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Top Tips for Logo Design. If you decide to take your logo design into your hands, here are some top tips for logo design. Alternatively, if you are commissioning a freelance designer or design agency, this article may be useful to help your thought process before the logo design process begins. If you are considering designing your logo, good luck, and read the tips for logo design here.
A logo design shouldn’t simply look nice, the logo is a representation of your brand. You need your audience to be able to identify you, and your customers to like you, your logo should evoke emotion and communicate who you are.
Defining your brand is probably the trickiest part of the process, but also the most valuable. Start by defining your USPs. Write down in simple sentences, the who, what, and why. This can help tell your brand story. Create a list of describing words that explain your brand personality. If you haven’t done so already, research competitors and companies aiming at the same audience as you, and discover what you like and dislike about their design approach. Tip – Do some research into archetypes to gain that extra edge!
Once you have defined your audience and brand personality, you can start the design process. You do not have to be a brilliant artist to sketch your ideas, this stage is for concept only. It gets the creative juices flowing. Consider whether you would like a brand mark or image as part of your logo or something typographic. Will you include a strapline? How many elements do you need to make up your logo? Does the company name read well when it is written down? Keep in mind if you have particularly long words or sentences, as these can be difficult to incorporate.
99% of the time it is essential to have a vector version of your logo design. Having a vector version of a logo ensures your logo is the same wherever it is placed and can be set up for print and digital use. Vector images are created in programs such as Adobe Illustrator. Even if your logo is simply typographic it still needs to have a vector version. If you have drawn a logo and do not have the skills to create a vector it is worth asking a logo designer to create the vector for you. Once you have a vector version of your logo you can resize it to any size, add it to merchandise, your website, social media and give a copy to your suppliers and advertisers. A very common logo mistake is to not have vector versions of your logo, this is very limiting. Tip – Once you have created your logo remember to create as outlines, this ensures all type and imagery remains the same.
Your logo must be legible in a multitude of sizes. If your logo included a streamline it can become very small. It is a good idea when designing a logo to create a few variations of the same logo. Ensuring the logo can go up and down in size. Will it look as good on a social media post as a large-scale exhibition graphic? Consider all the environments your logo may be shown in.
Does your logo work in black and white? Can it sit on different colour backgrounds? Do certain elements stand out enough? Colour plays an important part in the design. It can help define the brand personality and make it recognisable. Ensure you keep a careful note of the colours used, the CMYK, RGB and Pantone. This ensures that when your logo design is reproduced the colours will always be the same online and in print.
It is useful to have some simple rules for the logo to ensure it is always presented as you envisage. This could include specifying rules about how it is placed, how much space is around it and if it can be used on a black background or over an image. Since you have gone to so much trouble, it would be worth looking at the wider brand. The logo is an important part of the brand identity, but it is only a part of it. The next blog will be about creating a brand alongside the logo.
Finally here are some useful resources logo designers sometimes turn to.
Vectorstock
Vectorstock has millions of ready-made vectors. This can be useful to have a vector as a starting point and make it into your own. You do need to know how to use design programs to tweak vectors. The site can ais also useful for inspiration.
Adobe Fonts
My Fonts
Typography
These are all useful sites for choosing a font for a logo design. Be willing to spend a lot of time choosing!
What the font – A useful tool if you have seen a typeface you love and would like to find out what it is or find a font similar.
Be original. This logo is representing you. It goes being looking nice. Evoke the emotion, create a strong brand and everything will follow from there.
Keri Newman is a designer based in London. A brand designer integrating psychology and design.