How to make a good logo: Tips and suitable software

The company logo is one of the most important com­pon­ents of corporate design. It’s the public image of a company or or­gan­isa­tion. It is therefore vital to allocate ample time to per­fect­ing the design, including the layout, colour scheme and font selection. When it comes to creating a business logo, it’s essential to have ap­pro­pri­ate photo editing software that can fa­cil­it­ate its con­ver­sion to a digital format.

Why is designing a business logo important?

Many (aspiring) self-employed in­di­vidu­als wonder about how to create a logo for their business. And rightly so, because a logo de­term­ines how a brand is perceived. Not only does it serve as a concise element in ad­vert­ising campaigns and brochures, it also plays a vital role in show­cas­ing products and services. Fur­ther­more, the logo can be in­cor­por­ated into your email signature.

A brand’s logo has a sig­ni­fic­ant impact on how the brand is perceived by the public. Those who have had positive ex­per­i­ences with a brand often associate those fa­vour­able feelings with the cor­res­pond­ing logo as part of emotional branding.

An ap­pro­pri­ate logo holds sig­ni­fic­ant value for every company. Designing a logo for a startup can present a unique challenge, as it’s essential to create a positive first im­pres­sion. It’s crucial to consider the char­ac­ter­ist­ics that your logo should embody and determine its final ap­pear­ance. The logo must be created and ready for use before the brand launch to ef­fect­ively carry out brand building.

How to create your own logo in 6 steps

At its core, the principle of logo design is straight­for­ward: a logo should convey the essence of what a brand rep­res­ents. Re­gard­less of whether you’re creating a logo for a large cor­por­a­tion, a small business or a product line, there are always dis­tinct­ive char­ac­ter­ist­ics that can be in­cor­por­ated into the design. This can be achieved by combining letters and visual elements to create a unique image. A logo can consist of one or more al­pha­bet­ic­al char­ac­ters and/or various visual elements, with the colour scheme playing a critical role in es­tab­lish­ing re­cog­ni­tion value.

Want to create a company logo? Our tips below will help you. We explain step by step what’s important when designing your logo.

Step 1: Do extensive brain­storm­ing

If you have not yet con­sidered the concept of corporate identity, it is crucial to do so, es­pe­cially in the lead-up to designing your logo. Con­duct­ing a brain­storm­ing session can be helpful in defining your company’s story, identi­fy­ing its core values, and de­term­in­ing what sets it apart from com­pet­it­ors. All of these factors can be in­cor­por­ated into your logo design, though some may require a more subtle approach or be per­cept­ible only upon a closer ex­am­in­a­tion.

Once you have a clear un­der­stand­ing of your company’s story and values, it’s essential to identify the terms that best describe your corporate identity. To ac­com­plish this, it can be helpful to jot down buzzwords that come to mind. Ad­di­tion­ally, you can use synonym dic­tion­ar­ies like Woxikon or Thesaurus for ad­di­tion­al in­spir­a­tion. You may be surprised at the number of syn­onym­ous terms that can be found using such platforms.

Step 2: Create first sketches

With a clear un­der­stand­ing of your company’s identity, you can begin sketching some initial logo ideas. It’s essential not to put too much pressure on yourself during this process, as few good ideas are created within just a few minutes. If your initial ideas don’t meet your ex­pect­a­tions, don’t despair. Instead, use those drafts as a found­a­tion for further ideas and it­er­a­tions.

When working on your initial logo drafts, it is essential to consider the per­spect­ive of your target audience. Determine the pri­or­it­ies of the group of people you are targeting and tailor your design ac­cord­ingly. Fur­ther­more, remember the oft-quoted maxim that “less is more.” Sim­pli­city is key when it comes to the form and in­di­vidu­al elements of a logo design. It is not necessary to decide on the colour scheme for your logo at this stage, but it can be useful to jot down some initial ideas. Below, we provide some tips on selecting the colour scheme for a business logo.

Step 3: Get initial feedback and optimise your sketches

Once you have several sketches that you’re re­l­at­ively satisfied with, it’s essential to gather feedback from trusted col­leagues, friends and other in­di­vidu­als within your circle. Select your top five sketches and share them, re­quest­ing honest and, if necessary, critical feedback. Use this feedback to continue op­tim­ising your logo designs until you arrive at the final design that best rep­res­ents your company’s identity.

Step 4: Design a catchy logo

After creating your initial sketches, it’s time to explore and identify a suitable layout for your logo. However, designing a catchy company logo that ef­fect­ively conveys your brand’s story can be a chal­len­ging task. To overcome initial dif­fi­culties, it can be helpful to consider the logo designs of style icons and those of your com­pet­it­ors. This can provide in­spir­a­tion while also helping you to avoid creating a logo that is too similar to that of a com­pet­it­or.

When creating a logo, it’s important not to solely focus on the aesthetic appeal of the design. In addition to pure aes­thet­ics, there are other crucial aspects of logo design to consider. For example, it’s essential to avoid a cluttered ap­pear­ance. While small details that are visible only upon closer ex­am­in­a­tion may be ap­pro­pri­ate in some cases, it’s crucial to limit their use.

Ideally, a logo should be:

• relatable (the con­nec­tion to the product, brand or company is com­pre­hens­ible)
• dis­tinct­ive (the brand should be as­so­ci­ated with the logo)
• memorable (a basic min­im­al­ist design is usually better than one that’s too detailed)
• re­pro­du­cible (a digital logo with a high res­ol­u­tion can be used across various in­dus­tries and the logo size can be adjusted quickly)

Symbols and stylised objects can play an important role in logo design. Examples include the Microsoft Windows window, the WWF’s panda bear, and Nike’s iconic swoosh. Some logos do not in­cor­por­ate any letters or the brand name, such as Apple’s eponymous apple symbol. However, not all brands rely on fig­ur­at­ive elements to convey their name or industry, as in the case of Apple.

Step 5: Choose your logo colours carefully

The colour of a logo can be used to evoke as­so­ci­ations to a brand. Some companies have suc­cess­fully es­tab­lished a strong con­nec­tion between their brand or products and specific colour com­bin­a­tions. For instance, the Google Chrome logo utilises red, yellow, green, and blue, while Microsoft in­cor­por­ates a similar colour scheme but with different shapes (squares versus circles).

Many brands rely on classic colours to establish a strong visual identity. For example, Facebook’s logo is dominated by blue, while YouTube’s logo is primarily red. These colours are often utilised across their re­spect­ive web presences and marketing efforts. While the colour choice for some logos may appear arbitrary at first glance, it’s not always as straight­for­ward as the fire de­part­ment using red or Green­peace in­cor­por­at­ing green in their logo designs.

In many cases, obvious as­so­ci­ations between a par­tic­u­lar colour and industry are not possible or necessary. When selecting colours for a logo, there are a variety of options available. However, it is crucial to ensure that the colour scheme aligns with the overall image and identity of the brand. Ad­di­tion­ally, it may be helpful to consider current colour trends as part of your decision-making process.

When using multiple colours in a logo design, it’s important to consider the effect that the com­bin­a­tion will have. Utilising the classic colour wheel can provide clarity on the resulting impact of colour com­bin­a­tions. Com­ple­ment­ary colours, which are located opposite each other on the colour wheel, create a dynamic effect. Analogous colours, which are located adjacent or near each other on the colour wheel, create a har­mo­ni­ous effect.

It’s crucial to keep in mind that selecting a colour for your logo is a long-term decision. It’s uncommon to make changes to the colour scheme of a logo, except under ex­cep­tion­al cir­cum­stances. Your target audience tends to associate a brand with a par­tic­u­lar colour scheme, and rebrand­ing is typically a costly and time-consuming process.

Step 6: Decide on a font

While image elements are an essential aspect of logo design, ty­po­graphy can also play a crucial role in creating a dis­tinct­ive logo. The selection of fonts, including font size, character and line spacing, and ar­range­ment of char­ac­ters, is crucial in creating a suc­cess­ful logo. It is essential to keep in mind that your logo will be utilised in a variety of sizes, and the chosen font should be easily re­cog­nis­able at all sizes. For more guidance on re­spons­ive web design and fonts, see our article on the topic.

You can combine char­ac­ters with struc­tur­ing image elements such as frames or shading. This can help ac­cen­tu­ate certain areas and per­son­al­ise the design further. Examples of suc­cess­ful logos that utilise image elements include the Samsung logo, which has been in use since 1993 and frames the brand name with an ellipse, and Volk­swa­gen’s trademark, which utilises a circle to frame the company ab­bre­vi­ation “VW”.

Food man­u­fac­turer logos often do not directly il­lus­trate their products due to the diversity of their product ranges. Instead, they visually support the brand name, as seen with Nestle. The font selection alone can reflect brand char­ac­ter­ist­ics and convey strong branding. For example, until 1985, Walt Disney Pictures utilised a simple typeface with playful ty­po­graphy that evoked the studio’s animated films.

Premium tool re­com­mend­a­tions and tips for designing a logo

Various graphics programs are suitable for creating a logo. However, one important question when choosing the right software should be clarified in advance, namely, whether the desired logo format can be generated with the cor­res­pond­ing tool and whether the logo should be created as a vector graphic or as a pixel or raster graphic.

Vector graphics are generally quicker and easier to edit than raster graphics. Raster graphics are not easily scalable and are only ap­pro­pri­ate for small formats. However, raster graphics are useful for dis­play­ing complex image content.

Below we introduce four premium solutions. Free programs and a detailed com­par­is­on are available in our article on logo design software.

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is a well-known and classic raster graphics program. Extensive training is required to use the numerous and sometimes complex features ef­fect­ively. However, once users become familiar with the tool, they can benefit from its wide range of features. Photoshop’s extensive range of drawing tools is ideal for creating detailed designs.

Costs:

• Annual sub­scrip­tion approx. £248.88 or £19.97 per month
• Free trial version for 7 days

Adobe Il­lus­trat­or

If you prefer to create your logo as a vector graphic, Adobe Il­lus­trat­or is an excellent solution. The tool includes a full suite of drawing and editing tools and is com­pat­ible with all major logo formats, including PDF, SVG, and EPS. If you haven’t worked with Il­lus­trat­or before, you’ll need to invest some time in learning how to use it.

Costs:

• Annual sub­scrip­tion approx. £248.88 or £19.97 per month
• Approx. £31.49 per month (without sub­scrip­tion)
• Free trial version for 7 days

CorelDRAW

CorelDRAW boasts a large selection of features and effects, which you can use to create visually appealing logos. Previous knowledge of graphic design is a must when using this software. With the LiveSketch tool, manual sketches can be converted into vector graphics and used for logo de­vel­op­ment. Un­for­tu­nately, the tool isn’t com­pat­ible with all the common industry standard formats.

Costs:

• Graphics Suite: One-time purchase approx. £659.00 (version 2023)
• Starter offer Graphics Suite 2022: £319.00 annually or around £26.58 monthly
• Free trial version for 15 days

Looka

Wondering how to make a logo without prior design knowledge? Looka may be the answer. The platform is com­par­at­ively cheap but offers auser-friendly design. You can easily create your vector-based logo using a ques­tion­naire and AI features. Advanced graphic design skills aren’t necessary. This means less effort is required. However, automated processes may result in designs lacking ori­gin­al­ity.

Costs:

• Brand Kit with licensing rights to logos: approx. £84.00 annually
• Brand Kit Web with licensing rights and AI-generated website: approx. £156.00 annually
• Logo Basic only: one-time purchase approx. £15.00 (1 low-res­ol­u­tion file)
• Logo Premium only: one-time purchase approx. £50.00 (several file types possible)
• Logo design for testing: free of charge (download of logo file with costs)