How to Design a Logo for Your Business
Your brand’s logo is the centerpiece of how your business is represented visually, and you’ll want a logo before you begin designing business cards or your website. A strong brand logo is crucial to communicating what your business stands for and is integral in generating recognition for your brand.
If you’ve decided to design your own logo, you likely already know that it can be a difficult process—here's how to get it right.
Why you need a logo for your business
Think of your company’s logo as the “face” of your entire brand. You’ll use it on business cards and letterhead, and a well-designed logo will help you stand out from the competition. Think about some of the most popular logos of our time and how we associate them with their brands. From Apple to Target, these companies have simple, clean logos that are synonymous with the companies they represent.
How to design a logo for your brand
Designing a logo is difficult—which is why some companies pay thousands of dollars for logo design alone. If you’re willing to do some preliminary research and test out your own design skills, there’s absolutely no problem with giving logo design a go.
Conduct research on your target audience
You want a logo that resonates with your customers, so spend some time researching their likes and dislikes. Create a profile of your ideal client, including their gender, age, hobbies, and any other differentiating information.
This infographic about logo design leads with this very important concept. Notice the first example, using Red Bull’s logo. One is strong and masculine, and appeals to their target audience of adventurous, sports-loving single males in their twenties who are working full time. The other logo is “fun” and “cute,” two traits that directly conflict with the company’s target audience.
What makes a good logo?
According to design experts an effective logo has the following characteristics:
- Simple. A simple logo is easier to recognize, and enhances versatility. Aim to design a unique, yet visually uncluttered, logo.
- Memorable. You want customers to associate your logo with your brand.
- Ageless. The best logos are “enduring,” or timeless. You don’t want to redesign your logo in 10 years.
- Versatile. Facebook’s recent logo change is a good example of versatility. The company tweaked their logo to make it more versatile across various platforms, including mobile technology.
- Appropriate. You want a logo that’s appropriate for your business. A personal injury law firm would want to stay away from bright colors and childish fonts, for example.
Where will customers see your logo?
Let’s revisit Facebook’s new logo to illustrate the importance of where people will view your logo. The social media company recently redesigned it’s logo ever-so-slightly by using a different font, though it may not seem like a massive change. However, it does demonstrate an important fact: people are using their mobile devices to consume information online. Facebook’s font change made their logo more readable on smaller screens, like smartphones and tablets.
While designing your own logo remember this lesson from Facebook: it’s likely that customers will browse your website from their phone or tablet, so design your logo accordingly.
Tools to help you design a logo
You don’t need Photoshop to design the perfect company logo and there are plenty of online logo generators available. In this list, Shopify compares some of the most robust online logo makers so that you can choose the service that’s best for your budget and ability. These websites ensure that you’ll never have to use cheesy ClipArt again, and they’re surprisingly easy to use.
If you’ve given logo design your best effort, but it’s still not working out, don’t throw in the towel just yet. There are affordable professionals available that can help you design a strong brand logo.
Have you ever designed a logo for your business, or do you leave design work to the professionals? Share your stories about logo design in the comments!
