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Making Creative Logos for Your Brands/Web Projects

Making Creative Logos for Your Brands/Web Projects

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MaryShodiya
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7 min read

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Logos are like icing toppings for your cake; Asides from its aesthetic purpose, simple icing adds extra coverings to your cake in addition to giving it that extra sweetness, not forgetting its preservative benefit.

In the words of Steven Heller - The logo is an identifier but it's also something that stands for who you are.

A Logo is a unique piece of art, including a text or an image, or a combination of both that tells a story about a brand. On the scale of importance in branding after a brand name, a logo is next as it gives a visual representation of the Brand as a whole.

Sol Sender said “The strongest logos tell simple stories” and I couldn't agree less. A Logo is a total reflection of your brand and it speaks directly to your target market without saying a word.

Pictorial Logos: These logos are represented by images only that represent a real-world object. They are usually made up of graphic symbols and icons. This category of logos is popular amongst global brands, for example, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Apple. Their logos are easily recognizable when you see them. Smaller or new brands shouldn't use this form as customers or future consumers may find it hard to connect and recognize the brand from its logo.

Wordmark Logos: Wordmarks are stylized logos usually with no symbol. They are characterized by the company or brand names written in selective fonts or colours to showcase the style and vision of the brand. Smaller brands can use this form of logos as it aids creativity and reflects the brand optimally. Companies like Google, Coca-Cola, and The New York Times use this form of logo.

Letterforms: Letterform logos are typography-based logos and are of two types; a one-lettered logo usually the first name of the brand or company and a multiple-lettered logo, consisting of a few letters, usually the brand initials of the company. They are like pictorial logos popular amongst global brands and are not advisable for smaller or new brands for the sake of brand recognition.

Abstract Logos: They are symbolic and image-based logos like pictorial logos, however, they differ from pictorial logos because they create a metaphorical impression of the brand. They are logos that highly showcase what the brand represents. The Airbnb brand logo is a perfect example of an Abstract Logo. In addition to looking like the letter ‘A’ which is the first letter of the brand, it has “people” and “places” connotations which are the major core values of the Airbnb brand. Although it takes a lot of creativity to achieve a perfect abstract logo, smaller brands can use this form of the logo as it showcases a pictorial representation of the brand's values.

Emblems: Emblems are traditional logos, contained in or referencing a shape. Their design features include images and texts, contained within a frame or a border otherwise known as badges. Emblem Logos are one of the oldest forms of logo designs, hence businesses choose this form to envisage the vintage, old-school vibe. They are mostly used by educational institutions, motor brands, and sports clubs.

Choosing the perfect container shape is as important as the design of the logo itself. The shapes vary from circle shapes, crest shapes, squares, rectangles, and triangular shapes.

It is important to keep your designs simple while maintaining the classic vibe if you are going with the emblem logo.

Mascots: They are logos containing illustrated characters that represent the brand. Mascots' characters can range from cartoonish characters to very colorful characters. Due to the nature of the logo and the friendly feel it has on its audience, the mascot logo designs are generally recommended for family, food, and children-related brands.

Here’s a pictorial representation of the forms as highlighted above.

Importance of a Logo on Your Website

Unique Identification: Just like any new creation, your web page or project is a unique brand/trade name and should be treated as such, no matter how simple it may seem. Whether you are creating a prototype or a new design, or a basic project, a logo is needed for your web project to promote brand identification and recognition so that it tells apart your project from other projects whether futuristic or otherwise.

Aesthetic: Asides from giving your project identification, logos give your website an aesthetic picture. It simply adds beauty and substance to your project.

Distinctiveness in Competition: A Logo's distinctive characteristic cannot be overemphasized. Ever came across two separate brands with the same values, goals, and operations but two distinctive things in all cases- yeah you guessed right; their names and logos. Hence why they are tagged as competitive brands. Let’s take for example Uber and Bolt, two ride-hailing platforms, with similar systems and operations but with separate identities (their names and logos). Simply put, your logo distinguishes your web page, project, or work from a similar work that could otherwise be tagged as your competition.

Creating Unique Logos For Your Website

I have had friends ask that I refer them to sites where I designed my logo for my projects. I often use simple CSS in designing my logos. I use font awesome icons and manipulate them to suit my needs. In my Legal Room Project, for instance, I created the logo with font awesome and styled it with css.

<h1 class="logo">  <b style="color:darkmagenta"> <span class="fas fa-gavel fa-rotate-180 fa-1x  viewBox="0 0 576 512"></span>egal</b><b style="color:#000">Room </b></h1>

This was the result

Sometimes, I import svgs online when my choice icons are unavailable. Like icons, svgs can be easily edited, resized and manipulated to suit your taste. For example, for this Menstrual Checker logo below, I imported the check mark and affixed it to the text, changing its colour and size to match the text.

Just like svgs, images can be imported online in png, jpeg, jpg, and any other format to create your logo.

As of today, certain applications exist that can be used to create and design your logos in seconds. The notable application includes canvas, Figma, logo maker, and a whole lot more. There are also a lot of available tools on the internet that can be used to make a simple logo. I have curated some sites where you can create your logo by yourself for free.

There are a whole lot of them but I have selected a few which have been reviewed as the best at no cost. Yes, they are free and you need not be a badass designer to use them.

Certain Things to Note when creating your Logos

Always consider your brand: For instance, if there are certain colours/traits associated with some brand, utilize them. For example, if you are creating a website for hibiscus tea or red wine, colours like red, cherry, sangria, or ruby can be used while creating the logo.

Put your Audience first: Always Remember you are making the logos for your audience. If your design does not align with your brand or connect with your consumers, it will fade into the background and the purpose for creating it is defeated.

Check out your competition: Your Competitors should be your greatest motivators. Look at brands similar to yours, and learn from them. Are there identical designs, and colours being used? Is there a particular font choice incorporated by them? Is there a specific form of Logo peculiar to your industry?

It is okay to spy on your competitor, but don't copy. Research, take notes, and Incorporate what you have learned while being original.

Be Original: This is very important. Do not plagiarize another brand. Do not pick random logos, images, or icons on the internet and dump them on your website.

Be Creative: Think outside the box and exhaust all the tools you may need to create the perfect logo for your web page.

Conclusion

I hope you were able to learn about the different ways logos can be utilized on your website and businesses as a beginner. This will hopefully guide you in choosing the right logos for your brands and future projects.

If you have any questions, you can reach me on Twitter

logo designBeginner DevelopersDesignbranding