Last updated on December 1st, 2022
Visualizing a brand without a logo is impossible. It’s the logo that makes the first impression on your target audience. But how to create a powerful logo — this question keeps many businesses and designers busy finding the correct answers. Here, we have set forth a step-by-step guide to creating a powerful logo.
Most of us can agree that there are way too simple logos in the world that we can quickly get over, and then there are the best logos that we can recognize from afar.
But what is it that makes you recognize it?
Is it the logo design, the color, font, or something else?
Even if you’re going through the process of making a logo using an online logo maker for your business, you’ve got a solid position to leave a powerful impact on how audiences recognize your brand. So, it’s vital to make sure that your logo displays a cohesive and clear image of your company right from the start.
And while a logo design may look quite simple to take on, creating it isn’t always a cup of tea. A good logo design involves thorough market research, thoughtful consideration of the golden rules of logo design, and a deep understanding of your buyer personas.
The success of your logo lies in its process. Remember, the process is the most crucial part of creating a powerful logo. Fall in love with the process, and you’ll have a logo that will tell people who you are, what you do, and what your brand message is.
Even Paul Rand said that “Design is the silent ambassador of your brand.” If you get your logo design right, it’s going to stay in people’s minds forever.
Now, the question is — where to begin your logo design from? Here, we have put together a step-by-step guide to create a powerful logo that will leave a lasting impression behind.
A Step-by-Step Guide To Creating A Powerful Logo For Your Business
Step 1: Understand Why Your Brand Needs A Logo and Why It Has To Be The Best
Every business wants to attract the right audiences, sell them its products/services, and keep growing day by day. Of course, you want the same from your business. But to attract the right customers, you need to present your brand in front of them in an impressive way.
Your logo is the first interaction between you and your customers. If it’s interesting, they will come to know more about your brand. So, it would be best if you made it the best logo.
Because your logo will be an integral part of your branding, you need to make sure it is designed well. It will appear on all your branding materials, from business cards to your website, packaging, and business letters.
A professional logo design not only communicates what your business is all about but also helps you stand out from others. The moment you understand it, your journey for a great logo begins.
Step 2: Lay The Groundwork For Your Logo
It doesn’t matter whether you’re designing a logo for yourself or a client; you need to do some groundwork. First, you need to understand the company for which you’re going to create a logo. Getting to know the products or services it deals with will also make the path easier.
Find out why the company exists. What does it do, and how does it do? What makes a company different from others? Who do they cater to, and what do they value the most?
You may think that these questions are unnecessary, but they aren’t. In fact, these questions lead you in the right direction of logo design. Once you understand a brand’s personality, it will be much easier for you to make the right design choices.
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Step 3: Brainstorm Words That Portray Your Brand Identity
Now that you are ready with the answers, it’s time to proceed further in your logo design project. Find out the term that best describes your business. You can take the help of Theasurus.com to find out the exact word.
For example, you own an interior decoration company. You may simply enter the “decoration” term in the search bar. You’ll find many descriptive synonyms. Dig deeper into these words to find the best words suitable for your brand. You can find five to ten words that describe what you do. You can take help from them to refine a concept.
Step 4: Start With A Sketchpad
With hundreds of digital tools accessible today, you may think of directly jumping to a computer to create a logo. But that’s a mistake! You may not come up with the exact logo design ideas you want. In that case, a sketchpad comes as a handy tool. It not only gives your eyes a much-needed respite from the glare of a computer but also lets you record your design ideas quickly and freely. Even, you can wake up in the night and get your logo design idea down using a pen and paper.
With sketching, you can put your shapes precisely at the same place you want them. You also get enough time to digitize your logo later. If you have to explain the design to a client, it makes sense to share your initial ideas and then digitize them later with or without changes. This also makes it easier to visualize your logo design without the known distractions like colors or typefaces.
Make sure to share only the best ideas, though.
Step 5: Pay A Look At The Competitors For Inspiration
There is a fine line between borrowing and stealing. If you don’t know how to design a logo from scratch, no worries, you can always borrow ideas from others. Here, others mean your competitors.
Run a thorough competitor analysis to determine what is already there, what resonates with your audience, and what things you should avoid when creating a powerful logo.
While analyzing the companies in your niche market, mark down what makes them different from you. Also, find out how you can highlight these differences in your logo creation.
But be sure to stay distinct and set yourself apart from them. Consider an example — if each business in your niche is going monochrome, you should choose some colors to be unique. If your competitors are traditional in their logo approach, you can opt for a cool and modern logo.
Step 6: Pick The Right Design Aesthetics For Your Logo
Now you have a clear picture of the business, it’s time to interpret that idea into a design. In the middle of the logo design, many elements come into play. Whether you want to add colors, choose symbols, shapes, graphics, or typography, each component has a significant role to play.
Take them to step by step to avoid any overwhelming situation. When you start designing your business logo, the first thing you should consider is your brand’s style or design aesthetics.
Find out what’s best for your business. Is it a classic logo that fits right? Or, is it the retro or vintage vibe that you want to give to your design? A clean and minimalist logo design is also there to accompany you if you want something that’s not fancy.
Fun and quirky, and handmade logo styles are also there to choose from. Decide which one you want to pick and why.
You don’t need to pick just one style. Instead, you can mix and match various logo styles to get something that’s memorable, relevant, and easy to create.
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Step 7: Choose Appropriate Colors
Colors in logo design have a significant role to play. They can have different meanings. There is a term color psychology that brands consider when creating a custom logo design. You need to learn the meaning and emotions that a particular color depicts to be relevant in your design choice.
You don’t have to be limited to a monochrome logo representing just one color. Instead, you can combine several logos to share a cohesive brand story. Take the reference of the color wheel to pick colors that go well together.
Consider complementary colors that you can find lying across each other on the color wheel. These colors bring out the best and create a vibrant look. Analogous colors, on the other hand, are found closer to each other.
You can consider them to pick logo colors that look harmonious. For a stimulating and bold effect, you can consider triadic colors found from three equal segments on the color wheel. To sort things out, you can also take the help of a color wheel generator.
Step 8: Choose A Suitable Font/Typography
The type of font you choose for your logo says a lot about your brand. Therefore, you need to go for a font that completes your brandmark. You can work with the four basic typefaces: Serif fonts, Sans serif fonts, Script fonts, and Display fonts.
While serif fonts are classic, sans serif fonts are modern. Using generic fonts will put your logo with several others that fail to amaze.
Explore different logo fonts and font families to check what works best for you.
Step 9: Aim For Simplicity That Goes A Long Way
What’s common among Dropbox, PayPal, Airbnb, Twitter, Spotify, Apple, Netflix, Meta (Facebook), and Snapchat logos? Well, they all are very simple but memorable. Simplicity helps in recognition. And it comes as a great advantage when you have to compete with so many brands. A simple logo sits in one’s mind longer than a complex logo.
A logo has to be focused on a single story. It should have a simple font, a relevant color, and a cohesive look that can work anywhere, right from signage to letterhead, business card, and more.
The simple a logo is, the better its impression will be.
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Step 10: Create Your Logo On A Free Design Platform
Once you get everything ready, it’s time to turn your sketch into a real logo. To bring your logo ideas to life, you can choose many free design platforms or logo makers. You can take your pick from Designhill, Canva, Looka, GraphicSprings, and so on.
These free logo design platforms can help you digitize your sketch logo. But for that, you need to have a bit of technical knowledge. One of the most important things is to get its layout right. Make sure everything — text, shapes, etc. is well-spaced and fall cohesively with each other. Take the help of logo design templates if you find aligning everything tedious.
Show The World Your Brand New Logo
Now that you have your logo design ready, what’s next?
Well, once you have designed your logo, it’s time to add it to your brand. Put it on your branding materials — website, business cards, brochures, social media accounts, and letterheads. Once you’re done, your logo is ready to WOW!
Major Takeaways:
- A good logo is simple and easy to recognize. It reflects what your brand stands for and distinguishes you from others.
- Avoid clichés when designing a company logo. Do not generalize it like your competitors.
- Simplicity is the key to a successful logo, don’t complicate it. You can get ideas from the logos of some big brands such as Apple, Dropbox, Snapchat, Instagram, etc.
- Make sure your logo won’t look outdated. Choose a timeless font and design.
- Do not settle for a general or low-quality logo just to keep your overheads low. Instead, hire a designer or post a contest on various platforms to get the desired logo within your budget.
- Pick relevant colors as a bit of a mistake in color selection can ruin the purpose of your logo. Instead, consider the meaning of a particular color before integrating it with your design.
- Choose a free logo maker tool or a creative platform to design a logo easily. You can consider many names like Designhill, Looka, Canva, etc.
Conclusion
A great logo establishes communication with the target audience while building a solid relationship with them. It works well on many platforms — website, social media pages, and print that helps your business build a brand identity. Your logo should be scalable, irrespective of where you use it. Seek the help of a professional if you aren’t satisfied. Keep your ideas of a perfect logo open and see how things work in your favor!
