Your company logo is a visual representation of your business.
It should embody everything you stand for as a company and evoke a sense of trust.
In some situations, a logo will be your business’ only representation – the only chance you have to impress. This makes the design of your logo all the more important, so what’s the best way to get yours?
In order for it to work for your business, your logo doesn’t need to cost the earth. And it doesn’t need to be complex either. In fact, you can design a great business logo yourself…
What makes a great logo?
Some of the world’s most well-known logos (Apple, IBM, Puma etc.) all have one thing in common: simplicity. So, keeping it simple is definitely something to aim for when designing a logo.
Your design needs to be unique to stand out from the crowd, but this doesn’t mean it has to be loud or garish
Just like a headline in an advert, your logo may only have a few seconds to catch someone’s attention, so the simpler it is, the more likely someone is to see it, remember it and recognise it in the future. A simple logo is versatile too, so it can be applied across a range of media and be scalable to any size.
Great logos are just like any other great design – they don’t date easily. The golden arches have been around since the 1960s. But creating a timeless logo is not your only goal. Your design needs to be unique to stand out from the crowd, but this doesn’t mean it has to be loud or garish.
Creating a professional logo is quick and easy
It’s a good idea to have a go at designing your business’ logo yourself. With the right graphic design software, anyone can design a simple, unique and timeless logo. You don’t need to be tech-savvy – you just need to know your business inside out.
Vector illustration software like Serif’s DrawPlus equips you with all the tools you need to design a great-looking logo that is memorable, scalable, and professional. If you’ve never used this type of software before, don’t worry, there are lots of video and online tutorials available to help you get to grips with the software and glean design tips.
Cheaper than hiring a designer
Taking it upon yourself to complete the job will be cheaper than hiring a designer to do it for you. Unless you know a designer that owes you a favour – and most of us don’t – you could spend hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds getting a designer to create your logo. That’s not the sort of price most startups and small businesses can always afford.
Something else to think about is that logos will evolve, and when it’s time for yours to change, you’ll want the process of revamping it to be as cheap and painless as possible.
You might be apprehensive that, because you haven’t spent a lot of money, the end result won’t have a great impact. But just because a designer charges a large amount for a logo, it doesn’t necessarily mean that logo will perform better than the one you design. A good example of this is Adidas. Their logo was designed by the founder, Adolf ‘Adi’ Dassler.
Experiment until you get the right result…
As a small business owner, experimenting and having a go yourself offers too many benefits to ignore. Even if you’re not happy with the end result, you can go back to the drawing board and create another design whenever you need to.
