How To Create An Awesome Logo?

When you see all those famous logos by great brands, you do wonder how they came into existence, don’t you? We do, because we have a thing for awesome logos. Just look at the magnificent Apple logo.

Do you know the story behind it? The apple, as you all know is mentioned in the Bible, and it represents knowledge.

Or it could even signify the falling fruit that triggered something in the mind of Isaac Newton, who brought forth the concept of gravity.

But no, that’s not what inspired the Apple logo.

According to Rob Janoff, the man who designed the logo said that he received no particular brief by Steve Jobs on the kind of logo required for the company, so he settled for a simple apple and then drew the bite to scale it, so it wouldn’t be confused with a cherry. This is the simple story behind the bitten Apple logo.

Every logo has a story of its own, and it would be an amazing pastime to trace their past. And there is no denying the fact that having an eye-catching logo for your business is half the job done.

A logo is the brand ambassador that would describe your business in the shortest way possible. A toddler may not be able to read the name of your business, but he will definitely understand and recognize the logo. This is because images have a strong way of influencing the visual part of the brain, and a well made out logo will always stay in memory for a very, very long time.

Look at the logos of Mcdonald’s, Disney, Nike, Penguin books and the like. You don’t have to look at them to know how they are, correct? They are already imprinted in your memory. So there is no question – you have to create an awesome logo. Here are some tips for doing it:

1) Make logo that matches your business

The logo is the graphical representation of your business. So it has to match what you are selling. If you run a toy store, it would be okay to have bright colours, childish font styles and designs. But if you run a sports store, you need to keep up with a style that is more natural to the business.

2) Inducing a little mind game

Viewers like logo that come off as clever and memorable, but not puzzling and confusing. The line between the two is very thin, so it takes an expert to produce something that the viewer will instantly love. As examples of this kind of logo, you can check out the logos of Spartan Golf Club, Greenlabs, Mr. Couch and Guitarshop.

3) Wise colour palette selection

The logo design must have a very clever colour palette. The colours should define your brand, so the choice of colours will sometimes be limited for you. The colour palette selection must bring life to the illustration, be versatile, and still look amazing when enlarged.

4) Rhythm and symmetry

Logos with rhythm and symmetry are really popular, so even if you are experimenting with various styles, make sure to keep them both intact. Observe the logos for Toyota, Adidas, Cisco and Nintendo Switch, and you will understand what we are talking about. The right kind of shape can elicit emotions in the viewer. The right combination of graphical elements can convey messages to the viewer.

The Twitter logo and the Apple logo are all perfect examples of symmetry. If you look closely, you can see even the bite of the Apple logo is perfectly proportionate. Computers and bytes, right?

5) Try something new

Quit trying the old clichéd method of creating a logo. It gets boring. New fads and styles come in every year. Try something new, your own unique idea, and not something that has been around for ages.

6) Photos can create great logos

You can choose a good stock photo and transform it to an awesome logo. Instead of taking the picture as a whole, take some aspect of the picture that has the potential to develop as a logo, and work a design on it. This work calls for knowledge of Adobe Illustrator, so you can hire an expert for the job. In certain cases, a very basic and minor element on the photo can be converted to a highly professional logo design.

7) Make the logo instantly recognizable

Even if you select a simple photo to create a logo, you can still make it your own unique creation by incorporating your business concept into it. Note the Evernote logo. Though it looks simple with just an elephant head and trunk, it stands unique with the page fold in the ear and the symmetrically curled trunk.

8) What doesn’t make a good logo?

  • Too much usage of colours
  • Complicated designs that nobody can understand
  • Logos that don’t make any sense to the brand
  • Merging of ideas that complicates the viewer
  • Terrible relationship between text and image
  • Using stock images as it is
  • Highly detailed designs that seem to merge or vanish when you enlarge them

Conclusion

Picking the right shape and colours for your logos is based not only on the aesthetics of it, but rather on what you are trying to convey to the viewer(s) and what emotions you are trying to elicit, especially when they see your logo. Did you know that the most popular shape for a logo is Rectangle, followed by Square and Circle?

  • Here’s more about shapes in logos
  • Geometrical shape – Organisation & stability
  • Abstract – Literal interpretations of ideas & directions
  • Round – Friendship, Love, Perfection, Unity, etc.
  • Curves – Feminine quality, Mobility, Happiness, etc.
  • Spirals – Growth & Creativity
  • Rectangle – Uniformity, Peace, Trust
  • Triangle – Energy, Power, Masculine attributes, Strength
  • Vertical Lines – Strength, Power, Courage
  • Horizontal Lines – Calmness, Tranquility

If you are on a budget, you can visit free logo maker websites and get your logo done for free. Examples of such websites would be Online Logo Maker, Free Logo Makers, Logo Genie, Logo garden, Free Logo Services and Logaster.

Interesting Articles:
Useful guide for desiging a logo
Tutorials about how to make a logo

Picture Source: Flickr.com/ Turner/ Oyama


The author: Reema Oamkumar is engaged as a thought leader at www.Software-Developer-India.com which is a part of the YUHIRO Group. YUHIRO is a German-Indian enterprise which provides programmers to IT companies, agencies and IT departments.

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