Just like the company name, a logo is a big deal. You can just throw some icons and circles and lines together and be done with it. A lot of thought and effort goes into designing a good logo design. After all, a logo is the symbol of brand identity.
In other word’s it’s going to be the face of your brand, something that people will recognise the brand by. A powerful logo invokes the feeling of trust and reliability in the minds of the audience whenever they see it. It defines the brand’s perception in the world and therefore influences purchase decisions regarding the product.
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You may have developed the best product in the market, using the premium raw materials and cutting edge technology, but compensating on the logo design can result in poor performance of your product. Before the audience comes in contact with the product and gives it a try, they consider the brand’s logo. Yes, that is the power of visuals when it comes to branding. The best example to substantiate this the power of cosmetic brand and beauty logos such as Fenty Beauty by Rihanna. The simple yet exquisite logo speaks volume about the thought behind the brand of staying simple and inclusive.
As a business owner and even as a designer, you must have a lot of ideas for a powerful logo, but how you can make that idea into a reality is a different game altogether. Here is how you can do that:
Steps for developing a logo concept into reality
1. Analyze the brief in detail
If you are a freelance designer, your brief should be your bible. Even before meeting with the client, work on the brief by creating the most in-depth and detailed questions. These will help you gain insight into the client’s expectations from the logo design. Some clients already have some groundbreaking ideas regarding their logos as they wish to channel the passion they have for their business into these designs. A comprehensive brief will allow you to understand such ideas and concepts better and thereby paving a smoother road for your design process.
If you are a business owner and are looking to create a logo for your brand on your own, maybe with the help of a free logo creator. Create a brief for yourself by jotting down all the ideas and requirements for the logo.
2. Conduct a thorough research
Research and discovery are two very vital components of design, especially for business owners who are creating the logos on their own or freelancers who are just starting out. Conducting extensive research helps you understand how various designs work, what the current trends are in the market and how different principles can be incorporated in a design.
Research on your target audience as well at this stage. It will help you understand their preferences and demographics. This is a critical step that can make your design superior to others.
3. Brainstorm and create rough sketches
Designers must involve the clients as much as possible at this stage so that they can create the most authentic and relevant logo designs. Having brainstorming sessions with the clients and their team will make sure that you don’t find yourself stuck at any point during the design process.
Start by drawing rough sketches for your ideas. These sketches will work as drafts as well as an anchor point for your design. Bring out all your designs to paper at this stage and test out which of them work. This is also a good time to test various typefaces and symbols for your logo ideas. A detailed hand-drawn sketch for a logo with all the elements makes it easier to reproduce digitally.
As you progress to the steps further, make sure to preserve these sketches. Even the most elementary of such sketches can prove to be useful when you are looking to make changes down the line.
4. Design the logos based on the best concepts
As you create and work on these rough sketches, pick out the 1 or 2 best concepts that fulfil your requirements from the brief. Enhance these designs into complete logos to make an informed choice. If you are a designer, it is always a great idea to bring more than one design to the client. Convey your thought process behind each variant to the client. This brings the power to the client as they can have the pick of their choice.
If you are using an AI-based logo maker, the tool also presents 2-3 different variations of designs created according to your preferences. You can choose the pattern you like the most and build upon it.
Logo makers are also a good option to make changes to the basic structure of the design if you wish to add or remove certain elements.
5. Evolve and enhance the chosen concept
Designing a logo is an ongoing process as there is no set formula to create a perfect design on the first attempt. Clients often ask to combine some of the ideas presented to them or may even come back with small iterations on one chosen design. As a designer, you may find that it comes with the territory.
Create a timeline and edit formula so that the changes can be done in a timely fashion within the budget. The key is to keep a clear channel of communication with the client. As a freelancer, building these relations is also key to more work coming your way.
6. Check your design on mockups
You design must work as good in reality as it does on paper or screen. When it comes to certain industries such as consumable goods and beauty, how the logo is implemented holds as much importance as the logo itself. If you are creating a drinks logo design, check how it would look on a bottle. Similarly, if you are creating beauty logo designs, create mockups for the products and see if the design has the same impact.
7. Render high definition file formats
Once you have finalised the logo design, comes an important stage of delivery. If you are a business owner and have used an online tool to create your logo, check what file formats you are being offered by the tool. Each format from png, jpeg, eps etc has their features, compatibility tools as well as resolution range.
If you are a designer, make sure that you provide your clients with the highest resolution files so that they do not face any challenges while using or editing the logo design.
But before you plunge into the design process or especially as you head to an online logo creator, first understand what makes a logo great.
7 Characteristics of a Stunning Logo Design
Stay away from cliches
Cliches are called cliches for a reason. And they won’t make any heads turn. Imagine a product on the supermarket aisle, the logo has to be powerful enough to attract attention from a distracted shopper. If your logo can do that, then it is a powerful logo, otherwise, it can get lost in the crowd.
Don’t forget the grayscale
Colour is vital for a logo to stand out and even convey emotions, but sometimes, the need is to shine even in grayscale. Make sure that your logo looks as great and meaningful in black and white as it does in vibrant colours.
Keep the design clever and unique
A clever logo design will go a long way. If you are creating beauty logos, there is tons of competition already in the market. What you need is something unique and clever that can add an edge to our brand’s logo.
Always remember “KISS”
“KISS” stands for an acronym used by the US Navy for their strategies. The same principle has now been successfully adopted by the design industry. It stands for “Keep it simple, silly”. Keeping your logo simple will ensure that the audience can interpret it and therefore recall it later as well.
Consider symmetry and grid placement
Adding symmetry and grid will make your life a lot easier than you can imagine. Even if you are looking to create an asymmetrical logo, use the grid system so that it does not get distorted when enlarged or edited at a later stage.
Keep it flexible and scalable
Logo designing is an ongoing process. Sometimes brands, recreate or tweak their logos as they build a more diverse portfolio. Therefore your logo must have the scope to be modified. It is also crucial to make the design scalable, especially some such as cosmetic logos.
These logos need to be printed on large areas such as billboards and the smallest of products such as lipsticks and eyeshadows. In addition to these, the design must work well on digital platforms as well. Hence, the logo design should be scalable and created in high resolution.
Aim for a classic design
Logo designs cannot be changed every few months. Changing a logo requires a lot of resources and investment. Therefore, aim at creating a logo that can stand the test of time and stay relevant for years to come.
Conclusion
There is virtually no end to what you can do with a logo. You can enhance it by adding subtle animation or transition effects while using it on the digital media. A logo design is a founding step towards all branding activities for a business. Therefore it becomes essential that the design is unique and original. While it is good to be inspired by the best works of the industry, mimicking it is a big no-no. If you have that creative outlook and an eye for detail, you can create a stunning logo with the steps and tips above. So get started on the logo you know you can create.
Jelly Shah works as a Digital Marketer, brand consultant and business strategist with Designhill- A reliable marketplace for logo design, business card maker, cosmetics & beauty logo, personalized & custom tank tops design, and many other designing works. With extensive experience working both client side and within the agency environment, he has authored several articles on topics related to digital marketing, business strategies, content marketing etc.
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