How to make a personalized logo for your brand
Make a logo that will stand out in front of the rest, yet still be relevant to your brand identity and target market.
Getting a logo for your business may seem daunting, the tools look complicated, graphic designers are expensive, and it is difficult to get “the perfect fit”. You know that there are free logo makers, but they show a very generic range of selection. You’ve finally decided to try your hand at this art, but where do you start?
Let’s begin by a bit of homework, there are 3 different types of logos:
- Motif or Symbol -This is an icon or a graphic based design. It’s the image that comes to mind when people think of a logo, some classic examples are the bitten apple from “Apple” and the check from “Nike”.
2. Lettermark -This type highlights the letters of the brand as a logo. Most of the time, companies use their initials or the brand’s first letter. This is great for companies with a business name that is long, difficult to pronounce, or lacking distinction. For example, GM (General Motors), and HP (Hewlett-Packard Development Company)
3. Word mark -This is the easiest type for beginners. It is a font based logo that focuses on the business name. For example, Facebook, and Google.
Please note that you can combine 2 of the 3 types to make a logo. But first, let’s organize your brand identity.
You’ve got the basics now, let’s define your brand identity
Grab a pen and paper, and let’s get to work! Before you can start creating your logo, you’ll need to organize your ideas.
Answer the following questions:
· What is your business?
· Who are you targeting?
· What is the style of your company?
Let’s do an example: I’m a clothing designer, the name of my company is “Kats Design”, and I design high quality business professional clothing. Let’s answer the questions inside the following box.
· What is your business? Female business professional clothing
· Who are you targeting? Professional, Classy, and feminine women
· What is the style of your company? Feminine, elegant, classy
Once you’ve organized your brand identity, you can move to the next step.
What type of logo will you use for your brand?
At this stage, you need to think of the logistics of each logo type. Keep in mind that you can always combine two of the three types of logos. A great example is Burger King, MasterCard, and Domino’s Pizza, they combined a motif with a Word mark. This is a great way to create a relevant symbol for your brand, and enforce you companies name with the Word mark. While this logo can work wonderfully, it does take extra skill.
If you are considering a motif or a symbol for your brand, you need to be clear with your brand identity yet not to complicated. You need to check for hidden meanings and be unique compared to your competition. This is the most difficult type of logo, it does take skill and time.
Letter marks can seem like an easy option, but there are some hidden struggles with this type. Unless your brand already has many customers, the meaning of the letters can be missed. A good combination with a Lettermark is to combine it with a Wordmark logo. This will help enforce your brand name and enforce the Lettermark, this way you can eventually uniquely use the Lettermark.
Honestly, if you are a first-time logo maker, a wordmark logo is the best option. Even if, it can seem unoriginal, you can play with different elements, such as the font, color, and background to express your brand identity. This is a great way to impose your brand name and is easy for your customers to identify. Remember to brush up on your Typography to avoid using a badly looked upon font, like Comic sans!
Time to make your business logo!
Your brand identity has been identified, and you know what type of logo will make sense for your brand. It’s time to choose the style, font, and colors. Let’s get back to my previous example, for my business logo “Kats Designs”. I’ve decided to go for Word mark logo since I don’t want a complicated motif on my clothing, boxes, and tags. It can be heavy and obstructive on my clothing. I also don’t want a Lettermark since I don’t have the brand recognition for that type of logo.
Therefore, my best bet is a Wordmark logo. Let’s decompose the potential elements of my logo in this table.
- Style : Previously, I said my business style is feminine, elegant, classy.
- Colors: I should use feminine colors, that is going to appeal to my target market. Then the colors should be either black, white, red, pink, or purple.
- Fonts : The font is the best way to express the style of the logo. Therefore, I want it sharp and curvy.
Looking for inspiration for fonts, look on Google Fonts. They have a large range of fonts for you to find the perfect fit for your company.
Time to make a free logo!
It’s time to get your creative hat on and make a logo. To make your life easier, try using Desygner, it’s free and an easy online logo designing tool that even my grandmother can use.
Play with the different types of colors and fonts to get the perfect style for your brand. For my example brand, I’ve chosen the color purple, for it’s feminine feel, and the fonts Didot and Mister Eves. That way it is curly, yet professional and sharp.
For more tips on who to create a brand kit for your start up or business, check out “Startup success through creative design.”
Don’t forget to share your logo on social media to get feedback from your friends and family. It’s an easy way to avoid mistakes and basic human errors. Like these logos..
Published by Katrina Vinderskov
