Your logo is what everyone sees first. Well, that and your name. They will decide a lot about you in a matter of minutes. It can have a massive impact on if people want to click to your website if they think you are trustworthy. What if your logo looks too similar to someone else? Then people are going to think that you are ripping someone off. Your logo is important, and if you are going to have promo materials and pins with your logo on, then you have to be sure that what you think you are saying, and what you are saying is matching up.
There are plenty of online resources that can help you build the type of logo that you want to have. Instant recognition and a growing fan base.
Sound great? Well, of course, it does! But how do you get from a rough idea to an excellent logo?
Let’s take a look.
Stand Out
Or unique. It is pretty much impossible to think of a logo that someone else isn’t already using or have a variation of. You’re going to have to do some serious groundwork here. You’ll need to search through plenty of terms with ‘logo’ attached to it to see if there is anything too similar. There probably will be. If someone else has your new idea trademarked already then you’re going to have to ditch it straight away.
Once you have something down, get it turned into something slick and sleek by a professional graphic designer. Then protect it. There is a cost attached here, somewhere over 200 USD.
Simplicity
Is key. If you have arrows and swirls, numerous letters and so on the logo will be confusing to look at. Although there is an art to incredibly complex, keeping it simple means it is easy to look at and easy to see what it says. You do obviously want to stand out, but you should want to stand out for the right reasons – not as a bad example of what a logo should look like.
It should be memorable, so as a test you can get some friends and family to take a look at it quickly, then after a few minutes as them what it looks like, what the word said and the colors too. In fact, you might even ask them to draw in on a piece of paper. You’ll be able to see the memorable parts of the logo and see which bits people aren’t getting.
Think of brands like Nike, Adidas, Budweiser, and most car brands. You don’t have to be able to draw at all to be able to sketch down their logos. That is how big of an impact simplicity can have.
CleveR Colours
The colors you use will instantly push some mental buttons. We associate specific colors with certain feelings and ideas. The psychology of color is really important, and something that you need to remember.
Here are some tips for that:
- Orange – playful, sense of haste, seem affordable
- Green – natural, refreshing, environmentally friendly, call to action
- Yellow – kind, fun, optimistic, attention-grabbing
- White – pure, cleaning, simple
- Brown – warmth and dependable
- Purple – rich, creative, luxurious
- Pink – sweet, cute, soft, romantic
- Black – exclusive, luxury, authority
- Red – powerful, passionate and urgency
Use the power of color to your advantage in your logo. Eye-catching is key.
Time Out
Draw a logo, draw another one, draw some more. Try some different colors, and some more. And between each draft take an hour away. When you are in the middle of designing it can become a passion project – making it difficult to be objective. The first logo you draw will most likely not end up being the one that you go with. So take as much time as you need, and then always take time out.
There are a few logo generator sites that will generate hundreds of logos that you can choose to purchase of use from inspiration. Just remember that rebranding can be expensive and after you have spent so long putting all that work in if you don’t have a big budget, then you are going to be back at square one.
Format
Your logo will need to go on so many different formats, but you will need to make sure that you can see it in favicon size and blown up on a banner. When you are designing your logo test it out with a variety of different background colors, on paper, printed on different things. The only way to do this on a bootstrap is by using a software that has responsive logo options, or something that has resize ability.
Keep the future in mind, keep growth in mind. You might be a small website right now, but in a few months or years, you might need that logo on the side of a building.
Testing
You are going to need to test what people think of your logo. This needs to be people you trust, and people outside of your support circle. The public should be able to give you a no-holds-barred opinion of the colors, style, and even the font. You can put a few different options out there and see what happens, but you might just find that they don’t like any of them.
Designer
As mentioned above, you’re going to want to work with a designer. But, since this will be a long term project because logo work should be a thoughtful process, you’re going to want to speak to a few designers before settling on one. Think of your logo as an investment in the future of your business – and it shouldn’t be left in the hands of someone who isn’t able to answer your job posting. So throw in something like ‘add the words banana in your reply.’ It will cut the wheat from the chaff in no time at all. There are a few sites like Upwork and Fivver where you might find a diamond in the rough and get precisely what you want for $5. A small investment you might think, but the time spent working with the one who didn’t work out is time taken away from working with the ones who really perform.
Your logo should represent your idea of your brand, and translate it – in a single image. Take it slow, get it right – then reap the rewards.
