Your logo is the symbol of your brand and has a major impact on how people perceive it. It reflects its identity and makes it recognizable. That’s why it should be unique and easy to identify. Here’s how to design a great logo in ten simple steps.

Define your brand identity

The logo is probably the element that best communicates your brand’s personality. It is a condensed version of the values, ideas and feelings you want people to associate with your brand. So, the first question is: What makes your brand unique? Values, mission and purpose are all key elements that will help you define your brand’s core.

Analyze your competitors

Research is always important. No matter whether you are working on design or strategy, you need to know what other brands are doing and why. Your customers are also attracted to the competition, so what is attractive?

However, copying is not the aim. Always be original. Analyzing is essential, but as part of your brand’s innovation and difference.

Look for logo inspiration

A brainstorming session is always a great way to start. Make a long list of all the ideas that describe your brand and the way you want it to be perceived. You may not use all of the ideas, but the process of considering multiple ideas always generates new thoughts.

Pro tip: try to see the brand from different angles: yours, your consumers’, and your competition’s.

Choose your style

Once you have an idea of what you want to do (and why), it’s time to translate your thoughts into a design. What kind of style will you go for? This involves color, typography/font, shapes and potentially other graphics, too.

Don’t forget the key question of what you want to transmit. in the logo. Will it be classic, vintage, modern, futuristic?

Choose your logo type

As you know, there isn’t just one type of logo. From abstract marks to emblems and logotypes, there are seven main types of logos:

• Emblem: text integrated with a symbol or icon.
• Combination mark: similar to an emblem, it combines text and symbols.
• Abstract logo mark: a geometric form that creates a connection with something entirely new.
• Pictorial mark: an iconographic image that represents your brand.
• Mascot: cartoonish characters that represent a brand in an approachable, colorful way.
• Wordmark: your company name as a logo.
• Lettermark: initials or a monogram.

Which one matches your brand identity best?

Typography or font is important, too

While serif fonts are great for classic businesses because they make them look more serious, sans-serif fonts are the perfect choice for modern brands. As with the type of logo, you should take your time here also. Although there are only four main types of fonts, the amount of typographies is huge.

• Serif: letters that have little “feet” at the ends of strokes.
• Sans-serif: sleek and simple (without “feet”).
• Script: reminiscent of handwriting.
• Display: highly stylized, decorative fonts.

Time to define the color

Colors are often controversial, especially when the brands are global. It’s hard to find colors that mean the same or can be perceived the same way in many different cultures.

Keep in mind that when using color, you are exploring ideas and feelings, so color helps tell a story too. Put extra effort into combining colors so that they are coherent in your brand’s personality. It’s not purely about aesthetics.

Put everything together

Now that you have everything, bring all of the elements together in the perfect marriage of color, font, shape and reference.

Integrate your logo everywhere

From your website to your newsletters, business cards and office materials, your logo will be everywhere. See how it works when you integrate it in different environments, such as on a letterhead, on a mobile phone screen or on a product. Would you change or adjust anything? Does it retain its original meaning? Does it look unique wherever it is used?

If it works perfectly well, congratulations! If it doesn’t, see what you need to adjust and try again. It’s worth spending the time to create something that could become iconic.

What is a logo?

A logo is the symbol that represents your brand and reflects its identity in a way that people can easily recognize. It should be both unique and easy to identify.

How can I create my own logo?

There are several steps you should follow. First is looking for inspiration in order to choose the style you want. Second is selecting the best type of logo for your brand, the typography and colors. Finally, you should integrate it everywhere so everything is in line with the rest of your brand identity.