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How to design a logo

Updated: Jun 29, 2023



It's safe to say that we can all agree that some logos are quickly forgotten while others are instantly recognizable (even without the brand name) as classics.

But what exactly is it that makes a trademark instantly recognizable? Why might one be moved to relive a certain moment or have a certain feeling as a result of the design?

Creating a logo for your business puts you in a prime position to influence how customers think of your brand.

Your new company's identity will be communicated to customers through all of your actions, words, and displays. Having a unified and concise statement about your company's mission right from the start is crucial.

Logos are often deceptively complex, despite their seeming simplicity. It calls for extensive study of the market, familiarity with your target audience, and consideration of logo design basics. In order to find the perfect logo, designers often go through numerous drafts.

How, then, do you get started creating a logo? Present company excluded. We've laid out the nine main steps (plus some advice) you'll need to take to design a logo that not only you, but also your potential customers, will adore.


  • Start with your story first

  • Create a list of descriptors for your brand and use these to inspire sketches.

  • Sketch ideas based on these words

  • Put Your Best Designs to the Test with a Real-World Consumer

  • Hone Your Preferred Sketch

  • Logo Design on a Free Online Tool

  • Go for Colours That Can Be Used in a Variety of Settings

  • Pick a Font that Can Be Scaled

  • Ensure Scalability

Creating a logo that effectively represents your brand can boost your business's success, but only if you do it right. Step-by-step instructions on creating the ideal logo are provided below.


1. Start with your story.


It's not the most lyrical declaration, but it's the one you need to get started with: businesses exist to generate profits. You need to be able to sell yourself as well as your goods if you want to succeed in business. Today's marketers are in agreement that customers relate far more to your brand's story than they do to the product's specifications. So, how do you interpret this? Your logo needs to tell a narrative.


Think about the history of your organization before you start sketching up designs for a logo. Coca-Cola isn't just a brown, fizzy drink; it's also polar bears and fancy, white script.


Take a step back from the day-to-day operations of your business and explain to your audience the bigger picture of why you do what you do. The "why" behind your business should inform the aesthetic choices you choose for your logo. How would the title of a film featuring your logo read?


2. Create a list of descriptors for your brand and use these to inspire sketches.


The next step in developing your logo concept is to place it in the context of your story. Simply head on over to Thesaurus.com and do a search for a word that perfectly captures what it is that you're selling.

If you work in the fashion sector, for instance, you might just put "clothes." It may surprise you to learn how many precisely descriptive synonyms pop out. As you narrow in on the phrases that best characterize your company, you can use the links provided to conduct additional research.

The next step is to come up with a list of five to ten words that not only define your actions, but also your motivations. Each of these terms can serve as a directional clue in the process of concept refinement, fitting together like a jigsaw puzzle.


3. Sketch ideas based on these words


Get a pencil and paper ready, and with your why and some keywords in mind, start doodling down any and all ideas that spring to mind. Let each fresh idea develop naturally. Try not to give up if your first few sketches don't pan out; instead, use what you've learned to inform your next attempt. These sketches could center on a form, your brand's moniker, or both.


4. Put Your Best Designs to the Test with a Real-World Consumer


Maintain a basic form. You'll be in good shape if you can quickly draw the most significant components in symbols in under seven seconds. You should stay away from using any well-known clipart or generic symbols like a globe, star, or other icons that are commonly recognized around the world. These tend to slip one's mind right from the bat. The more original you can be at this point, the better your final logo will be. What customers will remember most about your company is its logo. Create an artwork that is true to yourself.

You may make friends or foes out of colours. You must incorporate colour in your logo, but carefully choose the hues you employ. Think about what colours are currently popular in your industry and with your target audience. Avoid using more than three colours, as a rule of thumb. Pick a hue (or a palette) that will set you apart from the rest of the pack. But for the sake of your advertising, don't employ every colour in the rainbow.

Put your best sketches to the test with your target audience.

Once you've put a few sketches down on paper, you may stand back and decide which three are the strongest. Don't overanalyze it; instead, choose designs that your gaze keeps returning to.


You should show these drafts to people you trust, such as friends, family, and a colleague. Show these diagrams to a person who represents your ideal customer (or buyer persona). Getting feedback from a wide range of people, not just those close to you, is the best way to gauge how the general public will react to your brand's visuals.


Get used to hearing the truth, and try not to take criticism personally. These criticisms will only make your final logo better. Listen to their critiques and choose one idea to develop further.


5. Hone Your Preferred Sketch


You've made great strides toward creating a fantastic logo; congratulations! Now that you have an idea for where to go with your plot, you can go back and polish the first sketch you created in Step 1.


Referring back to the terms you found using Thesaurus.com in Step 2 is a good place to start when it comes to refining your logo. Now examine the sketch you choose and think about what it leaves out. Make use of them to modify your existing sketch by incorporating elements from alternate designs you found appealing.


6.Logo Design on a Free Online Tool


It's time to get technical and scan your drawing into a computer for further processing. There are numerous open-source design tools you may use to digitally replicate your sketch and give it life. Here are some no-cost options:

While the aforementioned tools can get your hand-drawn logo into digital form, bringing it to life for a corporate audience will still require some technical guidance. Designing a functional layout is a top priority. You should double-check the logo's alignment with the rest of the page and make sure all text and shapes are properly spaced.


While symmetry isn't required, your logo should always be aligned properly. No matter how you decide to repurpose your logo or where you decide to publish it, you should expect to face circumstances in which your logo sits against varying vertical and horizontal borders, and your logo should appear in these contexts without any modification.


7.Go for Colours That Can Be Used in a Variety of Settings


Your logo's colour scheme might appear wonderful against the colour of the canvas on which you designed it, but eventually, your logo will be placed on backgrounds whose colours you didn't start with.

Have logo colour options for both dark and bright backgrounds at all times. That may involve switching to a different font colour only. Alternately, you may need to alter the hue of your logo altogether.

Make a sample of everything to have on hand before placing an order for promotional items with your brand printed on them. You'll have numerous logo colour options for a wide variety of merchandise, including t-shirts, stickers, notepads, and coffee mugs.


8. Pick a Font that Can Be Scaled


Now is the moment to use visual aids alongside words. If you're chosen sketch is mostly a shape or symbol, rather than text, begin to consider in the textual name of your organization. Consider the typeface this text will carry if your company name ever stands on its own without the emblem.


You may be surprised to learn that the typeface you select conveys a lot about your company. Serif (with stems on each letter) and sans serif (without stems) are two types of fonts from which to choose.

serif-sans-serif-fonts

Avoid using the default fonts that come installed on most computers. Times New Roman, Lucida Handwriting and Comic Sans are all instances of generic fonts. You and your business will be less memorable if you use these fonts.


9.Ensure Scalability


Your logo should be able to represent your firm consistently throughout all of your marketing channels, from print to digital to social media and beyond. You need a logo that looks good whether it's printed on a billboard or screened onto the barrel of a pen.


Every aspect of your logo should be legible, regardless of the logo's size.


Whew — still with us? We know this could seem a little intimidating, but take things leisurely and don't rush yourself. Instead of having to start over a few months later due to a design blunder or change of heart, it's better to see the process through to conclusion and finish up with a great brand.







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