Before Dealing with how to make your own logo design, let’s ask if you really need a logo for your website?
The answer is absolutely YES, especially if you are operating any kind of home business. The logo is part of your brand, a recognisable symbol that will help imprint your business into the minds of your customers and potential customers.
You will see logos every day, for companies as wide-ranging as Apple and Nike, and without seeing the name of the company, you will automatically know who that logo relates to. This is very clever marketing, and something you need to take care over when designing your own.
So, how do you make a great logo?
For starters, you may need to brush up on your design skills. Local adobe illustrator courses are a great way to learn a few graphic design skills, negating the need to spend money on hiring a professional logo designer to do the job for you. You can check colleges near you for available courses. This will add to your skill base too and can help you to make your website even more effective. If it’s your thing maybe you could hire out your services on places like Fiverr which is where I found my logo designer. You can read more about that by clicking here.
Alternatively, online tools, such as Logomaker, will give you the capacity to form an effective-looking logo within minutes. I also make good use of Canva, a free online app. Whatever route you go down, assuming you don’t decide to hand over the job to somebody else, there are some basic principles you should follow as you design your logo.
Keep It Simple
You don’t need something intricate; you’re not creating an elaborate work of art, so produce something relatively simple. It needs to be identifiable with your brand, so think of an image that makes some kind of sense to what it is you do. It doesn’t have to be overly-obvious, but it shouldn’t be too abstract, either. Nike’s ‘swoosh’ logo, for example, is a simple design to represent speed, and is more effective than an obvious and boring image of a pair of trainers. Something simple is more memorable than an over complicated design, and is also less-demanding on the customer’s eye.
My own logo of the orange Gerbera may well be too abstract for a website about building websites but when I post to social media that flower is quite distinctive and the colour stands out. With time that logo should become associated with me and my websites.
Be Unique
You don’t want to be accused of plagiarism, so try to be original in what you produce. Admittedly, this is easier said than done, but you do need to create something that won’t be associated with another company. Not only will you have to deal with the legal implications if you do, but you will also reduce the effectiveness of your brand should your image be confused with somebody else’s.
A big mistake people make is seeing something from someone you admire and then try to emulate it in some way. I have seen this first hand within Wealthy Affiliate, the hosting and training platform that I belong to. In the training the owner Kyle uses two different websites as a way of training people to do certain things on their website. Usually in his video trainings. I have seen several sites where the design is almost identical to his. Not great for him but worse for those copying him because his websites are more established and effective than theirs.
Consider Colour
The colour needs to be associated with your brand, so consider the message you are trying to convey to your market audience. If you are appealing to the youth market, then bright and vibrant colors are a must. Alternatively, if you are trying to reach an older demographic, it may be wise to use more muted colors.
Care needs to be taken, as a simple brush stroke can give the wrong message, and can alienate the people you are trying to reach. A site such as Logaster can help you with your color palette. Make sure to read their valuable advice when it comes to designing your logo.
Choose The Right Font
The image you create will convey a message, but notice how many companies also rely on wording to strengthen the logo.
My own full logo which you will see at the top of the post has the words With Grace and Gratitude, this is my sign off and is associated with all of my business websites.
The right font can make all the difference, but it’s difficult, considering the thousands that are available to you. You can find font advice online, but you should also experiment yourself, playing around with different typefaces until you find something that looks good when displayed against your image.
Final Thoughts
In closing, I recommend you go off and look at other companies logos for inspiration. Not as a means of plagiarising, but rather to get examples of how these companies convey their message through the symbols, colors, and fonts they have used.
How successful have they been? How memorable are they? Learn from both the good and the bad as you create something for your website, blog or business.
I hope you have found this post useful and if you have please share it on your favourite social media platform and help get that Orange Gerbera out there!
As ever If you have any questions or if you want to tell me your thoughts on my own logo please leave a comment below and I will get back to you as soon as I can. I’m happy to learn along with you so if you think my logo is rubbish, please say so!
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen
How I Make A Living Online?
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