5 Things to Consider When Designing Your Logo

Posted on: March 26, 2020

5 Things to Consider When Designing Your LogoAt Blue Shell Interactive, one of the questions we constantly get from our customers is, “what separates a good logo from a GREAT logo?“

While creating a logo can sometimes be overwhelming, it is important you understand its value to your brand or business. Remember, your logo is nothing less than the visual representation of your brand, one which customers will immediately recognize and associate with your business or services. However, instant recognition is not the only thing you should be taking into consideration when conceptualizing your logo. In fact, the most critical component of any great logo is its ability to communicate the business’s message to its target audience.

While it could be argued that there are many things to take into account when it comes to effective logo development, focusing on just a few essentials is the best way to ensure you come out with the best possible insignia of your brand or business.

That being said, we have compiled a list of what we believe are the five most important things to consider when designing a logo to get you moving in the right direction:

  1. Ask questions to bring your vision to fruition. Simple questions go a long way when it comes to design, but more importantly, the answers to these questions will help you better define your brand. These include:
    • What are three words I would use to describe my brand, product, or culture?
    • What are three other logos I like and can draw inspiration from?
    • Do I want my logo to look modern, old, or futuristic?
    • What color palette is best for my logo?
    • Where will most people see my logo?
  2. Select the right development tool. There are a number of intuitive tools for creating a logo all on your own, including web applications like Canva, Freelogomkr, Wix, and many others. Truthfully, they are all somewhat limiting unless you are willing to shell out the money for additional design capability. This does not mean it cannot be done, but the logos produced from these platforms are usually more generic and often prompt you to use very cookie cutter templates. Additionally, they tend to be very limited in available export (file) options.
  3. Start with black and white. Following rough sketches and various thumbnails, professional logos are always drafted in black and white. This helps identify points of contrast and opens the door for multiple color schemes.
  4. Peer review. Once the design comps are completed, show them to your colleagues and get some feedback. We recommend this be done while still in the black and white stage to remove biases to favorite colors, and keep things focused on other structural components. Agree on the design first before thinking about adding color.
  5. Consider color emotion guides. After making the necessary design refinements following peer review, experiment with color and go through the process again. A helpful tool for determining color is a color emotion guide. It is important to consider color psychology and how it coincides with your business’s message at this stage of the design.

Once your logo is finalized, we encourage you to reinforce your brand by creating complementary branding material like business cards, letterheads, promotional products, and more. Often times, certain colors and fonts can be just as important to establishing brand identity.

At Blue Shell Interactive, we specialize in small business branding, and strive to create high-quality, professional logos for our clients. If you are interested in rebranding your business, or even establishing your brand identity for the first time, contact us today and schedule your free consultation.

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