You did it! You’ve taken the leap and decided to kickstart your brand development…so what’s next? Starting a brand requires a lot of work before you even announce it to the public. You have to decide on a company name, a brand color scheme, mission statement, tagline, and much more! Although all these things are essential to your brand kickoff, an extremely important one to ensure brand consistency is your brand logo! Your brand logo is essentially the picture people think of when they hear your company's name.
Developing Your Company Logos
Getting started on your logo can be a daunting process. Whether you are creating a graphic yourself or hiring a graphic designer or marketing firm, you will probably have to work through several iterations. Most likely, you won’t design something and love it in the first round. It will take a few rounds of revisions and sometimes completely starting over, but that’s okay. The truth is, that developing the right brand imagery often comes from a brainstorming process and takes time. Here are a few tips you can do to get started on your new (or revamped) logo design:
-Determine your brand story: Your brand story is the backbone of your brand. It’s what you stand by and it’s what you want your customers to think of when they hear your name. Your logo should represent this story in some way. Figuring out your brand story before you start designing will give you a starting place.
-Decide on your brand colors: You can’t begin the logo design process without having your brand colors decided. These colors are important to your company's overall feeling and need to be included in your logo design. If your brand identity is bright and fun, then you don’t want an all-black logo. You can research other brand images and also find sample color schemes online. Consider this an important step, because your brand colors will be used EVERYWHERE!
-Consider brand fonts: Typography is something that a lot of people don’t think about when creating their brand elements, including their logo! There are thousands of font options to choose from and you want to avoid the basic ones. Test out several options and determine if your brand is strong and firm, light and creative, bold or simple. Remember you want your brand to stand out, and choosing a unique, yet readable font is important for this step!
-Find inspiration: Don’t be scared to find inspiration in other art, imagery, or branding. Just because you borrow on an idea doesn’t mean it’s “stealing”. There is a fine line between having inspiration and stealing a brand concept. Everyone draws inspiration from somewhere, whether it's music artists, actors, or designers. When finding inspiration, jot down images, colors, fonts, and layouts that you enjoy, and then go from there! Using another company’s logo for inspiration isn’t bad as long as you revamp it to your own idea, adjust the layout and color scheme, and make it your own.
-Think outside the box: Don’t be afraid to try “weird” or different ideas! You’d be surprised at how many strange ideas turn out to be really successful logo designs. Think about the meaning and mission of your company and try incorporating those ideas into your logo. Some of them may work and some of them may look crazy, but that’s okay. Trial and error are a huge part of the logo design process. Use your creativity and go for it!
Starting the logo design process can be a frustrating task, but these tips should help streamline the process. If you need some professional help designing your logo, 30|90 Marketing is here to help! Reach out to us to see how we can help build your logo today.
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