Hello, the brand owner! And anyone interested. At Gingersauce, we understand the importance of branding more than anyone else – we created a branding tool, after all. The logo is one of the most important elements of the brand identity, and today we took it upon us to guide you through every step of its creation: from defining a brand to receiving your assets. We won’t hold you back for much longer, let’s dive right into it!
Why does your brand need a logo?
Many brand owners think that having a logo solely will transform their business into a brand, instantly. Though it is extremely important, it is just one of the elements in the branding system that you should have.
In order to single out the role of the logo, let’s define the reasons a brand should have one.
Recognition. The logo is the face of the brand. When noticing your brand, the first thing that catches an eye is probably a logo. Later on, every experience your customers have with your brand will be tied to your logo.
Memorability. Being the representative of a brand, the more your logo is seen, the bigger the chance you will get remembered when the time comes. This is where you should take brand awareness into account. The purpose of a logo, and any ads you see, is not to push you into buying head first (mostly). They practically bury their image into your subconsciousness, you may not even know they’re there. But the next time you need wet wipes you think of Kleenex.
👉🏻 Note: 3 things to remember before creating your logo:
1. Simplicity. Don’t aim for an overly complicated logo from the get-go. It is understandable that you would want every single detail on your logo to represent your business, but remember that the more minimalistic it is, the easier it is to remember.
2. Uniqueness. You went to look for references and found the one logo that was just perfect. Why not just copy it and save money on the logo design? That’s not the way to do it. First of all, sooner or later you will get in trouble for stealing intellectual property. Second of all, in order to find a place in people’s hearts, you have to stand out, be unique.
3. Follow the advice. Everybody knows the right way to do things. But, if you hire an awesome professional designer to create a logo for you, try to prick up your ears and listen to their professional advice. You might end up not going with it, but taking it into account won’t hurt, on the contrary!
How to create a logo for your business?
Step 1: Shape your brand
Before even thinking of getting a logo, we would recommend you to get acquainted with your brand. A brand is much more than getting a brand identity and consistently using it. A brand needs to evoke emotions, and have a story to tell. A brand in its essence is the way people see, perceive, and feel about you. Since the logo is a reflection of everything your brand stands for, we suggest you define the following things first and foremost.
Define mission, vision & values.
The path to shaping a brand starts with defining your vision, mission, and values. These three pillars will, later on, define how you communicate with the audience. The important thing, you don’t want to write anything just to fill in the blank space. Mission and vision are your guidance towards the bigger picture. They explain why you’re here, except for making money.
The brand core values reflect the beliefs, truths, principles that guide you as a company. For your customers, they explain what stands behind every decision and action you are making. For your company is the driving force that defines every business/branding decision they make.
Define an archetype.
Moving on from the previous step, try to define your brand’s archetype. The archetype in itself is the character of your brand, a personification that allows your audience to relate to your brand. Having defined the archetype, you will learn how the brand communicates with the world, how it behaves in certain situations.
Form a brand personality.
How do people perceive a brand, to what traits can a specific customer relationship when using a brand? These traits are expressed as adjectives that answer the mentioned questions. For example, youthful, kind, elegant, manly, etc. The adjectives will be highly based on the archetype you define yourself as. That is why archetype first, personality second.
❓ Why do I need this to create a logo?
Mostly it all comes down to the psychology of things. Further on you will have to choose the brand fonts, and brand color palette. Depending on the message and the image you want to establish, you will need to choose different colors/fonts. People often underestimate the impotence of such things, but the studies show that customers can make buying decisions based on subconscious impulses. One of them is color. If your brand elements, including the logo we’re trying to create, are performed in blues, it’s classic and trustworthy. Reds are passionate and eye-catching.
The bottom line is the better you think your brand through, the easier it will be for you to settle on the logo style, colors and fonts, and every branding element that follows.
Step 2: Understand your target audience
Another element that will affect your logo design choice will be the brand’s target audience. Your logo should be appropriate. It needs to take into consideration the tastes of the audience you’re catering to.
The style, colors, elements, everything will depend on it. It’s easy to illustrate. If you have a law firm with a target audience of middle-aged high paid men (mostly), you won’t create a logo that’s bubbly, cutesy, and all pink. Though, if you are catering your services to young adults, your style doesn’t have to be all traditional, black and strict. It all comes down to the services you provide, and the customers you want to attract.
Step 3: Mark color palette
Just as we mentioned before, the brand color palette will be affected by your brand essence. So, having analyzed everything up to this point in the article you might already have some ideas of what colors you can use. Here are some of the colors and their associated messaging for you to consult:
Yellow, a color of joy and positivity.
Orange, the color of friendliness, and trustworthiness.
Red, a color of energy and passion.
Purple, a color of royalty and exclusiveness.
Black, the color of sophistication, and richness.
White, a color of purity and elegance.
Blue, the color of relaxation, and safety.
Green, the color of nature, and health.
More on brand color palettes, color theory, and the industries they suit the best check
5 Steps to Choosing Branding Colors That Will Suit Your Brand
Step 4: Choose the type of the logo
There are different types of logos that fit different brands. Here are all the types of logos that you can choose from:
Typography based
Based on the name of the brand.
- Logotypes (a.k.a Word mark Logo)
Word mark logos examples
2. Monogram logos (a.k.a Lettermark logos)
Lettermark logos examples
Symbols/imagery-based logos.
Based on the symbol or an association with a brand.
1. Pictorial mark logos (a.k.a Logo Symbols)
Pictorial logo example
2. Abstract Mark Logos
Abstract logo examples
3. Mascot logos
Mascot logo example
Mixed logos.
Logos that incorporate 2 or more previously mentioned types.
1. Combination mark logo
Combination mark logo example
2. Emblem logos
Emblem logo examples
If you’re interested to learn what types of logos suit best for your brand, check out
7 Types of Logos: How to Design A Logo For Your Business
Step 5: Analyze competitors
One of the notes we mentioned at the very beginning of the article was uniqueness. In logo design, it is especially important. In order to make people memorize you, you have to stand out in the niche.
Competitor analysis is needed in every branding strategy you follow, including logos. Here are some of the things you want to look for:
- The style of logos your competitors have.
- The color scheme is prevalent among your competitors.
- The shapes and imagery used in your competitors’ logos.
Step 6: Get some references
Pinterest and Behance are great for digging up references. This is not a must, of course, but if you provide examples it will be easier for your designers to depict exactly what you have in mind.
Step 7: Define locations
Depending on the places you’d like to see your logo in, the designer will have to provide logo variations. Think about the backgrounds, dark or light. Will you be printing your logo anywhere? Will there be packaging?
Step 8: Get a designer, and follow their brief properly
One of the biggest mistakes brand owners make is not filling out the brief properly. Once you find your designer, they will send you a design brief with questions regarding your brand. You have to diligently fill it out.
This will allow your designer to look at your brand using your eyes, and realize how to approach the task at hand.
Remember we said that in order for you to think of a proper logo you have to get acquainted with your own brand? The same goes for the graphic designer too. The better they understand your value, the more efficient the final logo design will be.
Step 9: Give proper feedback
Upon receiving your assets, make sure you offer your designer proper feedback.
If you receive a prototype and it just doesn’t seem like the thing you imagined, don’t rush into making edits and sorting out the relationships with your designers. Go double-check the task you gave them. Is it clear enough? Have you described the vision well enough? Are your references clear enough?
Upon sending the brief to your designer, a good idea would be to have a call and go over it together, just to make sure both you and the designer understand things correctly.
Step 10: Create a brand book
Now that you have your logo (good job!), all the logo variations, and every element of your brand essence – create a brand book out of it!
One of the key rules in branding is consistency. A key goal of brand guidelines is keeping a record of all your branding elements, including the brand identity elements and brand essence too. Gingersauce will gather everything in one place and will help you make sure your brand design stays consistent and cohesive.
Gingersauce is a professional tool for creating brand guidelines, that combines smart automation and your creativity. It’s a professional tool – meaning, it won’t do a half-baked job, leaving you with a mediocre result.
You can download a created brand book right away – it will look promising even with no customization!
