How to Create a Logo

A fascinating topic for those involved in graphics and marketing, yet complex and delicate with a thousand nuances.

Creating a professional logo is like painting a picture or creating a work of art, it's the ultimate expression of creativity applied to business!

The logo is the embodiment of what your company is and the values it carries with it!

Let's discover together the techniques for creating an effective logo that makes a sure impact, replicable across many formats and media, and ultimately evergreen, meaning it will remain indelible in the minds of those who see it, hopefully, forever!

How to create a corporate logo: the development phases

To create a logo, first clear your mind, get in tune with your company, and try to put yourself in the shoes of the customer who will see it!

Visualize it in your head, only then will you be able to make it or have it made by others based on your suggestion!

Another important premise:

What are the components of a logo?

The corporate logo is based on two elements, which are often merged together: Logotype and Pictogram.

What we mean by logo is simply the abbreviation of logotype (from the Greek logos and type, meaning word and typography respectively).

The brand mark, or the idea of the brand that represents the company's values in graphic form, is therefore composed of the logotype (the textual part) and the pictogram (the graphic part).

The pictogram is simply the icon of the brand. An example of this is Apple's apple.

The logotype is visually created with a font (the letters of the logotype), to stay with the previous example, the letters A P P L E of the famous brand.

The concept is, in fact, the creation and fusion of these elements.

Finally, there is also the payoff, commonly referred to as the brand's slogan, which is the verbal element that accompanies a company's or product's logo (for example, Nike, Just do it), and many companies include it in their concept.

Let’s return to the stages of developing a corporate logo:

• Market research and initial brief: first look at how your competitors behave, how they present themselves to the audience, what colors they use and what kind of font. Organize an initial brief trying to understand what your logo needs to convey.
• Choice of logo type: there are many types of logos.

The illustrative logo (examples include Alfa Romeo or Liverpool's logo).

The abstract or symbolic logo: it recalls a symbol or an idea (examples are Twitter and its tweeting bird or Nike’s Swoosh) and finally the textual logo.

A well-designed font that forgoes the pictogram or illustration (examples include Coca Cola or Amazon). Create a mind map and choose which type is right for you!

• Create a sketch in black and white, perhaps even on paper: the idea begins to take shape and the fusion between the logotype and the pictogram finally reflects what you want to convey.
• Choice of font: practically any logo is made up of a textual part (the opposite isn't true because there are many logos without an icon).

The choice of a more graceful or very square and essential font is a very important element. There are many online tools to choose a font and download it onto graphic design programs, but you can also create a logotype from scratch, creating lettering (you effectively create your own font using programs like Illustrator).

• Definition of colors: even though your logo will have to be adapted in all sizes and formats possible with significant chromatic variations, the colors that make up the logo are fundamental because these properties convey different emotions and sensations.

Study the psychology of colors to understand which ones are most suitable for your company!

Characteristics of an effective logo 

Let's now discover the characteristics that a logo must have to be professional and effective.

• Replicability: we've discussed this in the development phases. Your logo must be replicable on all printed and digital media and must be able to be adapted into different size and color variants
• Uniqueness: it may seem obvious and trivial, but your logo has to be unique! Only you own that logo, and no one else should have an identical one. Obviously, you also cannot copy a logo and make it identical!
• Clarity and ease of understanding: an effective logo is immediately clear, and for most people, it conveys the same message. The elements are balanced and transmit a single value
• Duration: a logo to be remembered for decades must be designed to work now and in 100 years. Therefore, no to logos created as a trend, yes to logos with elements that can also be modified in the future through rebranding.

IMPORTANT: the logo must be made in vector format! With vector graphic programs such as Adobe Illustrator or similar, which use the CMYK color model, meaning they are ready for printing!

Logos made in Photoshop are useful but only on digital media (for example, the logo for a website).

Logos made with raster technology, therefore, are functional only in that realm because why not invest more resources in a technology that can be applied both to print and web?

In addition, the great advantage of creating a logo in vector format is the possibility of making it animated!

Bonus Tip: How to Create an Animated Logo

With the Adobe suite program, After Effects, it is possible to modify every part of each vector element of your logo, so you can animate it and create fun and functional animations that are very useful for intros and short video clips, which are very popular on the internet!

General rules for a successful logo

There are multiple studies addressing the rules for creating a professional and successful logo.

Among many, we can name a few:

• Study and use of whitespaces and negative space: many logos cleverly use whitespaces making the graphic layout lighter (an example is the new Juventus logo) or exploit negative spaces (if using a colored background) to create charming effects and make elements appear out of nowhere (the example of FedEx with an arrow appearing between the letters)

And and X)

Balance between elements: It is essential to create a balance between the logotype and pictogram, and any possible tagline. To do this, it is important to follow basic rules of logo design such as using a grid (or cage), to bring order to the elements. Always ensure maximum readability for the logo, dividing it into equal parts to find a perfect balance.

Fundamental rule: give rhythm, energy, and harmony to all the elements, balancing them wisely!

How to create a free logo and useful tools for inspiration

If you have graphic skills, creating a logo is a stimulating and creative experience!

There are many online tools that allow for the creation of free logos, but in fact, they only offer the possibility of taking inspiration and ideas, before creating a professional one from scratch.

In any case, here are the best tools for creating a customizable free logo

• Logoshi: an extremely interesting tool that allows you to enter the company name and a possible payoff. From there, the system will redirect you to many logos or ideas for creating it (a raw but effective tool)
• Canva logo creator: a dedicated section of the very famous tool for online graphic creation. Nothing to say, very nice and functional with the possibility to move and modify elements and fonts
• Logotyope maker: an evolution of Logoshi with variants and graphics that are very modern and sophisticated
• Design mantic: a solution similar to the previous ones but with very particular results for slightly more elaborate projects. There is also the possibility to filter the logo by categories!

How to create a professional logo on a budget

Once you have clarified your ideas and done your tests, you can proceed to the professional creation of your logo and its brand identity with coordinated graphic material.

If the budget is tight, a marketplace we recommend using is Fiverr, where you can hire a freelancer for a few euros (starting from five dollars, hence Five-rr) capable of creating your company logo.

Of course, if you do have the budget, the recommended choice is always to invest in high-end typography that can work closely with your company for future needs as well.

..And after creating the logo?

After you have created the logo and corporate identity, we recommend that you also have a new layout for your company website made with the same brand identity.

It is indeed important that your entire advertising ecosystem be familiar to your customers and potential customers, who will thus recognize your colors and fonts both online and offline.

Finally, with a professional graphic layout it will be easy for you to build your website on Framework360, the essential platform for those who work with the web.

Framework360 is the first complete digital marketing platform, which will help you create and manage, through numerous but intuitive screens and windows, many marketing tools to sell your product/service.

After comfortably registering at the following link and thus having created your environment, you will be ready to start.

Now all you have to do is have fun: get inspired and start creating your online identity!