A great logo should be fitting with your brand identity, be easy to understand yet memorable, and have a timeless design that can withstand ever-changing trends.
Your logo will serve as the face of your brand, your very foundation. Your logo design will be used in all your marketing materials — from your packaging to social media posts to your website. It’s safe to say that your logo is your most important branding asset.
So how do you create a great brand logo? What separates an exceptional logo from a mediocre one? Let’s dive in to find out more.
7 Factors To Consider in Creating Your Brand Logo
Before you head on to a logo generator tool or go to a graphic designer, you first need to consider different factors that affects a logo design. Knowing these factors will help you in making the optimal decisions for your design, and save you the trouble of redesigning in the future.
Understand your target audience
Before you start designing your logo, you need to know and understand your target audience first. Why? It’s specifically because they are your target — they are the ones you’ll want to be using your products and following your brand. If the logo doesn’t appeal to them or catch their eye, then it’s meaningless.
To understand your target audience, you must first identify their demographics and their psychographics. Demographics include their age, gender, location, language, salary, or educational level. Psychographics, on the other hand, are composed of their social status, interests, hobbies, beliefs, and opinions.
Once you identify both, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of your audience. It will then be easier to come up with a logo design that will fit their personality and preferences.
Consider your brand identity
Notice how some brands seem to give off a cool and chic aura, while some brands look more friendly and approachable? Some brands that look sporty, while some brands give off a very scientific and future-thinking image? Custom water bottles, for instance, can signal a sporty or eco-conscious brand identity.
Those are a few examples of brand identity. Brand identity, to put it simply, is the “personality” that your brand wants to convey. Depending on your brand identity, a logo will either look like a perfect match or a complete mismatch.
Think about the luxury brand Cartier. Their current logo is an elegant script wordmark, fitting for their luxurious persona. If they used a colorful mascot for their logo, it wouldn’t look appropriate, right? That’s why you need to carefully consider your brand identity first before you start on your logo.
Choose the right logo type
Using the correct logotype will also matter in determining the success of your logo design.
There are 7 logo types that are commonly used. These are:
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- Monogram – These are typography-based logos that consist of the initials of the brand’s name. Think of HBO, NASA, LV. They are all initials of long brand names, making it easier for people to remember their brand names.
- Wordmark – Another typography-based design, which uses distinct or memorable fonts to spell out the brand name. Some examples are Coca-Cola and Google.
- Pictorial – Consists of an icon or image to symbolize the brand. Famous examples include Apple, Target, and Shell.
- Combination – As the name suggests, it’s a combination of an icon and a wordmark. Think of Dove, Burger King, and Toblerone logos.
- Emblem – These are logos that feature a more intricate and ornate design, similar to a crest. Look at the logos of Manchester United and Stella Artois.
- Mascot – Uses human, animal, or fictional creature to represent your brand in a logo. Examples include Pringles, Michelin, and Cheetos.
- Abstract – Similar to the pictorial logo, except the icon used is not a real object. Some examples of this are Pepsi and Google Drive.
Your logotype will depend on your brand identity and target audience. If you have a more traditional business, an emblem logo will work. If you are a modern and young brand, an abstract logo will be a great fit.
Think of the best icons or images to use
If you want an icon or image for your logo, you need to think of the best one to use. But how do you know which icon is suitable?
First, consider your business name. What images can you associate with it? Logos like Target and Apple are great because their icons are a very straightforward representation of their names. On the other hand, you can also think outside the box like Twitter. They used a bird in their logo to symbolize “tweet”, meaning both the sound of a bird and their tweeting feature on the app.
Or you can make use of your brand personality. The Pillsbury Dough mascot, aside from looking visually distinct, is also a great way to show off the brand’s funny and energetic personality.
Even animals have distinct personalities associated with them. For example, lions are seen as powerful, gazelle as fast, and owls as wise. You can use an animal that represents a trait that you want your brand to embody in your logo icon.
Use a suitable color scheme and typography
Other graphic elements like color and typography can also have an effect on your brand logo.
For example, the color yellow is associated with a friendly and happy aura, making it a popular logo color choice for kid’s brands. Meanwhile, the color blue is seen as stable and secure, making it the top choice for banks and government agencies.
Typography choice matters as well. Clean and rounded sans-serif fonts are seen as modern and minimalistic, making them a great choice for software logos. Handwritten font styles are seen as homey and friendly, which is why most small businesses prefer them for their logo designs.
The key is to choose a color scheme and typography that will fit your brand, as well as complement each other.
How adaptable is your logo design?
The adaptability of your logo design is a crucial part that most people tend to not consider. But thinking about this during the start of your logo-making process will save you a lot of time and effort in the future.
What do we mean by adaptability? It’s to think about your logo in different colors, scenarios, usage, sizes, and variation.
Will your logo look good in grayscale, black and white, and full color? How about how it will look on a small QR code if you create a digital business card QR code, or in a large tarpaulin? Will you be able to turn your logo into a customizable QR code? Will your logo still look good and recognizable if you adapt the design for different events (think Christmas, Halloween, or Valentines)? Is your logo translatable to a website favicon or app icon? And many other considerations.
Designing your logo in different variations is also helpful. For instance, you can play around with a horizontal or vertical version of it. Or create an icon-only or wordmark-only version. This can help you test out the adaptability of your logo, and perhaps create a logo variation that you can use in the future.
Methods of creating the logo
If you reached this part, congratulations! You are now ready to start creating your brand logo. But how do you go about it?
First is to create it on your own. This is the cheapest option since you are doing it yourself, but might be a problem if you don’t have any prior graphic design experience. Still, you have complete control over what the final output will look like.
Second, check out logo maker tools online. There are free and paid customizable templates that you can edit to fit your ideas and preferences. These are great if you are not an expert in editing since you don’t have to start from scratch.
Third is to outsource it to freelance graphic designers. Having a professional designer create your logo is still the best way to ensure that the final logo is high-quality and well-made. Of course, you need to look for a designer that has the right skill and experience to translate your visions.
Wrapping Up
The importance of your logo cannot be underestimated. A well-designed logo will catch your customer’s attention, build your brand image, and set you apart from competitors.
Creating a great brand logo might sound difficult and intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. By carefully considering these factors, you now have a road map that can help you when you embark on your logo-making journey.