A Comprehensive Guide with Tips and Design Steps

A very important part of creating a good logo is research as the first step.

Have you ever heard the saying that "nothing is created, everything is copied"?

This is not exactly the way things are, but having good references is essential to creating an interesting logo.

First, think about the logos you like the most. Those logos that you look at and know exactly what they are about.

Examples like Nike, Coca-Cola and Apple are always cited because it is indisputable that these brands are market leaders in their segments and easily recognized by their logos, don't you think?

We are going to take the Coca-Cola logo as a base. See below for a comparison between the evolution of that brand's logo and its main competition over the years.

PICTURE

Note that there is even a certain resemblance between the first Pepsi logo in 1898 and the first logo printed on a Coca-Cola sign in 1900.

However, he realizes that the Coca-Cola logo underwent only brief changes and remained almost the same for all these years.

Except in the bad strategy of 1985, in which the company completely changed its brand to a strategy that many say was carried out by an alteration in the famous soda formula.

Regarding that, Pepsi adopted its famous red and blue colors, 50 years after the creation of the first logo, which was modified several times.

Who is the market leader? Coke.

However, those examples are extreme. Since they are famous brands that have achieved excellence through many years in the market. That being the case, also investigate other references.

Are there companies / brands that offer the same (or almost the same) as you? What are the benchmarks ?

Have the logo of those companies as references.

Do not copy them, analyze the elements used, the colors, and try to create something that makes your logo stand out, attract attention and is better resolved than the competition.

Different audiences demand different logos. Do a detailed analysis on the type of person your brand wants to reach.

Look for the logos of the brands with which you most identify. You can do that with a verbal investigation, talking with friends who fit in the profile of your person, asking questions on social networks, creating forms.

Collect this data to better direct the final result of your logo(Business logo Design Experts in USA).

After knowing what your competition is doing, update yourself with what is happening in relation to design. Design is something that is constantly changing.

What was done in the 90s is completely different from what was done in the 2000s, which is different, too, from what is done today.

Looking for logos made today and taking them as a reference, prevents the creation of something outdated or out of current patterns.

It may seem like a good idea to do something out of the box to easily stand out, but that way your brand could be associated with something very old-fashioned or in bad taste, without a careful visual identity, which is lousy.

Also remembering that there is hardly a "trend" in force. The trends coexist, they mix, they divide.

I bet you are going to find the best style to represent your brand. Think about what most has to do with what you want to convey to your audience about yourself.

With all that data collected during the research, it is time to conceptualize your logo. And what the heck is that?

Conceptualization is nothing more than determining what your logo will convey through its forms.

This may seem very subjective, but having a closed concept can result in a logo that expresses - even subtly - the service provided.

A good example of a logo with a well thought out concept is that of the American company FedEx.

The concept of your brand refers to the mail and parcel delivery service. Look:

Few notice that there is a date in the blank space between the letters "E" and "X".

That arrow represents that things leave one place and go to another, in addition to representing dynamism and agility.

Another important detail of that logo is that all the letters are connected . He perceives that there is no space between them, nor between the “d” and the “E” of different colors.

That shows that the concept of the company is to connect people through its services.

It seems like a coincidence, but believe it, it wasn't. Sometimes chance helps, but when you think about those details first, the job is much easier.

Research done, concept closed. Time to face the blank sheet of paper.

Yes, you guessed it, let's design our logo!

"But I don't know how to design!" you must be thinking desperately. Take it easy.

You don't have to be Leonardo DaVinci to have a good logo. But playing with a piece of paper to organize ideas is a very efficient technique.

Not even the most experienced designers skip that stage and go straight to the computer. The shortest distance between your brain and the paper is to use a pencil or pen.

And even if your sketches are doodles, they help in the completion of the logo.

Look at these examples:

Although the sketching process must be free and fluid, everything that was pointed out during the investigation must be taken into account.

Let the concept serve as inspiration. Think of it as the starting point and let the ideas emerge on paper.

Finally, the time has come to sit down at the computer and transform the ideas that you have on paper, into a file inside your computer.

The digitization process, when creating a logo, can also be called vectorization .

The term curved logo is also widely used to refer to a vector logo.

For this stage, a notion of computer graphics and knowing how to use graphics software is essential.

If that is not your case, on the internet you can find some tools that may be useful.

They are quite limited, but they can be a good solution for those who have no idea how to manipulate vectors in software like Illustrator or CorelDRAW.

Some sites to create logos for free are:

• Squarespace
• Garden logo
• Graphic Spring

Although there are such facilities, the ideal is to create them in appropriate software.

There are several graphic software on the market (the most famous are Photoshop and CorelDRAW), however, we recommend that you make your logos in vector software.

Why? Because vectors are infinitely scalable

This means that it does not matter if you use your logo on a 9 × 5 cm business card or if you are going to have a cargo ship covered in adhesive with a size equivalent to 4 and a half football fields : your logo will be perfect in the final art!

Understanding the above, we are now going to see the most suitable software for digitizing your logo.

This is the leading software on the market for vector images. It is also possibly the most robust and efficient.

It is always my first indication for anyone who wants to work with vectors.

It was developed by the powerful Adobe (market leader in graphics software) and, likewise, it presents a wonderful integration between its other programs (which work with bitmap images, video editing, animations, web design, etc).

This software was the market leader for many years, but today it is no more than an ugly duckling among professionals in the field.

Its multiple functions were its own undoing. Trying to supply all the needs of a designer in a single tool, it became unstable and not very reliable.

He burned his own film, causing professionals to lose hours of work due to malfunctions.

It is not bad software, but it is frowned upon.

If, for some reason, you prefer to use this software, our recommendation is: never send your logo with the native extension of the program, which is CDR.

Few professionals own "Corel" and will not be able to open or work that file.

Save it as EPS or PDF to avoid mess.

In case you don't get along with these programs or online tools, a designer will be necessary.

But knowing how the process works, you will know how to convey to the professional with much more property and accuracy what you need.

The result will certainly be an amazing logo!

Ready, you already have a blank screen in front of you, some sketches designed on a piece of paper and some ideas in your head.

So let's start with the written part of your logo.

Possibly you did not think exactly what type of letter (font) you are going to use in your logo, right?

Well, typography is a science that requires a lot of study, but we are going to try to keep things as simple as possible here.

There are different types of fonts, but without a doubt, one characteristic that separates fonts into two large groups is the serif-better known as serif, in English. What is a serif?

Serifs are those extensions at the corners of the letters. Therefore, fonts can be serif or not.

•  Serifs make more sense in serious and / or classic logos.

• Use sans-serif fonts for relaxed and / or modern logos.

We still have different types of sources, but more in-depth explanations will remain for a future article.

Don't choose a very elaborate font. No one is going to unders tand your brand name.

To help you in that difficult task of choosing, here are three tips that can eliminate, at once, some of the options:

• Never use: Comic Sans, ZapFino, Papyrus, Chiller, Monotype Italic.

• Not recommended: Arial, CooperPlate, Myriad, Impact

• Use without fear: Helvetica, Bebas, Grotesk Gotham, Museum, Raleway, Soho, Roboto, Geomanist, Din, Dobodi, ChunkFive, Cocogoose, Futura, Lato.

Remember that it is not exactly a rule. Taste is indisputable and there are always those who find good applications to certain sources.

But following those tips helps prevent your brand from being generic, lacking in personality, and / or mocking.

See below the consecrated logo of the Chanel brand and its replica using a font considered "bad".

It is not an easy task to decide which is the best font for your logo. For that, write the name of your brand, make several copies and apply different fonts in each one.

But let's leave the typography aside for now and let's go to creating our icon / symbol!

Perhaps the right font will only appear after that, as it will be the one that best fits the design.

Take all the sketches you made and reproduce them in the graphics software of your choice.

If you know how to handle programs, you know that there is a tool that adds points and you can manipulate them to form solid elements. This is generally the easiest way to transform your sketches into a logo.

To do that more precisely, scan or take a photo of your designs and put them inside the vector program. In this way, you will be vectoring your logo.

This is a process that requires a lot of patience if your designs have very complex shapes. But practice makes perfect . Try manipulating the vectors until the final shape satisfies you.

It is at this stage that the technical knowledge and precision of an experienced designer becomes extremely desirable.

Setting aside part of the budget to hire a good designer should always be an option to consider, but if there is no way, train a lot and try to leave your logo with the desired precision.

Look for materials on some of the sites previously listed.

- Squarespace , Logo Garden and Graphic Spring, mainly - or searching for free icons on sites like Freepic or Noun Project can be good outlets too.

You will be able to find sophisticated and extremely well executed icons to use in your future logo. The problem is that because they are free sites, other people can use the same icons.

An intermediary option would be to download these icons for free and modify them in graphic software.

Personalization is always a good alternative and, by working with ready-made files, you can learn a lot about how they were made.

From a very young age we have contact with alignment .

When we are being literate we use calligraphy notebooks to train writing, leaving the letters proportional and with the appropriate spaces.

In elementary school we have contact with notebooks of lines, which we use to make all the content more organized and legible.

In geometry or geometric design classes we have contact with rulers, squares, compasses, protractors and, mainly, with squared sheets.

The matter of alignment, positioning and distribution has been practiced by everyone for a long time, but in design, especially during the creation of a logo, it is almost an obligation.

The elements of a logo need to coexist and complement each other in a harmonious way. And the best way to reach that harmony is to always be attentive to the alignment.

So grids and guidelines exist to help you with that. Look at the following example:

We can perceive in this image, a simple grid that brings the logo into a beautiful balance.

Basically, we worked with two different distances that were applied throughout the logo.

In this second example, circular shapes were used to maintain the fluidity and simplicity of the shapes. Look:

The circular guides were also used in the Twitter logo.

And in the example below, the logo of Lotus Logo Design:

Another good example is the Shell logo, which was developed in the 1970s when the entire logo creation process was manual.

We can notice in the example, that a grid sheet was used and that all the lines start from the same point. It seems just a detail but it makes a lot of difference in the strength of the logo.

One more example of a logo developed in the principles of graphic design, was that of Braun, made in the 60s.

A simple grid aided by circular shapes made this logo imposing. Also note the concern for symmetry.

McDonald's has worn its famous yellow M for many years. Note how the X and Y distances are respected in the logo, giving balance.

Some logos do not feature icons, and this is an example.

By displaying these logos with grids, it looks like the symbol was created from the grid, but that, actually, is pretty weird.

The most common is that the initial sketch is improved and gains harmony, symmetry and fluidity, from a grid created on top of the initial design.

And don't forget, a symbol doesn't need to be 100% based on a grid.

There are many incredible logo designs that don't use any grid, but they certainly have a concern regarding the alignments and spaces between the elements.

With your logo design finished, it's time to apply the colors.

It is very important to first think of your logo in a monochrome version (black and white)

If it works in black and white, which would be its simplest version, it means that your logo can be applied in some medium that does not support the use of more than one color. However, by working in this way, your logo will also do it with various colors.

Choosing the colors for a logo is a delicate matter.

It involves personal taste, knowledge of yourself, your market, your own product ... But one way to decide is by using the knowledge related to the theory and psychology of colors.

Having ready some options for your logo, since it is very important to make more than one option, it is time to do some tests.

Call different people, but who fit the profile of your person. Show them your logo and let them give their impressions of what they are seeing.

Analyze the different arguments and choose the logo that you consider the best evaluated.

This step is essential so as not to end up with a logo that you like but that does not converse with your customers and yourself, that is, with whom you are going to buy.

Having chosen the winning option, it is time to do some basic testing to determine the best ways to apply it.

It is very important that you think about the following questions:

Most of the logos have their horizontal and vertical versions.

You never know when your logo will need to be used standing or sideways, so be careful to certify that your logo works in both options.

Take for example the NBC logo in its vertical and horizontal versions, and just the icon.

In your graphic software of choice, position your logo sequentially in different sizes, reducing it quite a bit.

Print those pages and analyze what is the smallest size in which you can identify all the elements and read all the words.

Measure with a ruler the option that fits that description and assume that measurement as the minimum size for your logo.

And don't forget to specify that size in your brand manual!

First, test your logo on a white background and a black background. If necessary, reverse the colors of the logo.

Then try it out on colorful backgrounds. And then apply your logo on photos.

If there is any case in which your logo is completely illegible, specify in your brand manual that that application is not recommended.

Serious designers tend to follow the rules of a brand manual to the letter. This ensures that your logo is always legible.

And since we mentioned the brand manual twice, this is the time to explain what that is and what its importance is.

As the name indicates, the Brand Manual is a primer regarding your logo, which will guarantee that it is always presented according to a pattern.

Which is extremely important for the strengthening of any brand.

This document gathers, in addition to your logo, all the logo variations, all the applications, all their specified and explained peculiarities, all the application rules.

And now that you know the importance of a Brand Manual, we will also explain what Briefing is and what this has to do with your logo.

If you are reading this article and you are a designer, you may think that this point is out of order, knowing that the briefing is the first thing to be elaborated in the process of creating a logo.

But calm down, I'll explain!

Briefing comes from the English word Brief , which means brief and even comes to be understood, as a summary.

In the language of the designer, briefing is nothing more than the initial document, before the creation of any concept or form, on which the project will consist.

The briefing is what conveys to the designer, what the client wants and expects from your logo (or any other piece of design).

If you are not a designer, you have read this far and learned more about the process of creating a logo. Even so you do not consider yourself technically suitable to execute it, however, I am sure that your briefing for the designer will be well detailed and enlightening.

Briefings made by people completely unfamiliar with the subject are generally very empty, full of contradictions and that results in a lot of extra work for a designer.

Knowing all the steps explained in this article, I am confident that the final result of your logo will reflect the knowledge that you have acquired so far.

It is also worth remembering that the one who guides the client in relation to the briefing is the designer.

Generally, the briefing has a form format, with questions that the designer considers pertinent for understanding the task to be executed.

But that can vary and each professional has their own method.