Do you have a business, brand, or organization? Are you planning to launch it soon? If yes, then designing a logo is most likely on your mind! Creating an eye-catching logo for your business can help it stand out from the rest and establish its brand identity. It can also be used as an identifier to identify your organization. That said, designing a logo can be challenging if you’re unaware of all the necessary components. In this blog post, we will discuss everything you need to know about designing a logo so that you don’t make any mistakes along the way! From discovering your company’s visual language and identity to identifying what typeface and colour scheme will work best, we will share everything you need to know about how to design a logo.
Why Does Your Business Need a Logo?
Logos are used to represent the company and brand identity. They are also helpful in helping consumers identify your business, which is especially important when they’re unaware of your organization. A logo can also be an identifier for your business and help differentiate it from a similar brand. With these benefits in mind, why do you need a logo? If you have an established brand name, having one might not be necessary. But if your business has no reputation yet or you want people to know who you are and what the company stands for, then creating a logo is necessary. Designing a logo can be challenging; however, there are many resources out there that will help guide you through the process.
Here is a list of some resources that can help;
Your company’s visual identity and visual language (http://www.brandhive.com/visual-identity-and-visual-language)
What typeface and colour scheme will work best for your company (https://designshack.net/articles/typeface-color/)
Packaging design (https://www.noupe.com/)
Tips for getting started with designing logos (http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-make-a-logo)
5 Characteristics of a Great Logo
So, what are the five key characteristics of an excellent logo?
- It must be memorable.
- It should be unique.
- It must represent your brand well.
- It must be appropriate to use in design contexts.
- It should convey meaning and emotion with minimal words or text.
These are qualities you should keep in mind when designing a logo! Many vital aspects go into a successful logo, so don’t be afraid to experiment with different logos until you find one that meets your business’s needs. Below is our 8-step step-by-step guide on creating a logo from start to finish!
What Makes a Good Logo for a Small Business?
A good logo should be:
1. Recognizable: A logo should be easily recognizable, whether on a t-shirt, a poster, a sticker, or a water bottle. Ideally, it should also be memorable and easy to recall. This is especially important for businesses that service a niche market or operate in a competitive industry.
2. Memorable: A good logo must also be memorable enough that customers can think of it when you ask them to name your business. It should also have some personality or creativity to give it some flare.
3. Effective: A good logo must simultaneously be iconic and functional. It must look nice and pleasing to the eye while carrying out its primary function of advertising your business identity and service quality.
4. Simple: A logo should be simple and appropriate to be memorable. Ideally, it should only contain the elements that identify your business and express its brand personality.
5. Well-Designed: A well-designed logo will have balance, harmony, and proportion in its design and proper information hierarchy, and visual flow efficiencies.
6. Cost Effective: Finally, your designer will design a good logo with both aesthetic value and practicality in mind so that it doesn’t cost the earth but still looks great on all media platforms.
How to Find Logo Design Inspiration
Whether you are a small business owner who wants to DIY their logo or a logo designer who is stuck, here are 5 places you can get inspiration for your logo.
1. Social Media
There are several logo designers on social media platforms, particularly Instagram and Pinterest. These people display their work for potential clients; some even show their processes. A small business owner should go through these for inspiration, while a budding logo designer can follow the best designers to get inspiration.
2. Check Out Your Competitors
Your competitors target the same audience and usually have similar brand objectives as you. Therefore, you need to look into their activities to get an idea of what to and what not to do. This includes your logo if you are just starting!
The best of your competitors probably hired a brand strategist to get their logo done. Brand strategists do deep research to present the best way to show your business. Therefore, if you don’t have the funds to hire a brand strategist, it pays to look at your best competitor in terms of branding.
3. Research Top Companies in Your Industry
Imagine you are launching an apparel brand in Nigeria, and you don’t want a cheap design for your logo. The best way to communicate this to your logo designer is to provide examples to them. Multinational brands established ages ago are usually the best bet. Look into these companies, and cite them as examples to your designer.
4. Google Image Search
Every brand online that allows its website to be crawled by search engines has its images online. Therefore, Google Image Search gives you access to thousands of logo inspirations for your brand. When you search for terms related to your industry with the ‘logo’ suffix, you will find several images to inspire your design. For instance, searching for ‘shoe business logo’ yielded the search results below.
5. Window Shopping
This is important to get inspiration for culturally relevant logos.
For instance, if your business targets people living in Lagos, Nigeria, you want to visit markets in Lagos. Go around stores to check out the logos of small businesses in that location.
This will give you an idea of what the customers expect in terms of branding for their favourite purchases.
8 Steps to Designing a Great Logo
You will need to take a few steps to design a great logo.
1. Determine your company’s visual identity
2. Identify what typeface and colour scheme will work best for it
3. Research other logos you want to compare with yours
4. Consider your company’s name and consider what iconography would suit the brand
5. Evaluate the different shapes of the logo and how they relate to your company’s visual identity
6. Know how important the logo is to your business, brand, or organization
7. Find ways to keep your logo simple
8. Consider any legal implications of your design
5 Tips to Create a Great Logo
A logo is your company’s visual identity. It’s the first thing people see when they visit your website, print materials, and social media accounts to identify your business type and what your brand stands for. Therefore, logos should be simple and easy to remember. A logo should also have a unique aesthetic or style, so it doesn’t look like any other company or brand. That said, it’s essential to know the basics of designing a logo before working on one because it takes time and effort to get it right! Here are five basic guidelines:
1. A well-designed logo should be memorable, easy to recognize, simple, clean, and professional.
2. A well-designed logo shouldn’t try too hard to be different, but at the same time, it shouldn’t feel like every other company has already done it before.
3. The colours used in a logo should stand out and complement each other appropriately but not overpower one another.
4. The size of a logo is essential because small logos can work in certain situations, such as social media banners, while large logos might work best on your website banner or in print ads.
5. It is always recommended to use a serif font with a sans serif font for the best contrast when designing a logo because these fonts make words easier to read quickly. So if you’re looking for clear lines between text and background without making them blend too
7 Mistakes to Avoid When Creating Your Logo
You need to keep seven things in mind when designing your logo.
1. Make sure it matches your company’s visual language and identity.
2. Your logo should be easily recognizable at a glance, meaning it should be simple enough while maintaining its overall aesthetic.
3. People should easily be able to associate your logo with the business or organization that it represents.
4. You shouldn’t use your name as the logo because people will always associate the two.
5. Don’t copy other logos, and make sure that they are unique in their sense.
6. Create an original design with a fresh perspective rather than copying something already existing.
7. Be mindful of copyright laws and licensing rules, especially if you plan on selling merchandise with your design on it.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Logo Design
What Are the Golden Rules of Logo Design?
Creating a logo for your business is a crucial step that can help you establish your brand and create an identity for your company. A logo is often the first impression your company makes to the public and can help you differentiate yourself from other businesses. You should keep a few things in mind when designing your logo that will make it more effective.
1) Make sure the logo is simple and easy to read. It won’t be effective if people can’t understand what the logo is supposed to say or represent.
2) Make sure the logo isn’t too confusing or cluttered. It should only consist of one or two main elements.
3) Be creative when selecting the colours for your logo. Everyone has personal preferences on colours, so find one that works best for your brand.
4) Make sure the logo has no accidental similarities with another company’s logo. You want people to know it’s yours, not another one!
How Can I Create My Own Logo?
To design a logo representing your business, it’s essential to consider what your company stands for and what image you want to project. Several design trends exist, and if you choose the wrong one, your logo can look outdated and tacky. Before you start designing, take some time to think about the look and feel you want your logo to have. Then, find a design company specializing in logo design and give them the specifications you’ve come up with. They can create a logo that’s perfect for your brand.
However, if you want to hire a logo designer in Nigeria, you are at the right place. I have over five years of experience creating evergreen logos for small businesses and big brands. Visit my logo design page to learn more about my logo design services.
