, or institution? The pictorial element can be one of the most complex parts of logo design. Pick something too obvious, and you run the chance of another brand in your industry already using the same symbol. Pick something too “out there,” and you’ll risk alienating your customer. One of my favorite tips for designing a logo is to find the sweet spot between too “obvious“ and too “out there“. Perhaps the best way of doing this is to brainstorm ideas.
How To Find The Perfect Symbol For Your Logo
Brainstorming is the most crucial part of the whole logo design process. Everything else stems from this, so be sure not to skip this portion. Here are some tips on setting up a successful brainstorming session.
- Brainstorming by yourself: Grab some paper and a pen. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Then start writing down or sketching everything that comes to mind. The point of this exercise is to generate as many ideas as possible. It’s not about being perfect. After your time is up, review what you have and see what stands out to you. Repeat as necessary.
- Group brainstorming session: You’ll need a whiteboard and an open mind. While brainstorming, no ideas should be considered wrong or initially tossed out. Something one person says may spark another thought from someone else. It’s essential to ensure that everyone in the session feels confident and safe with their ideas.
The Tools Used To Help Create A Great Logo
When it comes to creating your logo on the computer, there are many programs and apps out there that you can use. You’ll want to choose an app that makes vector art. Vector art is scalable. The letters, lines, and shapes it creates are based on math. Therefore this will allow you to scale your logo without losing quality. If you choose a pixel-based app (like Photoshop), you’ll be limited in the sizing of your logo because when you enlarge pixels, you can see them—creating a fuzzy, out-of-focus logo that nobody will find pleasing.
Here are three vector options, ranging in price from highest to lowest (free).
Adobe Illustrator ($$$): Considered by many to be the industry standard. Adobe Illustrator has many features and tools to help you create your logo for your business.
Affinity Designer ($): This is an excellent alternative to Adobe Illustrator. It has a good solid foundation of features and a great workflow.
Inkscape (Free): This open-source app offers various tools to help you create your logo.
Conclusion On Tips For Designing A Logo
Designing a logo is both an art and a science. Great logos may look simple; therefore, many people think they are easy to create, but it takes creativity, skill, and time to learn how to design an effective logo. I hope these tips for designing a logo help you in the logo design process.
Contact me if you are still struggling with your logo design and feel you need help. I’d love the chance to talk and see how we could work together to create a logo that not only will you love but your customers will love too.
