Understanding logo design will help you create a simple and memorable logo.
Creating a logo is something you need to do as a small to midsize business owner, but getting started can be daunting, especially if you’ve never designed a brand’s logo before.
Sticking to the basics is crucial in order to create a memorable and versatile logo that represents your brand at a glance. Take your brand and business to the next level by following these tips in order to create the best possible logo no matter your budget or skill level.
What is a logo?
A logo is a graphic that represents your brand and is unique to your company. It can be thought of as shorthand for everything that you want to express about your business. You’ll find it included in items such as printable materials for your company, as well as on your website. A good logo is simple, memorable, and versatile.
Tips to kickstart your logo design process
These tips will guide you through the logo design process in order to give you a head start on creating the most fitting logo to represent your brand and business.
Tip #1: Evaluate your brand
Before you even think about creating anything tangible, you need to evaluate your business and its place in the market. Think of this step as designing your brand identity.
Ask yourself these kinds of questions about your company brand:
Are we friendly and approachable?
Do we provide a luxury item?
Are we providing services?
Why did you start your business?
What values are important to your brand?
What sets you apart from the competition?
What do you want people to think of when they think of your business?
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Start with the core concept that you’re going to build your brand around, and write out all the connecting, applicable words to help narrow down what you want your brand to represent. Collaborate with your team once you have these core concepts solidified in order to get a second or third opinion to dig further into your brand values.
Tip #2: Research competitors and look for inspiration
Once you have your brand values solidified, you’ll want to go out and try to find similar companies and brands in order to see what they’re doing. Don’t be afraid to look outside of your particular industry; if you like a brand because it has a similar vibe and feel that you want for your branding, take inspiration from it.
Keep in mind that just because something is super popular in your industry doesn’t mean that you have to mimic it, especially if you’re trying to be a disruptor in the industry.
Take a look at as many different logos as possible. Think of ones that you've seen in the past that you really liked, or look at different brands within your industry to gather inspiration.
One of the largest hang ups during this phase of the process is being flooded with too many ideas or not having enough. By researching other brands and finding inspiration from what people are doing in your industry, you’ll have a better idea about what resonates with your audience. You can use that as a jumping-off point to launch your logo design.
An example of what a logo repository site includes (Source)
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To view logo design options, you can peruse logo aggregates such as Logoed[1], Logospire[2], and Logo Design Love.[3] Another good place to look is websites such as Dribbble[4] where designers share their work; just search for “logo,” and you’ll find hundreds of different logo designs. And finally, social media apps like Instagram have a huge artist and designer presence that you can seek out by searching with hashtags.
Tip #3: Develop a brand identity and mood board
Once you have the logos you like as inspiration, drag them all into a folder, or use a tool such as Pinterest to gather a mood board of the different logos—there’s a good chance that you’ll like a variety of logos at this point.
An example of a brand kit template from Canva (Source)
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You want to do your best to organize your favorite thoughts and ideas. Take all that input that you spent time gathering during the inspiration phase, and try to draw some conclusions about what you like about the ones that you're drawn to.
What is it about them that you think looks good or feels right for your business?
What kind of feelings do they evoke?
What colors are you most interested in when developing your logo?
Tip #4: Brainstorm and sketch ideas
Once you’ve narrowed in on the high-level concepts and ideas you want to execute, it’s time to brainstorm and sketch ideas. You can either do this manually with pen and paper or with a variety of digital graphic design tools that can make the entire process easier.
An example of a digital graphic design tool to help design logos (Source)
If the logos that you're drawn to include a little icon or a piece of imagery, going to icon sites such as The Noun Project[6], or even using icons from stock photography and graphic design websites such as iStock[7] or Shutterstock[8] can give you some direction so that you can have a place to start and you don’t have to start from scratch.
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It’s super important that you make sure that you don't take something that is copyrighted by someone else. If you’re a painter and you want to use a cool paintbrush icon, make sure that it's royalty-free or purchase it. And that will be a great starting point to get you on your way.
Tip #5: Create concepts
At this point, you’re trying to tinker around with the logo design concepts that you love in order to get them all in the most visually appealing way possible.
Take all of the designs you brainstormed and narrow them down to a few that you really like. Copy it and start tweaking and adjusting it in small ways. For instance, you can change the color scheme to try out different combinations of colors. You can try out different fonts or type faces. You can stack the words in different ways or move icons around.
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This is also the part of the process where you can play around with colors. If you do, it’s important to recognize the different effects that color psychology can have on your customers.
The color red represents strong emotions. Yellow can symbolize mental clarity or optimism. Blue can signal that your brand is more calm and secure, while orange can evoke excitement and warmth. For more information about how color impacts your brand’s identity, check out Branding Essentials for Successfully Marketing Your Small Business.
Tip #6: Gather feedback
Once you’ve narrowed down your top three or four concepts, show it to people in your industry or on your team, and bring in any stakeholders or even friends and family to gather feedback.
It’s important to remember that feedback is a gift. Take all of the feedback in, and think of the responses pragmatically. You don’t have to do exactly what everyone has noted, but it should give you a fresh perspective on your work so you can see how things will appeal to your customers.
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Here are some questions to ask people when gathering feedback:
What sticks out to you first?
Did any aspect of the logo confuse you?
What’s the most memorable part of the logo?
What’s the first thing this logo makes you think of?
If you could remove anything from the logo, what would it be and why?
Tip #7: Finalize your logo
Most of the time, getting feedback will help you hone in on which of your final concepts is the strongest. Once you do that, you can take that and start to tweak and finalize it.
Your logo should be very legible—it shouldn't be too busy. You don't wanna try to cram too many different concepts into it. You want any icons you use to be able to stand on their own as representative of your brand.
The same is true for the typography you use. It should be legible even in smaller sizes. Think about embroidering it on a t-shirt or putting it onto a small letterhead or a business card. Is it still readable at that size, and does it feel like a representation of you and your business?
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When you’re choosing which of your concepts to go with, ask yourself a few questions. If you were thoughtful and intentional during each of the previous stages of the logo design process, you should be able to answer them:
Is the logo simple and memorable?
Does the logo reflect your brand values?
Does the logo speak to my target audience?
Can a stranger tell what my logo is quickly and without confusion?
/ CASE STUDY
Can you create a logo with no design experience?
Carla Papas, founder of the Merrybody, a meditation and yoga pilates app[5], needed to design a logo that represented her brand. Not having a background in design, she started by looking at her favorite apps. She noticed that their logos didn’t have words, but rather had icons, shapes, and colors. She and her sister decided to follow in those same footsteps and do something more visually representative of what MerryBody was.
They started by taking inspiration from their first logo, which included a heart to represent the love the two sisters shared and wanted to spread through their yoga, pilates, and meditation practice. They included the puzzle piece because of their desire to make MerryBody become their members’ perfect fit—just like finding the last puzzle piece.
“Our biggest lesson with design is always less is more. Or, add, then takeaway.”
They took the original heart logo they had designed, and after discussing what values and ideals they wanted their new logo to convey, drew out a quick mock-up to give to their graphic design team to execute.
About Carla Papas
Co-founder of The MerryMaker Sisters
The original mock-up (left) and the end result from Papas’ graphic design team (right).[5]
Consider hiring a professional logo designer
Many companies outsource their logo design to a branding agency or a logo design agency. If designing a logo is something that you feel is completely out of your depth, or if you don't have the bandwidth to spend so much time creating your logo, consider hiring a professional logo designer. There are branding agencies, graphic design agencies, or freelancers that can help you out with almost any budget.
If you end up using an agency, you should still try to do tips one through three as comprehensively as possible. You want to have a good handle on your brand and core values as well as bring any references or inspirations you have to your designer so they have a good place to start. Creating a mood board or brand identity board will help make the entire process go much more smoothly as well.
If you’re on a tight budget, you might look for a freelance graphic designer or logo designer who's just starting out in their career. They’re going to have a lot of impact on helping you create a great logo for your business, and you’ll be helping them develop a portfolio.
For more information about branding agencies, check out these resources:
Designing an effective logo is achievable
Developing a logo takes time and effort and might push your current skill set to the limits, but if you execute these steps and spend the time and energy necessary, you’ll be left with a logo that’s a great representation of your brand.
For more tips about how to design a logo that will stand out, check out this helpful video guide.
And if you start trying to design your own logo and find it overwhelming, you can always look into design services to help you create a beautiful logo.
As always, if you get stuck and need more advice or resources about how to brand your business, Capterra’s got you covered:
If you're searching for a logo design agency to hire for your business we’ve got you covered. Check out our list of companies in the following areas: