You’ve done the hard work of fleshing out ideas for your new business. Now, what comes may feel like an even harder ordeal–choosing your brand’s logo.
Although your logo can change slightly over time, you always want to get it right from the start. And since a logo is probably going to be the first thing a potential customer sees, you want to make sure it’s one worthy of your business, your clients, and yourself.
There’s a trick to picking the perfect logo for your business, and it involves four fundamental steps. With that, let’s jump right into them.
Ask Yourself a Few Questions
Before you design a logo, it’s crucial to know what kind of story your brand is telling. So, get to know yourself by thinking over the following questions.
- What is my brand’s general character? Is it timeless, full of personality, or something else?
- What do I want people to experience when they see my logo?
- Who is my ideal customer?
- What logo designs inspire me?
Font
What you wear says a lot about you. Today, did you put on a leather biker jacket or a flowery, casual shirt? Jeans and a long-sleeved tee, or a knee-length cashmere coat and colorful trousers?
Deciding a font for your logo is the same as picking the outerwear for your biz. With a particular typeface, onlookers should be able to gain the overall tone of your company, whether laid-back, elegant, professional, playful, or counter-culture.
But there are thousands and thousands of fonts to choose from–exactly how are you going to pick just one?
Fonts can be generally separated into four categories. Each category is stylistically unique, and the fonts within can help to tell your brand’s tale. Here’s a helpful snapshot of the different types of fonts, but read more about them here.
Classic, trustworthy, and reliable styles with little details at the end of letters called serifs.
Modern, chic fonts. These styles ditch the serifs for a cleaner, minimalist approach.
This is the fancy-pants group. It mimics old-style handwriting and has an elegant feel to it.
Display fonts are creative and versatile. They’re great for showcasing your personality–especially if your brand is bold.
Color
You can say a lot about your brand without typing a single word. Colors have a far-reaching impact on people’s emotional state, and using colors the right way can help to solicit distinct feelings about your business.
Color meanings can vary across cultures, too. For example, black is associated with strength, but also death and dying in the United States, but black also represents sound health in some Asian countries. Colors even elicit a physical response, with red known to heighten pulse rates by merely gazing at the color.
What’s essential for your logo is that you employ the color or colors for your logo logically. Make sure that not just the color, but the shade, aligns with your brand values. Here’s what can generally be gleaned from different colors:
Black: Power, strength, glamour
Red: Energy, power, passion
Purple: Luxury, ambition, royalty
Gold: Grandeur, success, wisdom
Green: Nature, money, harmony
Orange: Excitement, adventure, creativity
Yellow: Happiness, curiosity, confidence
White: Purity, safety, cleanliness
Blue: Intelligence, trust, tranquility
Read more about how to pick the best color for your logo here.
Style
Millions of logos flashing across smartphones, mailers, and TVs. But did you know that nearly every logo can fit snugly into one of just seven different logo styles?
Pictorial Marks: Simple imagery with no text, typically used for brands that are (or will become) highly recognizable. Think Apple or Nike.
Lettermarks: 2-4 letters that typically form an acronym of the business.
Abstract Logo Marks: Abstract imagery that isn’t based on a real-world object.
Wordmarks: All or part of the business name as a logo design.
Emblem: Similar to a family crest. These logos can be highly detailed and are timeless.
Mascot: A character that can double as your brand’s ambassador.
Combination: A fusion of graphics and text. The two can usually be separated or paired to give three logo options.
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