Logo design is a crucial phase in the journey of any serious business. When Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight founded Blue Ribbon Sports in 1971, they were on a lookout for a logo which could properly define their brand. Since Phil Knight was a teacher, he heard of a student called Carolyn Davidson at the university who needed some money to attend oil painting classes. He offered to pay $2 per hour to Davidson, who accepted this offer.

She eventually came up with a logo called the ‘Swoosh’, which was reluctantly accepted by the owners. They wanted to meet production deadlines, so they believed that one day the logo will ‘grow on them’. When BRS was renamed to Nike, the Swoosh became associated with the brand and over the years it ‘grew on’ the minds of a global audience. The current worth of the Nike brand is estimated to be $26 billion. A good logo doesn’t have to cost you a fortune, especially when you have the creativity to bring it to life.

One of the most important things to consider when looking for a premium logo, is analysis. You should analyze the needs of your business and the goals you want to achieve through it. The owners of Nike wanted just a minimalistic stripe to print on their shoe line. They delivered the message to their designer who started working by carrying that thought forward. When you are clear with your design requirements, you will save a lot of money and time by working on the right ideas, rather than testing and failing at a dozen designs.

Here are some tips for the forward-thinking business owner, who wants to achieve a premium logo design at a feasible price:

Take a head start:

You will only succeed in getting a good logo for a flexible price range if you put both your mind and heart into the job. When you are looking for a logo in the market, it is natural to feel like taking a shortcut and choosing a logo which costs you well under $30. Refrain from these kinds of temptations because they can be disastrous for the impression of your business on other people’s minds.

A Few years down the road and you will lament the choice you made in a hurry, just to get a quicker solution to your logo design problems. Once your hard work pays off and the company starts building a stronger reputation, you will have to get another logo which will cost you a lot more and put you back to square one. That’s why, you need to take a head start, that means now!

Rule number one: don’t go for a clip art logo, especially if you belong to the SaaS (software as a service) sector or a consulting business. Clip art logos are usually for non-serious projects run by college kids for their courses. If you decide to take this course of action, you are already eliminating the element of uniqueness from your logo design.

Rule number two: Don’t fall for the pre-existing logo templates either, because they are just an evolved form of clip art logos. Furthermore, it will be difficult to get the correct downloading formats for each platform you require, and you will be left with a grave, and avoidable, challenge.

Hence, the only way to create a unique custom logo design is by starting from scratch. You know what you want from your logo and there is someone out there who will understand your requirements and create just what you need. Start by jotting down all your USPs and anything else which comes to mind when you think about your business. If you have a competent design team, this information will positively impact your final logo design, making it resonate more with your brand.

Color psychology matters:

The psychology of color plays an important part in the logo design process. Companies have been doing this for ages. Colors play little tricks on our brains, suppressing and evoking emotions simply by watching something. You can use the right color combination as a powerful marketing tool when finalizing design elements of your logo.

This will incorporate all the brainwork you did on your brand identity and every bit of the message you want to send to your audience. 85% of shoppers base their decision on color alone, and the proper use of color leads to an 80% increase in brand recognition. Here is a visual representation of logos and the feelings their colors emit:

Consumers place visual appearance above other factors like sound or smell. Thus, it is the easiest form of persuasion when you are a marketer. Here is a breakdown of what these colors represent:

Brown: steadiness, historical, composed, rural. Example: Hersheys, UPS
Pink: Fun, jolliness, flirty, cute. Victoria’s Secret,
White: minimal, simplicity, cleanliness. Example: VANS
Black: strong, commanding, powerful, solid. Example: ADIDAS
Purple: Grandeur, spiritual, wise, witty. Example: Yahoo!, Hallmark
Blue: medical, professionalism, peaceful, calm. Example: Oral-B, Facebook
Green: nature, organic, growing, sober. Example: Tropicana, Whole Foods
Yellow: optimism, sunny, bright. Example: Best Buy, McDonalds
Orange: creativity, friendliness, youthfulness. Example: Fanta, Blogger
Red: energy, boldness, order. Example: Canon, Exxon

Create a mood board:

A logo can be text-based or icon based or both. However, it is also the visual representation of a brand. You must keep in mind that this logo is probably the first thing your potential customers are going to see about your brand. Write down and brainstorm about everything you need to describe your brand with. The best way to do this brainstorming is by creating a mood board. You can attach relevant images to this mood board, complete with colors and other ideas. The Niice website is a good place to start if you want to make virtual mood boards and search for images in their vast collection.

Don’t get lost in the charm of compelling aesthetics. Stay true to the core values and services of your brand when you are designing your mood board. Inspirations are there to keep your creative juices flowing, but don’t start following a theme blindly for its aesthetic appeal. You will realize later that this brainstorming builds the foundation of a great logo. When you start the design process, the brand values you list down initially are going to come in handy. Any design work which stems from the aforementioned brainstorming will be helpful in creating a logo that is fit to symbolize your business.

Keep it simple:

Complex logos surely present a very serious feel about your brand, but they are also very difficult to make. Reproducing these logos is also difficult. It’s better (and economical) to have a simple, minimalistic logo. That’s what all the “cool” companies are doing nowadays. For inspiration, look at the logos of Shell, Home Inspection Service and Penguin.

Simple logos have been the choice of so many brands over the years. They have also been proven to be a reliable face of the brand. Thus, a simple yet striking logo offers instant recognition and audience retention.

Use online resources:

The Internet is a wonderful place if you know what you are looking for. In this case, you can get many free logo design templates online on the internet. While most people don’t create a logo themselves because they do not have the required skills, the option of designing your own logo has a cost-saving appeal.

Similarly, there are many free tutorials available online to help you in every step of your way to design a logo. If you pay close attention to these resources, you may come up with a decent design on your own.

However, this requires a lot of time and patience. If you are a busy professional who has just launched a business, chances are that you will prefer to do something more important in your hours than fiddling with Adobe Illustrator.

Hire a designer:

Graphic designing is not an easy skill to master. People go to expensive schools and pay thousands of dollars in college tuition to obtain a degree in graphic design. These people have extensive knowledge of the history and current trends in logos around the world.

So, unless you have expertise in this field, you should leave it to the pros. While hiring, you need to ask all the right questions in order to analyze the potential of the designer. You can either use the services of a trusted design company or look for a skilled freelance designer.

A company

It’s tempting to skip this investment when you start your own business. It is also tempting to get those aforementioned logo templates for as cheap as $30 and customize them as your own logos.

However, this will severely affect your brand in the eyes of your customers. They will perceive you as a non-serious entity. Chances are that a dozen other companies may have used the same logo template. A good design company will save you this trouble by pitching some unique ideas to you.

These professionals have years of experience in this field. They have a plethora of design experience under their belts. Using their services to get a logo that truly defines your brand. Pac and Copy has designed digital assets for many popular brands out there, get in touch with our brilliant design team and we will make sure you walk away with a logo that aims for the skies.

A freelancer

Freelance logo designers are also good at what they do. You can look for these freelancers on credible platforms like Upwork. They have reasonable charges for making a logo and they also offer dedicated service.

When looking for a freelance logo designer, do ask about their past experience in this field. Give them some information about the kind of logo you are looking for and what your company’s values are.

Think long-term:

It might be cumbersome to promote your business as a brand if you don’t have a logo in the first place. Your company cards, website, product packages and so many other things rely on the logo. When deciding to get a logo, you have to keep all of these things in mind. In your quest to look for that perfect logo, never think that you just have to get this over with. Think long term, because your work will be represented by the strength and beauty of your logo.

Whatever visual content will be posted online, your logo will endorse it. If you have to send out fliers, you will need a logo. There are numerous brands out there which are known solely by their logo, this is how deep a logo penetrates into the minds of people. Before you get your logo designed, get your branding efforts together and make a platform so that the logo can represent your work. Their logos define the value addition their respective brands make in society. For instance, McDonald’s “M” arches in the shape of fries, whereas the “bullseye” icon of Target not only communicates the name, but also signifies that the consumer has found what they are looking for.

Once you establish the importance of branding in your business, you will create a logo which is a fruitful investment for many years to come. Your ROI will be greater if you think long term and market your business through a solid logo design. The giants go by this principle:

“Studies of the last six recessions have demonstrated that companies which do not cut back their advertising budgets achieve greater increases in profit than companies which do cut back”
–Ogilvy on Advertising, 1983

Future of logo design:

The tips and suggestions mentioned in this article are going to help you achieve a logo design which is both cost-effective and timeless. However, you have to bear in mind that your business needs to be projected as a dynamic entity if you wish to expand globally. The companies which succeeded in this effort have acquired a face for their brand through a timeless logo. It doesn’t only build reputation, but also brings new customers to you, ones who trust your business because of its widespread recognition.

This is going to be the future of logo design – portrayal of core business principles through design to a mass audience.