Whether you are going into business for yourself, leading up the marketing team of a small business, or are a burgeoning graphic designer, a great logo is definitely something that needs to be a part of your near future.
It’s not good enough anymore to just slap your company name on a colorful background and call it a logo. There are too many innovators out there for you to fall behind and not have a recognizable symbol to call your own and to attract customers and business from around the world.
You need a really great logo that will stand out, get people interested, be inspiring, and be instantly recognizable in any form it takes. This can certainly be daunting, but if you follow this step-by-step series of instructions, you can begin churning out the ideal logo for your own needs as quickly as today.
Here’s a look at how to get this process started:
Find Your Inspiration
No matter who you are, there are certain shapes, colors, fonts, images, tones, and objects that you can feel a connection with when you see them. Maybe it’s the smell and sight of waves crashing on the beach. Maybe it’s the feel of being in the middle of a forest teeming with life all around you. Maybe it’s the wood of the desk you use to work on or the look of your dog growing up. You may love elegant fonts that make you think of tea at your grandmother’s house or futuristic fonts like the opening scroll to the Star Wars movies. Whatever it is, it has an impact on you, and you know it so well that you can use it to inspire your logo. Depending on what field your business is in, this might take a while but you’ll definitely find something worth your effort to go forward with.
Put it on Paper
No matter how good computers get at representing our graphic ideas, they can never take the place of a sketch pad and pens or pencils. It is such a worthwhile process to transfer your ideas straight from your mind to your hand to paper. It doesn’t have to look beautiful, but some of your best brainstorming will be done at this stage, and you might find that keeping iterations on paper instead of deleting them on a computer screen gives you inspiration for later projects that you otherwise would not have.
Use Adobe Illustrator
There are tons of great design programs out there, but if you’re doing it yourself, this is the best bet because of its functionality for scaling, allows you to save your logo as a vector, and you can use their elements in your artwork. If you’re not on the level yet to use a program like Adobe Illustrator, consider an online tool like Wix Logo Designer that can do a lot of heavy lifting while you supply the core ideas.
Write it Out
If you’re going to incorporate a name into your logo, write the words out, stack them, and decide which one needs to be most prominent (assuming there is more than one). Once you’ve mastered that part, you can start going with font ideas for contrast, making sure you stay in comfortable territory for the business and industry you’re in. You don’t need a party flyer font for your funeral home. Add visuals at the end which can be as simple as common icons or logos. Understated is always the better path to choose rather than cramming your small space full of pictures and graphics. It’s sort of like designing a birthday cake. Candles and a smiley face or two, but when you’re reaching into the bowl for yet another handful of glitter dust to compliment the fondant roller coaster you’ve constructed, it’s time to realize you’ve gone too far.