How To Design A Brand Logo?
As a designer, you may find yourself in a position where a client wants you to design their brand logo. If you’re feeling up to the task, there are some things you need to know first.
For instance:
- How do you translate the value of a brand into a logo?
- Where can you go for logo design inspiration?
- Which tools should you use to create a logo?
- How do you piece together a logo from a bunch of ideas?
Make no mistake: designing a logo is just as complex a task as building a website. Not only do you need to understand what goes into making a great logo, but you need the right tools to create it.
If you’re thinking about doing this, the following guide will answer the four above questions for you.
"The strongest logos tell simple stories"
Tips For Defining Your Brand With Great Logo Design
Tip #1: Ask The Right Questions
Your client might come to you with logo designs that they like the look of and tell you to run with it. Or they might simply suggest you take the company name and make it look “cool”.
But that’s not how great logos are built.
Just as you dive deep into a client’s business, its mission, and what kind of value they bring to their target user before building a website, you’ll have to do similar research for a logo.
Which Questions Do You Need To Ask?
What’s nice about logo design and web design is there’s a lot of overlap in what you need to ask clients to get started. So, consider building a questionnaire that tackles both pieces if you’re building both the branding and site for your clients.
For now, let’s look at the logo questions:
Why did you start your company?
If you can get to the heart of why they went into business, you’ll be able to create a logo that feels more genuine to that original mission.
What does your company do?
Identifying this is important as you don’t want to design something that looks great, but is all wrong for the market they’re working in.
Who do you serve?
While the client’s opinion of the logo matters, you need to focus on building something that looks good from the eyes of their audience.
Why do customers choose your company over others?
Their unique selling proposition will help you differentiate their logo from the competitors’ designs.
Who are your top 3 competitors? How do you feel about their logos?
This is a great question to ask if you want to get a raw, emotional response as opposed to the more buttoned-up responses the other questions may elicit.
What are your company’s values?
A good way to identify a unique edge for a brand is by looking at what they prioritize. Integrity? Customer commitment? Green initiatives?How would you describe the company’s personality in 3 words?
You’ll be able to get a sense for the company’s “voice” when you talk to the business owner. But it’s always good to see how they describe it, too.
Do you have a slogan?
You won’t necessarily build the words into the logo (especially since there’s no room for it on mobile). But a slogan can help inform the design.
Where do you see your company in 5 years?
Rather than design something that looks good for the company on Day 1, you should create a logo that captures who they plan to be in the near future.
Who are your heroes and why?
Take a gander at the companies they look up to. Even if they don’t have a clear vision for their company yet, who their heroes are will give you a clue as to where they’re heading.
One last thing to ask is whether or not they’ve selected brand colors or fonts yet. The likelihood of this is slim if they’re asking you to design a logo, but it’s better to ask now than to find out later and have to rework it.
How Do You Get The Answers You Seek?
There are a couple of ways to do this. You could always schedule a call with your client and run through the questions with them. The only problem with that is it could either end up feeling like storytime or like pulling teeth.
In my opinion, the better option is to automate this with an online questionnaire. (This also allows you to scale your logo design efforts). Google Forms is always a great option as it’s easy to use and it’s free.
Tip #2: Get Inspired By Other Logos
Once you have a clear idea of who your client is and the message they want to convey, it’s time to start designing. But it won’t be as easy as writing out the name of the company and then adding graphical elements to it.
Take some time to do research on the competitive landscape and to gather outside inspiration for your client’s logo.
Tip #3: Find The Right Tool To Create Your Logo
When it comes to designing a logo for your client, you should be using a tool that makes your job easier. But that “job” really depends on what your client is paying and what their expectations are.
For Pre-made Logo Design
Are you going to compile a batch of premade logos — personalized with their info, of course — and let them choose the one they like best?
In that case, a free logo maker tool would work fine. So long as there’s a variety of logo styles to choose from in your client’s niche, you should be able to find plenty of designs to share with them.
Best for:
- Very small budgets;
- Really short timelines (i.e. a day or two);
- Temporary logos.
For Custom Logo Design
Are you planning to create 10 custom logos and run through series after series of “Which do you like?” questions until you whittle it down to one winning design?
In that case, you’ll want to design it with your Adobe Illustrator or Sketch software. The process will take a while, but if your client has the money to spend and wants something truly unique, this is the best way to do it.
Best for:
- Price is no object,
- Client envisions something very specific,
Enterprise clients in very high-profile positions who can’t afford to have their logo look like anyone else’s.
The Best Of Both Worlds (Custom Design Without The Hassle)
Would you prefer something between the two options above, where you could wield your creative influence to create something custom without all of the hassle?
In that case, the Logo Maker that Wix offers is your best bet. You can use this tool for a wide range of clients — those that want something done quickly and cheaply all the way up to clients who want a personalized logo.
Best for:
- Any budget;
- Any timeline;
Logos you don’t want to spend too much time designing graphics for, but still want to be able to customize the key elements (like colors and layout).