How to Design Your Logo Logically

1. Identify your brand persona

Everything your business does should be an extension of your brand’s identity.

Every time you need to make a decision, you should be asking yourself, “does this fit my brand?”. And in order to be able to answer that question, you need to know your brand persona.

If you haven’t taken the time to define your brand, you’re not ready to design a logo for it just yet. First, you should lay out the values and beliefs that inform your business, as well as the personality traits you want your company and its employees to exemplify.

Once you know who you are from a brand persona perspective, you’ll be ready to make the right design choices to suit yourself.

2. Get inspired!

You know how to get started on designing a logo? By just getting started!

At the beginning of your process, take some time to just get your ideas on paper. Brainstorm up a storm and write out everything that inspires you.

It’s important that you not be too rigid as you begin your design process. You don’t want to snuff the spark of creativity inside you. So, instead, encourage yourself to come up with as many ideas as you can, and don’t put a leash on your mind.

A great way to build inspiration for visual projects is by making a “mood board”. A mood board is essentially a collage of images that inspire you. Go out and collect visual elements that excite you, and throw them all together so you can reference them throughout your design process.

3. Compare your competitors

You need to know what’s out there so you can design a logo that’s both unique, and on point.

By the time you design a logo, you should already know enough about your industry to know who your competitors are. Take some time and consider their logos. What trends do you notice? What logos are the most and least appealing? What mistakes do you see that you can avoid?

Consider their brand personas as well. What makes your brand stand out by comparison? Are they all serious, while you like to have fun? Or maybe you’re more cutting edge when it comes to tech? Find a way to embody what makes you unique in your logo, by setting it apart from the competition’s designs.

4. Settle on a style

You don’t have to choose every element of your logo right away. But a great way to find your direction is to choose a design style that you want to use.

By picking an overall aesthetic, it will be easier to choose those individual elements to match. Think of one or two words that would describe your style in general. Then determine the art style that is the closest fit. Here are some main styles when it comes to logos:

• Classic. These designs will appeal more broadly, and won’t fall out of style like some trend-based designs.
• Minimalist. An ultra-modern approach is great for businesses that want to let everyone know they make the sophisticated simple.
• Quirky. Bright colours and silly designs let everyone know how fun you are.
• Hand Drawn. Logos that contain a signature and/or handcrafted elements add a personal touch, and often have a vintage feel.

Don’t feel restricted to just one style, either! Mix and match to find YOUR match.

5. Pick a logo type

There are 7 types of logos for your to choose from:

• Lettermarks. Using your company’s initials to monogram your logo is great for simplifying complicated names, but it doesn’t add a lot of personality.
• Logotypes. Logos that are just the business name can actually be a great playground for your other design ideas, and can help with brand recognition.
• Pictorial Marks. The classic logo: a recognizable image associated with your brand.
• Abstract Marks. Like pictorial marks, this type of logo is also just an image, but the shapes are not recognizable as a literal image. Instead, they are abstract shapes, still unique to you.
• Mascots. Having an anthropomorphized animal or object, or a cartoon version of a real-life person, can help give your brand a face to the name.
• Combination Marks. Using a combination of your business name and an image as the logo is a common practice. You can even include a phrase, like a tagline.
• Emblems. An emblem also combines the business name and an image, but the name will be embedded in the image somehow.

Once you know which type you want, you can start to frame your ideas.

6. Consider colour

Colour is one of the most important single decisions you need to make in your design process.

Choosing the right colour isn’t just about picking one you like, or one that your competitors aren’t using. There are whole books dedicated to the psychology behind different colours, and what we connect them to in our minds. For example:

• Red. Excitement, passion.
• Orange. Vibrant, playful.
• Yellow. Friendly, cheerful.
• Green. Natural, versatile.
• Blue. Calm, cool.
• Purple. Luxury, mystery.
• Pink. Feminine, youthful.
• Brown. Rugged, masculine.
• Black. Sleek, modern.
• White. Clean, neutral.
• Grey. Mature, serious.

Choosing what colour, or combination of colours best suits you will take some research. Remember that these colours will likely inform other design decisions you make, such as uniforms for your staff, or your website.

Be careful choosing complementary colours, as well, since you don’t want your logo to clash with itself!

7. Think about typography

If you are including your business name in the logo in some way, shape, or form, then you need to pick the right font to do it. There are 4 families of fonts to choose from:

• Serif. Font embellished with small, extra strokes at the end of letters. They feel classic.
• Sans serif. Fonts without the serifs. They feel more modern and clean.
• Script. Cursive, or handwritten-style fonts. They feel elegant, but also playful.
• Display. Fonts that are heavily stylized, and often contain multiple different font elements, and non-text elements. They are really bold and eye-catching.

What one works for you?

8. Discuss with a designer

Once you have all your ideas in place, you need to share them with the person who’s going to turn them into a reality!

Discuss, in detail, with your graphic designer. Tell them exactly what you’re looking for and any design decisions you’ve made so far.

You should both be clear about expectations, as well. There’s no point having either of you waste time or money on something that isn’t going to work.

Make sure you’re both on the same page when it comes to costs, turnaround times, and how many logo examples are to be delivered. It’s a good idea to have more than one to choose from, of course.

You may even want to hire multiple designers to bring you mockups. It’s better to choose from more than less!

9. Make a decision

At the end of the day, you need to pick a logo that you can truly get behind. If you are hesitant about the decision, then don’t decide just yet.

While rebranding your business later with a new logo is possible, it’s a pain in the butt. And it makes you seem indecisive or flippant to your audience.

Here are some questions to ask yourself to see if the logo you’ve chosen is just right for you:

• Is my logo unique?
• Is my logo memorable?
• Is my logo scalable?
• Can my logo fit anywhere?
• Does my logo look good everywhere?
• Is my logo a match for my brand?
• Will my logo stand the test of time?
• Is it cliche?
• Is it too complicated?

And even though this is ultimately your decision to make, it doesn’t mean you can’t get others to help you make it!

Show logo designs to friends and colleagues and ask for feedback. Ask them a week later which one they remember most. In fact, ask your actual audience!

Many businesses host logo contests, where they have their target audience elect the new logo. It’s a great way to help clients feel like they’re a part of your brand’s journey.

And now that you know how to logically craft your logo, it’s time for your design journey to begin!

ACCESSIBILITY