So, you’re getting ready to design a logo for your brand or business. You want to create something that you love, and your audience loves, all while standing out and being different from your competition.
Well, doing this is often easier said than done. This is especially true if you don’t know a lot about graphic design or you aren’t sure what kind of logo you want or need for your business.
The good news? We can help!
In this article, we’ll break down a few key traits that all successful logos have, including a few you might not have thought about before. We’ll tell you how to use color properly, why fonts are important, as well as tell you what you need to make your logo yourself!
Now then, let’s get started!
Keep Things Simple
One of the biggest mistakes that people make when designing a logo is not keeping things simple. Sure, you’re trying to stand out and grab people’s attention with your logo.
But if you try to do too much, you’re going to turn them off or create a logo that isn’t legible, two things that you don’t want to do.
Remember the KISS rule: keep things simple, stupid. If you keep that rule in the back of your mind during the entire design process, you’ll most likely end up with a logo at the very end that works.
Know What Your Audience Wants
Of course, the purpose of your logo is to grab people’s attention and let them know who you are and what you’re about. So it would only make sense that you would want to create a logo that potential customers and clients would enjoy looking at, right?
Doing this isn’t as complicated as you may think, either. Simply keeping your audience in mind when making font and color choices is usually more than enough to help you create something people are going to enjoy.
And if you want to take things to the next level, consider bringing in some people and asking their opinions on a few logo options. The more opinions you have on the subject, the better.
Limit Your Color Choices
Sure, this may seem a bit obvious, especially after we broke down the “KISS rule” earlier. But knowing how to use color in your logo is so important that it absolutely had to have its own section in this article.
A good rule of thumb? Limit yourself to 3 colors, not including white, in your design. Doing so will prevent you from creating something that looks like a blob of randomness from far away.
Also, make sure you pick colors that go well together. If this isn’t something you’re good at naturally, consider using an online color palette generator to find the right combo for you.
Understand How Fonts Work
If you know anything about graphic design, you know that fonts are much more than just words. This is especially true when designing a logo, as the font you’re choosing is most likely spelling out the name of your brand or business.
Fonts are an incredibly powerful tool. And if you’re designing a logo that will include font, what type of font you choose to use is without a doubt the biggest and most important decision you’ll make during the design process.
So, if you haven’t already, familiarize yourself with how fonts work and what different fonts mean. That way you can make sure you pick a font that will speak clearly to your intended audience in a way that will be both memorable and effective.
Study Your Competition
When you’re in the early stages of your design process, and you’re still brainstorming ideas, take a look at what others in your niche are doing. Sure, you don’t want to copy a logo or steal an idea.
But you can get ideas on what works, and more importantly, how you can be different than everybody else.
For example, you may notice that everyone in your niche has wordmark logos. Because of this, you may decide that a pictorial logo or a combination logo is the best path for you to take in order to stand out from the crowd.
This can also be helpful when picking out colors, as most businesses in the same field use similar color combinations. HVAC companies, for example, love using a red, white, and blue color combination. So if you’re an HVAC company, and you want to design a logo that is different, avoiding those colors would be a wise decision.
Make Your Logo Useful
Often times, people will focus too much on how their logo looks and not enough on whether or not it’s practical. Remember, you’re going to need to do more with your logo than just stick it on the side of a building. So making a logo from the ground up that suits all of your needs is important if you want to get the biggest bang for your buck.
So, if your employees have uniforms, make sure you design something that will look good on those uniforms. If you’re selling merch, like t-shirts and hoodies, make something that you can use in a variety of different ways so you can sell more products.
Having a logo that is useful is an absolute must, to say the least.
Focus on Legibility
During the design process, you’re most likely only going to be looking at your logo close up on a computer screen. While it’s important that your logo looks good in this setting, you want to consider how your logo looks from a wide variety of angles, too.
For example, if you plan on blowing your logo up and hanging it somewhere outside of your building, you’re going to want something that is clear and easy to see from far away.
Maybe you plan on shrinking your logo down and placing it in the bottom right corner of a YouTube video. If this is the case, it’s a good idea to make sure it looks good and is still legible at that size before signing off on a final design.
Don’t Be Afraid of Blank Space
If you plan on designing your logo yourself using a tool like Looka’s logo generator, you’re going to start off with a blank canvas. And while a blank canvas isn’t a good logo, a logo that knows how to use blank space is, which is why it’s important that you understand the concept well.
Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is leave a particular surface area blank. This will allow for the surface areas that you do fill with a design to stand out that much more, which of course, is the overall goal here.
Show Off Your Personality
Last but not least, it’s important to remember that your logo is the perfect opportunity to tell others who you are and what you’re about. More specifically, it’s a great way to let some of your own personality show so you can attract like-minded individuals to your brand or business.
The best way to do this? Have fun!
Enjoy the design process, don’t get too stressed out, and make the most of the situation. Doing so will allow you to create the best logo imaginable, which of course is a good thing.
How to Create Successful Logos for Your Brand
Well, there you have it! That is a basic guideline on how you can create successful logos for your brand or business! So, using these ideas, you can create the logo of your dreams!
Remember, above all else, keep things simple. Limiting yourself on fonts and colors and utilizing blank space is a great way to ensure that you’ll create an effective logo.
Also, take a second to scan your competition and see what they’re doing. Odds are you’ll notice that everyone has similar color schemes and design ideas. Going in the opposite direction with your logo is a great way to stand out and be different from everyone else in your niche.
Make sure your logo is both useful and legible. Because if you can’t use your logo how you want to, or it’s hard to read it from a distance, it’s not a very effective logo and you’ve wasted both time and money.
Last but not least, have some fun making your logo and show off a bit of your personality. Doing so will help you create something that both you and your audience will love!
Looking for more graphic design tips and tricks? Check out our blog!
