A third of small businesses sacrifice quality to create a logo inexpensively and quickly, and another third sacrifice time and cost. Is it possible to quickly create a cool logo for free or with a minimal budget? Where can you get business logo design ideas? How did Google manage not to spend a dime on the first logo? We have prepared a complete guide for you with creative examples, useful tips, services and a checklist
Why is it important for small businesses to create a logo?
A logo is a graphic image that symbolizes a brand. It doesn’t matter if it’s a startup or a large corporation – everyone needs their own face. For example, the Google logo appeared when the company was a student start-up and was not yet known to the whole world. One of the founders Sergey Brin drew the logo in a graphics editor. Remember that it is especially important for small companies to stand out, be remembered and make them known.
Here are three main reasons to create a symbol for a small business
1. Claim uniqueness
The mermaid appeared on the Starbucks logo when the company first entered the market with a small coffee shop. The image symbolized the connection of Seattle, where the brand was founded, with the nautical theme, and thanks to this it stood out from the competition. Think about how you differ from companies in your niche and how you can express it in a logo.
2. Reflect values
The knight on the Burberry logo symbolizes the pursuit of noble ideals, and the Nike swoosh is the wing of Nike, the goddess of victory. A business logo will help to state what philosophy you profess, what values are close to you. These messages emotionally bind buyers.
3. Increase awareness
The logo will catch the eye of potential customers on your products, packaging, on the Internet, billboards or souvenirs, which means it will work for recognition. Consumers usually choose products that they are already familiar with, largely due to the visual component.
Anatomy of a logo: what type of emblem is right for you?
Logos are divided into three main types: text, graphic and combined. Choose which one suits your brand.
Text
The name of the company written in the original font, we recommend choosing this type of logo with a small budget, especially if the company has a short name. Take inspiration from Coca Cola, Google, Facebook, Visa or FedEx. If the brand name is long or contains multiple names, abbreviate it as Hewlett-Packard (HP) did.
Graphic
A picture without inscriptions that reflects the identity of the brand, this type of emblem is the most difficult to create, because the meaning needs to be conveyed by one image only. We recommend using it if your company is already known in the market. Here, shape and colour are especially important, as in the emblems of Twitter, Shell, Instagram or Apple.
Combined
Image and text reinforce and complement each other. This type of logo is easier to design and understand than a graphic one. Therefore, it is popular both among small businesses and among large corporations – Microsoft, Soundcloud, Pepsi or Burger King.
What to consider when creating a logo
The trends of recent years are simplicity, minimalism and conciseness. Your goal is to evoke positive associations and be remembered. Avoid platitudes, don’t mix all the colours and fonts you like, and think about the shape. We tell you how to do it.
Icon
According to study 44% of small businesses want an icon to fit their industry, and another 40% believe that without such a match, the logo will not work. Indeed, you should not depict flowers on the emblem if you provide legal services. But think about the nuances: would you be one of the hundreds of car repair companies that use a car as their logo?
Logo ideas for business do not always lie on the surface: to stand out, pick up metaphors and move away from hackneyed associations. Think of the jaguar on the Jaguar emblem or the wings of the Aston Martin, which symbolize speed. The BMW emblem looks like a bearing, and the four Audi rings symbolize the four companies from which the famous concern was created.
Font and colour
Here are some basic tips for choosing a font and colour:
- do not combine more than two fonts and three colours in one logo;
- choose readable fonts that match the type of your activity: compare the strict Microsoft font and the ornate Cadbury;
- be careful with intricate styles: they do not scale well and are not always appropriate;
- give preference to clean, bright colors, you can use currently popular gradients and color transitions;
- Remember the psychological factor of perception: red (Red Bull, Coca Cola) is associated with activity and energy, blue (Ford, Nokia, Facebook) with reliability and trust, and black and white (Zara, Cartier) with elegance and authority. By the way, it is these three colours that world brands most often use in their emblems.
Form
The most winning shape choice is simple geometry that doesn’t leave consumers scratching their heads about what you want to say. Consider the perception of form. The triangle (Adidas, Cat) is associated with movement and progress, the circle (BMW, Pepsi) with infinity, and the square (Microsoft) with stability.
Logo Design Tools You’ll Love
How to create a logo for a business? Do you need a designer or can you handle it yourself? Here are the paths you can take.
Microsoft Word
Microsoft’s text editor has tools that allow you to work with both fonts and images. The easiest way to make a text logo in Word is by choosing one of dozens of fonts. Also in the editor, you can work with geometric shapes and icons, combining them with text. And the WordArt service allows you to add decorative elements, use different backgrounds, and draw shadows and strokes.
Adobe Photoshop / Illustrator
If you have experience in graphic editors, try creating a logo with them. You can draw a graphic element yourself or download it from specialized sites (Flaticon, Freepik, Iconfinder). And fonts can be downloaded for free on Fontfabric, Fontsonline or Allfonts services.
Freelance designer
Want to save time? Delegate logo design to a freelance designer, to search for low-cost performers, contact the exchanges or place an ad on the Internet. So that the result does not disappoint, consider the following nuances:
- talk to several specialists, study their portfolio;
- pay attention to reviews about the designer;
- Write a detailed TOR to avoid misunderstandings.
How much a small business is willing to pay for a logo?
The budget of a small business, as a rule, does not allow spending large sums on a logo. According to study, 27% of start-up entrepreneurs are willing to pay no more than $30 for a logo, 25% – from $31 to $100, and 21% – from $100 to $500. 18% of respondents are not going to pay for the logo at all.
The good news is that success can be achieved on a small budget. For example, the legendary Nike logo cost the company only $35. And Twitter bought an image of a bird from a stock site for $15. Don’t be afraid to contact novice designers or use online services – these methods also give excellent results.
Conclusion
To create a logo for a small business, it is not necessary to make super efforts and spend fabulous sums. In addition, it is not necessary to create the perfect emblem the first time. All well-known logos are redesigned from time to time, and Adidas still uses four symbols at once for different product lines.
In conclusion, we share a checklist that will help you check that you have created a good logo. Check if the logo matches these theses:
- clearly expresses what you are doing;
- concise and simple;
- does not resemble competitors’ emblems in colour or style;
- looks good in black and white;
- Scales without problems: it looks the same on the website, letterhead, pen and billboard.
