A bitten fruit, black, gray, elegant, highbrow….? Apple!

A little bird, eye pleasing blue, freedom, cute messenger…? Twitter!

Logo – The core visual identity of a business.

A powerful symbol that takes your noble message to the world.

It represents your brand in the market. Creating a logo could probably be the first step in your endeavour to transform your product into a brand. If you have one already, you might want to tweak it and make it more relevant and appealing.

So, how to create a logo?

Before discussing the process, let’s find convincing answers to some key questions.

What is your brand’s character? A problem solver or a caregiver? An innovator or a rebel? It begins with self realisation. Choose the character you want to play in the market.

Why did you start on your own? There must be a compelling reason.

Once you arrive at a straightforward answer to this question, all other attributes of your brand will manifest and fall in place. Next, let’s narrow it down so that we can get more clarity on how to make a business logo.

Who is your customer? The question is a cliche. But there is nothing wrong with asking the obvious again if it is going to guide us on our journey towards that perfect logo. Also, we can take the thought process further and create some buyer personas. It will always come in handy; be it when you think up an offer or fine-tune your grand strategy.

Next, what do you want to say? So many thoughts will arise in your mind. Your mission, vision, values, the greater purpose…In order to avoid confusion, try to describe and define your business in a few words (not more than 3 or 4). Captured the essence? Now it will serve as a source of inspiration for you to create the logo. Please bear in mind, if you try to say so many things, you might end up saying nothing.

Can you start the logo design process now? Wait.

Take a look at the logos of popular brands. Think about their industry and brand values and understand how all those attributes have been translated into a strong visual language. Some brands have tweaked their logos to stay relevant and keep up with ever evolving market dynamics and customer behaviours. Some brands even change their logos as they leave behind some outdated traits and embrace new values. Go through the stories and understand the evolution.

Talk to people and understand the perception logos create in their minds. It doesn’t mean that you have to interact with everyone around you. Just one discerning insight is good enough to connect the dots. Also, you can create a logo design questionnaire that will help you set boundaries.

In recent times, generally, businesses prefer to create logos based on their names. It’s called wordmark style (think Google, Coca-Cola…).

Also, all popular logos share some common traits. What are the characteristics of a good business logo?

• Right colours. (Not just pleasing colours). Bring into play some colour theory here. Colours have the power to influence the subconscious mind. There is a reason why food brands are obsessed with red. That primal instinct!
• Clean and simple design. Easy to remember and recall. Let’s not make people rack their brains. They are already preoccupied with so many things.
• Expressive and energetic. Every time people spot your logo, it should instantly establish a connection and demonstrate your brand’s big promise and values in a simple yet strong visual language.

Now, we have a better understanding of how to create a logo. The next step is finding the right people who can bring your dream to reality.

But, once the logo is created, there are chances that you might feel like it’s incomplete. Something is missing! No worries. That’s how it is.

In the process of building your brand, you are going to do a lot of activities, you will be sharing content regularly and interacting with your customers, both offline and online. People will attribute everything to your logo and it will grow. Every time you create a positive impact on people’s lives, your logo will become more recognizable and evolve.

But then again, creating a logo is just the beginning.

We can design a logo on our own, but we need people’s participation to nurture it. It takes a village to raise a child!

by “Never Too Small To Brand”