5 Things to Consider When Creating a Logo

creating a logo

Creating a logo is more than crafting a symbol or a simple written-out name. It’s an essential part of building your brand and plays a crucial role in helping your customers identify your business. That’s why it’s so important to have a unique logo!

Before you ever design one, take your time and flesh out the rest of your brand. How do you want people to feel? Who are you ultimately serving? What will be your brand colors? All of these questions and understanding your brand is so foundational and should always be done before building a logo. Once you have these key questions answered, you’ll be ready to have your logo designed.

When creating a logo, there are several factors that you’ll need to take into consideration

Landscape, Stacked, and Icon Versions

Your brand logo will need to be functional and serve you in multiple ways. Most people stop with a traditional horizontal logo, but there are times that it just won’t fit. A great example of this is for a social media account. Often, you’ll need to have an abbreviated logo or monogram that will fit better in small social media circles. Stacked logos work better for small, square, and vertical situations where a horizontal one wouldn’t fit well.

Having different logo variations will ensure you’re prepared for any given situation

Color Variations, Resolution & Print

Print design and web design are two very different things. Graphic designers understand this difference, but it’s something most laypeople don’t understand if you’re building your own logo. If you’ve ever printed a logo or photo online and found the colors don’t match, that’s an example of poor design. There are two different types of color options, RGB and CMYK. You will need to use one for print and one for web design, making sure your colors are consistent regardless.

Beyond just color, there are also different resolution rules for print and web design. You’ll often hear resolution referred to using two terms: DPI (dots per inch) or PPI (pixels per inch). Many people mistakenly use these interchangeably, but they’re two different things. This impacts the clarity of your logos. If you’ve ever seen a blurry or pixelated logo, it’s a resolution issue. Make sure you do your research or find an experienced graphic designer who knows the difference.

How Will it Look on a Business Card?

Will your logo show up well, even if it’s on a small business card. Again, it’s essential to consider how professional it looks and to make sure that it serves you well in every situation, regardless of the size.

Is it Readable?

If you’re only viewing your logo on your computer at a large size, it can be easy to make mistakes. You’ll want to make sure that if your logo is printed on a smaller publication like a business card or used on social media that it’s still readable. Small taglines are especially easy to make too small. As you create your logo, make sure you take this into account.

Does it Align with Your Brand Goals?

Ultimately, your logo is a visual representation of your brand. It’s essential that the colors, the icons, and any graphics align with your brand goals. If you have an elegant, classy store, you want to make sure you don’t have a kitschy or childish logo. People will take one look at a logo and judge your business by this one tiny element. It’s vital for your sales and marketing to bring this heavily into account when designing your logo.

Crafting an eye-catching and effective logo isn’t an easy feat, but it is crucial for any business. Whether this is your first logo or if you’re rebranding, it’s crucial to take the time to slow down and do it right. If you consider each of these factors when designing it, you’ll be much better off, and it will serve you more than you realized it could.

If you’re looking for more help with your branding or need some extra guidance for creating a logo design, contact us today!