How to Create My Own Logo
Creating your own logo can save you money and ensure that you get the design you want. Logo design requires research and planning to create an appropriate image that professionally represents your business. Successful logos have a distinctive shape, have a style that matches the personality of the business and are able to be used in a variety of media without loss of legibility.
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Instructions
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Planning
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Look at other logos. Research the logos of your closest competitors. Note their commonalities (similar images, colors or fonts, for example). Consider how you can make your logo different from theirs while still fitting into your industry.
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Create a list of characteristics. Write out words that describe the feeling you want your logo to portray. Examples include traditional, modern, fun, serious or trendy. Keep these in mind when deciding on the style of your image and fonts.
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Sketch out ideas. Use a pencil and paper to draw a variety of logo ideas. Include items typically associated with your industry. If you sell a single product or service, sketch images related to it. Simplify shapes as much as possible (do this by drawing only outlines and basic shapes).
Logos come in three forms: Type-based logos rely on letter forms (no illustrations, but the type shape may be customized); literal logos illustrate what a business sells (for example, a construction company logo contains an image of a bulldozer); and abstract logos use a visual form to suggest an idea (for example, a starburst shape suggests creativity).
Designing
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Scan and trace your sketches. Choose the best three ideas to turn into computerized files. Open your scanned image file and trace your designs in vector image software (the most common vector program is Adobe Illustrator). Software that creates raster (or pixel-based) images, such as Adobe Photoshop, is not appropriate for creating logos because the resulting image files are not scalable.
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Start in black and white. Make your first logo designs without color to make sure the concept will work for one-color applications (such as newspapers, faxes and photocopies). One-color logos also work well for print jobs with a limited budget by limiting the ink colors needed.
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Test various arrangements and fonts. Add your business name and tagline in a typeface that is appropriate to the style of your business. Try your image on the top, bottom, left and right of your text.
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Choose a final design, and add color. Narrow your three choices to one logo. Once you have an arrangement that works for that one, you can include color. Consider limiting your palette to two colors that relate to your industry (for example, medical companies tend to use shades of blue with one accent color).
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Save your final logo file. Keep your logo in the EPS (encapsulated post-script) file type. You can use this file to make other file types (such as jpegs or gifs). Save several backup copies, including one that you keep on a disc away from your business (perhaps in a safe deposit box).
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Tips & Warnings
If you do not know how to draw or do not own computer design software, you can use an online logo design service. These businesses allow you to create your logo online using stock illustrations. Simply follow the planning steps above until you get to the sketching part. Then find an online logo company to design your logo.
Avoid directly copying another business's logo. If you copy an image, you face a lawsuit for copyright infringement.
Do not use clip art. The images may be rights protected, which means they cannot be used without permission. Check the licensing information with your clip art for more information about usage.
