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Your business’s logo is perhaps the most important element of your company’s branding. Ideally, your logo should represent what your company stands for and help customers easily recall your business.

How to Create a Logo for Your Business

So what makes a good logo? There are several important design elements and considerations to make before diving in. Here are some of the most important logo design tips and other things to consider as you create this important representation of your brand.

What to Include in a Logo

There are different types of logos out there. But for most small businesses, it’s a good idea to include your business name in the design to make things easy for customers. In addition to your name, your logo should include some kind of graphic that makes it stand out. This might be as simple as a customized font. Or it could be an additional shape or illustration.

Some businesses also choose to have a couple of different logo variation. You might have one full logo that includes your name and every design element in one. Then you might have a smaller version that just has your initials or a small image that you can use for small things like social media icons.

When to Design a Logo

It’s a good idea to have a logo design before you really start promoting your company. A logo is meant to pull all of your branding together and help customers easily recall your business. So you want to have it in place when you first start working with customers so there won’t be a disconnect if you go to change it shortly thereafter.

However, you should at least wait until after your business name is registered to go through the logo design process. If not, you risk wasting a ton of work or expense and will need to create something new if you’re not able to secure your name of choice.

How to Design a Logo

When it comes to the practical elements of logo creation, you have a few basic options. For solopreneurs or business owners with design skills, you can try to design your logo on your own. Or if you have a design team in your business, you can have this task completed in-house.

Otherwise, this important task is usually best left in the hands of professional designers. You can find a local or online logo designer to work with on a custom branding package. Or you can try out platforms like Fiverr or 99designs to find designers and logo options that suit your needs.

Logo Design Tips

Whether you work with a designer or want to create your own logo, you’ll need to start with some idea of what you want your logo to look like. Color is one of the most important elements to consider, since it can be super eye catching.

Different colors tend to carry different connotations with consumers. For example, red tends to be associated with power. Green is popular with companies that want to seem fresh and natural. And Yellow is often associated with happiness. You can include just one color in your logo or a combination. Just make sure the shades you select complement one another. Many brands also choose to include black or another neutral shade for the type, and then integrate color in other ways.

The font that you select for your business logo is also essential. Similar to your color choices, the typeface should be indicative of your brand in some way. If you want to appear professional, opt for classic fonts. For those who want to appear modern or trendy, something more stylized will probably be better. Additionally, you need to make sure the type is easy to read no matter what size or format your logo appears in. It should be as clear on large, printed materials as it is on small online icons.

Once you have a general color scheme and font style, it’s time to tie everything together. You might include a small symbol or image along with your company name, as long as it’s clear and simple. Think the Nike swoosh or a small outline of a dog for a pet supplies company. Then you can add small details and embellishments like line work or shapes around the type that pulls it all together.

Finally, no matter what colors, fonts and graphics you select for your logo, it’s always important to keep things as simple as possible. Lots of extra words and images can make a logo seem cluttered or confusing. Complicated logos also tend to look worse in print and when sized down for small graphics. Avoid this by keeping yours very basic yet clear and indicative of your overall brand image.

Image: Depositphotos.com

This article, “How to Create a Logo for Your Business” was first published on Small Business Trends