How to Make a Good Logo Design: Tips and Tricks

How can a logo help my business?

Logos are an essential part of branding a business. Your logo will appear on all your marketing materials, even the digital ones, so they're a necessary part of e-commerce website design. Since your logo will span across mediums, including print flyers, digital business cards, emails, and more, you must create something that will stand out, no matter where people see it. Here are a few ways a logo can help your business:

• Captures attention: A good logo for businesses captures your customers' attention in a way that your business name alone can't.
• Good first impression: Your logo is often one of the first things people see when discovering your brand, so it must communicate what your business does.
• Branding foundation: Your logo is one of the first things you design for your business. The colors, fonts, and images you use will be reflected throughout the rest of your marketing materials to maintain brand consistency.
• Improves customer loyalty: Your logo will become more familiar to customers and potential customers as your business grows and you find new ways to reach more people. In addition, since your logo is part of your brand identity, customers will be more willing to buy products with your logo on them, as long as your brand focuses on quality.

What is branding?

Branding refers to a business or person’s unique identity. There are a few fundamental branding principles, including brand identity and consistency. Ultimately, your branding will showcase who your brand is to help customers easily identify you and help your business stand out from the crowd. Your brand identity, also known as brand personality, will guide your marketing efforts by giving you messaging and design consistency.

In addition, you must maintain brand consistency throughout your marketing campaigns to ensure customers can easily recognize and remember your brand. If you change your messaging, color scheme, or even logo design, it will be more difficult for customers to remember your business because it doesn’t have a uniform appearance.

But what do logos have to do with branding? Your logo is part of your brand identity. It’s often the first thing businesses design when they start their branding process. A logo can help customers easily recognize your brand when they’re out in the wild and bombarded with thousands of ads and marketing campaigns throughout their everyday lives.

A logo can also help you maintain brand consistency because it can appear on everything from your website to billboards. Thoughtful branding can help ensure your brand stands out with the right logo and other design elements to showcase your brand’s unique personality and attract more customers. However, it’s important to note that branding and logo design are not the same thing. Branding is the process of building a brand and establishing yourself in the market, while a logo is a single element of your brand identity.

Your logo is an integral part of your visual identity, and although it’s only one element of your branding strategy, it will be the face of your brand in most cases.

A good logo allows customers to easily identify and remember your brand while creating consistency throughout your marketing campaigns. It also sets expectations with customers and can help you stand out from the competition.

The benefits of a recognizable brand

Effective branding can help you stand out from your competition. Even if you never invest any time or money into building your brand, you still have one. Therefore, the best thing you can do for your business is focus on a branding strategy to help customers know what they should think when considering your brand.

The main benefit of having a recognizable brand is increasing sales and revenue. When customers can easily identify and remember your brand, you’re more likely to get repeat purchases and earn loyal customers.

Businesses that invest in branding can acquire and retain customers at lower costs because they have a unique identity consisting of a value proposition and mission customers can get behind. Branding can also help you improve the customer experience from beginning to end, allowing you to build valuable customer relationships to increase sales and revenue holistically.

What makes a good logo?

Most logos have the same traits even though they look completely different. A few logo must-have elements include:

• Simple: Logos must be simple to be understood, especially from a distance. If your logo is cluttered, your customers won't be able to determine what your brand does. Instead of adding as many visual elements as possible, your logo should include an image or an image with text that describes your brand.
• Relevant: Your logo must be relevant to communicate with customers effectively. A good logo design requires you to understand your customers because it must appeal to them.
• Versatile: Your logo will appear everywhere, so you must be able to use it in various ways. Consider all the places where you'll put your logo, including on signage, emails, business cards, and maybe even clothing.
• Unique: Your logo must be unique if it wants to stand out. Never make your logo look similar to your competitors.
• Memorable: Good logo design is memorable and can help customers build meaningful relationships with your brand.

Now that you understand a few of the key traits every logo should have, let's discuss some logo design tips for how to make a good logo.

Use contrast

Using contrast in your logo design can help you improve readability and stand out from the crowd. For example, contrast grabs your customers' attention because darker colors help lighter colors stand out. Contrast comes in many forms, but one of the most common is a split design that creates contrasts with different shapes.

Show, don't tell

You have limited space when designing a logo for your brand, so you won't be able to fit all of your key messaging concepts in the design. Therefore, you can show your customers what you do instead of telling them. For example, if you're a pet company, you can use an icon of your most popular pet toy or a specific type of pet you create products for.

Additionally, don't be afraid to create your own icon. Buying icons online or using free icons will not help you stand out from the competition, especially because any business can use the same icons, making it confusing and distracting for customers. Instead, create unique icons that communicate your brand to your customers.

Keep it clean

Your logo must be easily recognizable, especially from a distance. Therefore, keeping your logo clean by using the blank space can improve readability by using a more minimal design. You don't need to use all of the space you have available. Instead, focus on a clean image and different shapes you can use to create that image. Keeping it clean can also help you use the white space you have to make it easier to put your logo on different marketing materials since there's no need for your logo to have a background.

Consider color

The colors you use on your logo will be your brand colors, so you must choose them wisely. If you create a logo with blue and suddenly change your website design to green, the colors may not evoke the type of emotions you want them to from customers. Keep your color use to a minimum and only use up to 3 different colors in your logo. If you want to keep it simple, consider using a monochromatic logo that allows you to use different shades of the same color to create contrast.

Continue to make improvements

Don't be afraid to experiment with your logo as your brand grows. Depending on the success of your business, you might need to rebrand, which would include creating a new logo. Over time, businesses change, and their customers change, so you might need to update your logo whenever there's a major change in your business structure. Of course, when rebranding your business, you should never make too drastic a change that can scare existing customers off. If you plan to upgrade your logo, do it slowly to see how your customers react.

Consider cases

You should always have at least one logo with text. Of course, you can have different versions of your logo, including one with text and one without, to see how strong your visual branding elements are. When you use text in your logo, experiment with the different cases to see how they look next to your other design. Uppercase logos look much different than lowercase logos, so what you decide will depend on the tone your brand is trying to create.

Play with sizes

If you're using an icon, consider how making it larger or smaller will affect your logo design. A small icon is difficult to read from a distance and might look like a blob, so it's always best to make it as large as possible as long as it balances with your text.

Consider your audience

Sometimes, business owners and logo designers forget to consider the target audience and design logos they like. However, when designing your logo, remember it's not about what you like. Instead, your logo must communicate your brand identity to potential customers. Knowing your target audience and what they're more likely to engage with can help you create the best logo design for your business. For example, if you sell mattresses, you'll want the logo to make someone think of comfort and relaxation.

Make text readable

It will be tempting to use a funky font when designing your logo to ensure it stands out. However, some fonts are difficult to read, making your logo appear blurry and confusing. Your fonts should always be web-friendly because your logo will appear on digital mediums like your website and social media.

7 different logo styles

Logo design is about more than finding the right color for you. Instead, there are many different styles to consider, including the following:

Text-image combo

A text-image combination logo is a popular option, and many major brands use it. The text-image combo combines visual elements and words, typically with the name of the brand or company below the visual. These logos are ideal for building brand awareness.

Remember, new customers who have never heard of your business before won’t be able to figure out the meaning behind a completely visual logo. Therefore, you can add the brand name to the logo to help them start building associations with your brand and the visual elements of your branding. This is especially important for small brands and businesses that don’t have national or international recognition or startups.

Wordmark

Wordmark logos are another common style in which the visual is made up of the brand name with stylized letters and formatting. Many brands, such as HBO, Amazon, and Coca Cola use this branding style because it’s easy to understand. Instead of making customers guess what your brand is trying to convey, you can simply tell them your name is a stylistic way to increase brand awareness.

Monogram

Monogram logos use a brand’s initials to create a logo. However, unlike other types of logo styles, they interlace the letters. One of the most recognizable brands that does this is CHANEL, with two Cs intertwined. These types of logos are best for companies with two or three words in their brand names because the intertwined letters can easily look messy if you use too many of them.

Letterform

Letterform logos are another type of logo design that utilizes the brand’s name as a visual element. One of the most popular brands that use letterform is Netflix, with red lettering and a black background. Letterform is a good logo idea for brands that want to use their names in their logos and keep it simple and easy to read and understand.

Pictorial

Pictorial logos are symbols and graphic elements that represent a brand. For example, Apple’s logo is the well-known apple with a bite taken out of it. Pictorial logos are great for brands that have already established their brand identity and know that customers will easily recognize them.

Mascot

If your business has a mascot, consider using it in your logo. Your mascot is another visual branding element that can make your brand more personable, especially if your brand story involves a unique personality. But, of course, if your brand doesn’t have a mascot, you shouldn’t create one for the sole purpose of using it on your logo because it can confuse customers.

Negative space

Negative space logos are simple logo design ideas that can help your brand stand out. It uses negative space to create a symbol or text and can be as subtle as you want it to be. Negative space logos are timeless and look good for almost any brand, so if you want to make your brand look creative with a touch of simplicity, this type of logo might be right for you. It’s important to note that these are just a few logo ideas to choose from. You can work with a professional graphic designer or marketing agency to learn more options to help your brand stand out.

Graphic designers vs. free logo makers

Ultimately, logos are a type of graphic design, so you can work with a professional or create your own. Your logo appears on most, if not all, of your marketing collateral and materials.

It will showcase your brand’s personality on everything from your website to billboards, flyers, and digital advertisements, so it’s essential to consider using a graphic designer who can help you take your branding to the next level. Should you use a free logo maker or work with a graphic designer? Let’s weigh the pros and cons.

Working with a graphic designer

A graphic designer can help you design a logo for your business with elements that can help you stand out. When working with a graphic designer, you have access to a professional who has created logos before and knows how to communicate effectively with various visual elements.

Pros

• Professionalism & experience: A graphic designer has designed logos before and can help you create the perfect logo for your business by asking you the right questions to get an idea of your unique personality. In addition, they’ll work with you directly to make your ideas a reality.
• Better design: While a free logo maker can help you create a professional logo, a graphic designer will ensure your logo makes a good first impression using the right design elements. In addition, graphic designers with experience designing logos know what works and what doesn’t, especially in marketing, which can help you create a more professional logo that attracts more customers.
• Original work: If you truly want your logo to stand out, it must be original. While there are many different styles to choose from, you don’t want to pick a font or visual element anyone can find and purchase online. A graphic designer will ensure your logo is unique to your brand to help you build your identity.

Cons

• Cost: The only actual con of working with a graphic designer is that it’s more expensive than using a free logo maker. However, the expense will be well worth it because a graphic designer can ensure your brand logo looks professional and will be timeless, so you won’t have to redesign it in a few years as your business evolves.

Using a free logo maker

A free logo maker can help you create a unique logo from scratch without hiring a professional designer. However, for many growing businesses, a free logo will eventually have to be designed as your business evolves.

Pros

• Affordable: Free logo makers are more affordable than graphic designers because they’re software. With these logo makers, you don’t have to invest any money, but they can be time-consuming, especially if you don’t know which type of logo you want to create.
• Ease of use: Free logo makers are easy to use for anyone. You don’t have to be a graphic designer to create a logo for your business, and many logo makers are user-friendly and allow you to create a logo faster than working with a professional graphic designer.

Cons

• Unprofessional: Unfortunately, most small business owners aren’t graphic designers and don’t know current trends or timeless designs that can help them stand out. Instead, they may design a logo based on what they like, which may not resonate with their audience. In addition, logo generators can lack a graphic designer's professional finish and style, ignoring design principles that make your brand look more credible.
• Unoriginal: When working with a free logo maker, you’re limited by the different tools you can use. Ultimately, you can find different shapes and fonts, but you won’t be able to go above and beyond to make your logo unique. Meanwhile, you can have something completely original when working with a graphic designer.
• Can be copied: As we’ve mentioned, logo makers don’t create original work. It’s likely someone has already made a logo that looks like yours because you’re limited in the different shapes and fonts you can use. If your logo looks too similar to another business, it can harm your reputation and confuse customers.

There are many ways to have a logo designed for your business. However, in most cases, it may be a matter of your budget. You can create a logo with a free logo maker and upgrade it by working with a professional graphic designer once your business grows.

Keep building your brand

Good logo design depends on how you want to communicate with your customers. Because your logo will make a first impression on new customers, you want it to create a good, lasting impression. Making your logo unique and memorable is the first step to building a brand. Once your logo is complete, you can start using it on all of your marketing materials, including your website, social media, and even email headers.

Mailchimp makes creating content with your logo on it easy to ensure brand consistency across all marketing mediums. Whether you're creating social media posts or building your first email campaign, Mailchimp's automation tools can ensure your logo looks great no matter where you use it.