A logo is the first thing that people see when they come across your brand. It doesn’t matter if you have an amazing business idea, or if you produce top quality products. If people can’t remember your brand name, it won’t matter how many sales you make! Creating a successful logo for your business is not something that comes naturally to everyone. Fortunately, it’s also not something that is impossible to learn. With diligence, practice and the right resources, anyone can create a good logo for their business. In this blog post we will walk you through 8 tips on how to design a good logo for your business.
Importance of logos
Before we discuss the tips to design good logos, let’s understand the importance of logos:
- A logo is the visual representation of a company. It is used to help people identify the brand and connect with the products.
- A strong logo can help customers associate trust, quality, and expertise with the business.
- A well-designed logo can help customers connect with you on an emotional level.
- Serves as an identifier that helps customers distinguish brand names from one another.
A logo must also give customers an easy way to identify it. A successful logo design can help to set a company apart from competitors by conveying a sense of who they are and what they stand for.
Types of logos to consider for your next logo design inspiration
There are several different types of logos that you can choose from. These include the following.
1. Monogram Logos
A monogram logo looks like a word with letters joined together. For example, Volkswagen and Hewlett-Packard.
2. Geometric Logos
Geometric logos are those that have a single shape that represents the company. Some examples include Microsoft (four colored squares stacked together) and Nike swoosh logo.
3. Pictorial Logos
Pictorial logos have elements of physical objects in them, such as Apple, Twitter, etc.
4. Wordmark Logos
Wordmark is usually a very simple design with just the name of your company, or perhaps one or two words. You can also create an iconic wordmark logo that incorporates your name creatively, such as using it as part of an illustration. ‘Johnson and Johnson” is an excellent example of this type of logo.
5. Letterform Logos
Letterform logos are the company’s name in its typefaces, such as the Johnston Press logo or Coca-Cola’s classic logo.
6. Abstract Logos
These logos tend to be the most creative and are often made of shapes and colors representing your company’s products or services. An example is Spotify logo where the curves can mean sound waves or music.
7. The Combination Mark Logos
A combination mark logo is a combination of branded text and icons / pictures representing your grand. For example: Puma.
8. The Emblem Logos
An emblem logo is a logo that represents a unique emblem as a part of your organization, such as the SEC (Security and Exchange Commission) logo and Oxford University logo.
8 best tips to create a good logo for your business in 2024
Creating a logo can be one of the most difficult steps in creating your brand. You must ensure it’s visually appealing, works well with most of your materials, and holds up against competitors. Here are some tips on the best way to design a logo.
1. Know your target audience
Logo design is as much about marketing as it is about design. So, before you even start sketching out ideas, you need to think about who you want your logo to appeal to. Understanding your audience will inform everything from the tone of your branding to the color palette you use. This can also help you decide what logo design style you should go with.
For example, do you want your logo to be simple and elegant, or futuristic and edgy? Knowing your audience will help you make these decisions. If you’re having trouble figuring out your audience, try doing some research and talking to people within your industry.
2. Keep it simple, yet unique
When it comes to logo design, less is often more. Many companies try to get clever and end up creating logos that are too busy and hard to understand. While you do want your logo to be unique, you don’t want it to be so complex that people don’t know what your company is or what you do.
3. Stay within your brand guidelines
Create a logo design brief. This brief is a document that outlines the requirements for your logo. It will include things like brand identity, target audience, product description, and marketing objectives. It’s important to have this information on hand, as you don’t want to make design decisions that don’t fit with your branding guidelines.
While you do want to give your designer some creative license, the logo design brief will outline the specific details you want in your logo. It will also outline any restrictions your company may have. If your business is a subsidiary of another brand, you may be restricted to certain color combinations and font choices. The logo design brief will also help you stay consistent with your branding throughout all your marketing materials.
4. Choose the font carefully
You might think that a font is a font, but logo fonts actually have a lot of power and nuance to them. Ideally, you want to pick a font that is clean, simple and readable at a small size. You don’t want a font that is overly decorative or that makes it hard for your audience to read.
One way to pick a font is to look at fonts that are already established as a standard. This includes fonts like Helvetica, Arial and Franklin Gothic. If you want to get more creative with your font choice, think about the kind of feelings you want your brand to evoke. For example, do you want your brand to be serious and trustworthy, or fun and approachable? The right font choice can help you achieve this.
5. Use the right colors
Colors are another thing to consider when creating your logo. They are extremely important, as they can evoke different feelings and associations in people. Just like with the font choice, you want to select colors that will help you build your brand.
There are several tools you can use to pick the right colors for your logo. For example, you can use a color wheel to pick two main colors that will complement each other. The trick with picking color is to not overdo it. You don’t want to use too many different colors, as this will make your logo look cluttered and hard to understand.
6. Use vector art, not photos
One mistake that many logo designers make is to use photos in their logo designs. While this might sound like a good idea, it can actually backfire on you. Photos can date your logo and make it hard to maintain consistency across all branded materials. They also don’t scale well in a digital environment.
If you use a photo in your logo design, your logo might look great on a billboard, but terrible on a business card. Vector art is scalable, so it will always look crisp and clean no matter where you use it. It’s also cheaper than hiring a photographer to take images for your logo.
7. Make Sure Your Design Stands the Test of Time
The best logos can be used for many years and don’t necessarily have to be changed yearly. This means that you should avoid trends and make them in a timeless type of style. You should also avoid using a font popular with other businesses or that you can look up on a website and download for free.
8. Add a touch of motion
If you want your logo to really stand out from the crowd, consider adding motion to it. This can be as simple as changing the color of your logo or adding a subtle animated effect. Adding motion to your logo can help it stand out, especially if you use it in your marketing materials. It can also help your logo and brand feel more memorable to your customers.
If you’re not sure how to add motion to your logo, you can hire a designer to do this for you. Alternatively, you can use stock animation clips or video editing software like Adobe Express to create your own motion graphics. If you want some inspiration to get started, check out these 45 awesome logo animations.
Logos are essential to companies, as they represent their brand and value. They play a big role in the success of any business, so it is important to get them right. There are many ways to design a logo, so when creating yours, remember these tips to making a good logo as it will ensure that it stands out and has the best possible chance of success.
Your thoughts?
I hope you will find this post interesting and helpful in creating a good logo for your business. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
This post was co-authored by Abhishek Raj, Founder at Budding Geek along with the Guest Author — Eisele Candace.
Eisele Candace
Technical Writer at Yalantis
Eisele Candace has 8 years of experience as a technical writer, specializing in content related to IT technologies and web design in the software development company – Yalantis. Holder of a graduate degree in Journalism, and a diploma in Public Relations. She also finished courses on “UI / UX / Web design”. In her personal time, she enjoys reading, hiking, and spending time with family.
