A do-it-yourself logo design guide for non-designers, this short presentation will help you think through the ideas behind creating a logo—and will introduce you to an online tool that practically does the work for you. Check it out.
1. HOW TO
DESIGN A LOGO
A Do-It-Yourself Guide
for Non-Designers
2. What is a brand?
A brand is the promise or expectations associated with
your product or service in your customer’s mind.
An effective brand helps your product
get noticed, liked, and remembered.
5. While important, your logo simply represents the collective
experience your customer has with all these brand “touch points”.
“A logo is the point of entry to the brand.”
—Milton Glaser, Designer
6. Before you design your logo,
you need to understand what your brand represents.
Luxury
Dependability
Creativity, Fun
7. Before you design your logo,
you need to understand what your brand represents.
Luxury
Dependability
Creativity, Fun
8. “Brands help consumers cut through the proliferation of
choices available in every product and service category.”
—Scott M. Davis, Brand Asset Management
9. Once you understand your brand…
Think about images, colors and styles that might
represent the ideas your brand stands for.
10. A few examples
McDonald’s sells hamburgers and other fast foods. Notice
that their logo doesn’t include any food items.
The golden arches are bright and friendly. They have come
to represent quality and consistency—and fast food.
11. A few examples
that stands for stability and growth.
They use a bull as their icon,
which represents strength, growth, and a rising market.
12. A few examples
Nike sells shoes and other sporting goods.
However, their logo doesn’t include shoes or sports equipment.
Instead, the Nike Swoosh is a stylized wing, representing speed
and victory—two brand ideas that Nike is associated with.
16. What about fonts?
Like icons, the fonts in a logo communicate different things.
Friendly, approachable
Creativity and fun
Trust
Natural, non-authoritarian
18. What about colors?
Blue
Tradition, safety, calm, loyalty
Green
Healthy, natural, growth, freshness, money
Yellow
Happiness, fun, energy
Brown
Responsibility, security, home
Orange
Enthusiasm, creativity, action
Red
Strength, power, passion, danger, wrath
Purple
Royalty, power, wealth, mystery, magic
Black
Elegance, formality, wealth, power, evil
White
Purity, innocence, faith
22. Hire a designer if...
You’ve thought about your brand and you still have no clue what to do.
You need more ideas.
You’re willing to take advice from a designer.
You’ve tried to do it yourself and failed.
23. Do it yourself if...
You
You
You
You
don’t have much money to spend.
just need a logo to get started.
have an idea for your logo already.
need a logo fast and can’t wait for a designer to think about it for days.