Why would I design a logo for my brand? Well, that’s very easy – a logo is the first recognizable thing your (potential) customers see of your brand. Before they’ve even walked into your shop, or surfed to your website, your logo is basically already shaking the hands of customers to welcome them. Your own logo is therefore one of the biggest marketing tools in your arsenal.
Just think of any famous sports brand or hamburger joint, in your mind’s eye you likely will see a ‘swoosh’ or ‘golden arches’ before you think of running shoes or burger patties, am I right? This is the power of a good logo design.
In this article we will help you get to your own logo design that will perfectly fit your brand, in just 7 easy steps.
Table of Contents
- Step 1: Understand Your Brand Identity
- Step 2: Research Your Custom Logo
- Step 3:Brainstorming your Own Logo
- Step 4: Concept Development
- Step 5: Logo Creation
- Step 6: Logo Testing and Finetuning
- Step 7: Get your Logo into your Brand
- Frequently Asked Questions
Step 1: Understand Your Brand Identity
What is a logo exactly? Very simply put, a logo is a visual symbol that represents your business or company. This visual symbol can be a word, an image, an animal… Anything that fits the message you and your brand want to send out to your target audience.
Choosing what type of logo your business needs is therefore super important. Deciding on a dog logo for example, inspires trust, loyalty and the power of family.
See your logo as the first chapter of the book that is your brand.
Before even thinking of customizing stand out logos, make sure you have an answer to the following questions:
- What is my mission?
- What vision drives my business?
- What are my business values?
Mission
Let’s say your mission in the world is to make dog biscuits that make dogs live ten years longer.
That’s a great and big plan which I am sure many people, especially dog owners, can get behind. Your mission can be a little bit over the top, we want to reach for the stars here, not say something simple that everyone else is also saying (like a boring ‘we want healthy dog biscuits’). Your mission is the best possible way to get people behind you, support you and get loyal to your brand.
Vision
Now imagine what is the vision you see for your brand? Do you see little pet bakeries popping up on every street corner in the States? Or do you want to be a brand that is sold in all the major supermarkets across the nation? Perhaps you do not even want to focus on shops or other points of sale, and become a fully online business.
This vision is something you can incorporate in your logo ideas. For example if you decide to be fully online, it would be silly to have a quaint little shop in your logo. See where we are going with this?
Business values
Next up are your business values. These will reverberate through your whole company if done right. Does your business value collaboration with others? Is your company a pioneer and wants to withstand any future competition? Or are your values more aligned with the more traditional side of work and leisure where you keep your business within the family?
You can have a business value that allows for people to become a community around your brand. Let’s imagine dog walkers starting to collect your marketing and print materials for example, just because your logo icons are so cool within their communities of dog owners.
Brand guidelines
Once you have answered all the questions and had a proper brainstorm on who your brand is or wants to be, it is time to create your brand guidelines.
When you start your brand logo from scratch or are going through a rebranding, the brand guidelines are basically the Bible for your branding.
Having a brand style guide ensures you have the same logo templates across all your marketing design.
These will include your choice of color, your choice of font and typography as well as rules on how to create print layouts and where to store your logo files.
It is very important your own logo matches the messaging of your brand exactly.
Step 2: Research Your Custom Logo
Remember those golden arches we mentioned earlier? Now it is time to do some proper research in the wondrous world of logos. What already exists and what is a gap in the market? Think about color use, use of negative space, transparent background and messaging. Do you want just a visual image, or include the name of your business in the logo too?
So grab yourself a tea, cozy up on the couch and flip through magazines, surf just a few clicks around the internet or keep your eyes open when Christmas shopping for fun logos other brands have used in their window displays. When feeling inspired, why not go play around with a free logo maker like Canva or Looka?
There are lots of online logo generators that can help you design a mock up logo, which will teach you a lot already. Perhaps only what you do not like at all, but hey, that’s also a very important step in the right direction.
Tip! Make a moodboard of all the logo styles you like so it’s easier to start creating logos when you’re ready.
Step 3: Brainstorming your Own Logo
Now let’s share this moodboard with your colleagues, friends and family! Feel free to get more team members involved, where you all can share different perspectives and possibly build ideas off one another to create a logo
Get everyone who’s opinion you value write down any ideas that came to mind when they saw your moodboard or inspiration. Perhaps they have a valid argument (“black does not really fit the rest of the brand, why not choose burnt orange instead?”) You can spend just a few minutes using a mindmapping technique where you basically draw a spiderweb of ideas, all centered around your brand identity. This logo design process can be fun and quick!
Don’t want to risk a DIY logo? Speak with a Rabbit logo design experts today!
Step 4: Concept Development
Once you have chosen your top 3 to 5 options of logo templates, it is time to develop your logo concept. This is the step where you drill further down and decide on styles like minimalist or vintage.
Use the following three elements of logo design; logo type, logo colors and typography, or in easier terms, your font. This will surely get you to the perfect logo.
Logo Type
When it comes to the type of logo, there are seven main categories your logo will fall under: abstract, mascot, emblem, lettermark, pictorial, and wordmark design, as well as a combination of one or more. You can check out our full post on different types of logos.
Logo Colors
A color scheme is a combination of color you can use in your logo to create visual interest. So your friend suggested choosing burnt orange as a color? Awesome, let’s see if that color is easy to use in customizable logo designs or png logo files. For small business owners it is important to also keep in mind the availability of certain paint colors, if you need to import your color from the other side of the world, it might get very costly very quickly.
Fonts
Your font is the type of letter you choose to write the brand name or logo in.
Remember when all brands had Comic Sans as their preferred font? Luckily we have moved on from that, and have many more options to choose from!
Step 5: Logo Creation
With all your homework done, you are ready to start creating your dream logo.
Will you create your logo using a logo creator? Or an online free logo maker? Will you choose one from the many logo templates out there or hire a professional to make a logo that fits 100% with your brand? The online logo makers can be very helpful if you are already quite creative and feel confident enough with your design skills to create a logo by yourself.
However, if you feel a little overwhelmed by the choices of contrast or choosing for a transparent background or not, no worries, there are plenty of professionals who can help you. Rabbit can help you get on the way by giving you some logo resources or creating high res logo files for you to check out.
Just fill in the questionnaire form and one of our top designers will get back to you as soon as possible to start creating logos.
Step 6: Logo Testing and Finetuning
It is almost time to share your dream logo with the world! But before you do so, take it for a little test run. The perfect logo resonates with your audience and makes people want to know more about your brand. The best way to dip your toes in the water is by posting your favorite logo on several different platforms. Think about social media, email signatures and asking your friends and family how they feel about this exact logo.
Some questions you can ask them:
- Is my logo easy to understand?
- Can it be recognized easily?
- Does this logo instantly make you think of my brand?
- Do you think it is easily seen on different backgrounds?
The answers to these questions help you understand if you chose the right logo color and if your design skills have helped create the right logo for you. Basically, did you design the perfect logo already? Or does it need some tweaking?
Step 7: Get your Logo into your Brand
Finally, you have your eye catching logo! It has the same quality appearance, it fits seamlessly within your business idea and the beauty of your logo is just ‘mwah!’ – chef’s kiss.
Now, we need consistency. Make sure to place your perfect logo everywhere. Yes, everywhere. Including letter heads, social media profiles, email signatures and of course all over your website or webshop.
Your custom logo is the new meet-and-greet for your customers meeting your brand identity. Be proud of it and share it with the wider world in any visual way possible.
FAQ: How to Design a Logo
What are the three rules of a good logo design?
A good logo keeps it simple, elegant and original. Make sure your new logo fits well with your brand identity and business name.
How do I create a new logo?
You can start your own logo collection by simply generating logos on any free online tool. You then download your logo which is automatically customized and done. However if you take all the logos a little more seriously, you can create a logo by hiring professional designers to make sure you get the right vector files and formats. Getting a professional designer involved also assure you are not copying anyone else’s logo ideas and get the right brand kit for your perfect logo.
Is it easy to use a logo maker?
Yup, it is! There are plenty of online tools you can try and play around with for your logo design and many logo makers do not require extensive design skills.
However, to not risk creating a new logo that does not fit your brand well, or is not a very easily used design for print or marketing materials, we recommend hiring a professional graphic designer for your logo design.
