How To Create a Logo

Branding is important for every business, and a crucial part of a brand is its logo. Creating a logo should not be rushed. You should spend a lot of time and effort thinking about a logo that will help to create an appealing and memorable brand that will create a positive image for your company.

If you draw, or feel comfortable using online graphics programs, then you may not need anyone else to be involved in the logo creation process. If you do not, then you will likely have to hire someone to help you with your logo creation process, unless you are willing to spend some time developing those skills.

One option is to hire a company that works online, and explain to them what type of theme you want, and any words you want in the logo. The company can then create multiple versions for you to choose from. The drawback with this approach is that you have less control over the process.

If you want the logo to be exactly to your specifications, it may be easier to create it yourself. The most common programs used for graphics are Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.

Before you start, you need to brainstorm. Typically, a logo will consist of some sort of symbol and the company name, but sometimes it's just the name as with Microsoft, and sometimes it's just a graphic as with Apple. You need to decide what is right for your business. Now you need to think about what is appropriate for your business. If it is a law firm, then the graphics used (if any) and the font should probably be fairly conservative. If you are a graphic designer on the other hand, you may want to use a very flashy or flamboyant graphic to show off your talent.

If you have text, make sure that it is legible. Certain fonts are more legible and inspire trust more than others, including Helvetica. Likewise, colors can also say a lot about your business. Colors convey emotions. Red is excitement. Blue is calm, clean and trustworthy. Green is fresh and new. Of course, you can use as many colors as you want in your logo. Google uses 7 colors in its logo if you include the white background. There are several websites that help you select color schemes by showing you which colors go together. These can be very helpful when deciding which colors to use.

It's also important to make your logo stand out against its background. If you are going to use different colored backgrounds (ie. different colored t-shirts) then this can become a real challenge. You want to use colors that contrast with the background. For example, black text on a white background is high contrast, but yellow text may be difficult to read on a white background. The Google logo gets around this by using shading. This also adds a three dimensional aspect to the logo, which can help the logo stand out more.

If you want to use your logo strictly online, then it does not need to be at a high resolution. However, if you want to be able to print it onto business cards, flyers, or any other surface without pixelation (blockiness) then you'll have to make sure you save your graphic in Adobe Illustrator with a minimum 300 dpi (dots per inch). Because Illustrator is a vector based graphics program, you should be able to resize the logo file without degrading image quality. This is useful if you want to have variable sized logos.

A strong logo that communicates the culture of your company and what it offers to consumers will help solidify a strong brand in the minds of those same consumers. If you come up with something truly appealing, or that inspires confidence and trust among consumers, then it will greatly help with your entire sales process. While having a great logo is only part of a successful marketing strategy, it can be a very crucial element that you should not overlook.