The first thing we do as humans when a new-born arrives in this world is to give the baby an identity. We give her a name and till the time she is on her own and carves her own niche, her name is her sole identity. Likewise, for any venture, the logo is the first identity both for the outside world and for the self.
So what is a logo design?
According to Saul Bass, the legendary logo designer, who crafted the AT&T, United Airlines, and many other iconic logos, “Logos are a graphic extension of the internal realities of a company”.
A logo being an essential part of any brand’s identity and often the first thing a potential customer will see. It becomes critical to use a logo that has the brand’s essence and stands out from the competition. It’s what makes your brand recognisable everywhere around the world. And it’s going to take a huge part in building brand loyalty as well.
If you look at any successful brand in the world, you will see this almost immediately. For example, take a look at the logos below and see if you can name the brands by just looking at these wordless pictures.
Isn’t it amazing how a simple glimpse at an illustration is enough for you to recognise a brand and the product behind it? That’s how powerful a logo can be. Of course, the role of communication in making a logo popular cannot be discounted.
This is why every business and brand needs a logo. To make your brand stand out, to make your business separate from the competition, to make your company recognisable in every country and all cultures.
Logotypes and how to choose a style?
Before actually getting down to designing a logo, a designer first decides on the logo type and style he/she is going to follow. It could be one or combination of many.
Lets’ talk about six essential logo type There are a wide variety of logo types used by different brands and businesses. And it often changes from one industry to another.
In general, there are 5 main categories of logo types:
- Symbols
- Wordmark
- Lettermark
- Combination
- Emblem
- Mascot
Depending on the type of business you have, you can pick one of these categories to create your logo. To better understand how these logos function in different industries, let’s take a closer look at these logo categories.
Symbol Type Logos- Big brands and corporations are known to use symbols that convey a deeper message. A symbol logo features an icon or image with a customised design. Like the half-eaten Apple logo. This is the type of logo brands use to represent their bold views in a simpler way.
Nike, Apple, Audi, Mercedes Benz are some of the best examples of symbol logos. This type of logos is best for large international brands since symbols can be easily recognised without any language barriers.
Wordmark Type Logos- Sometimes, if you’re creating a new brand and want to highlight the name, it makes more sense to just use the name of the brand as a base for the logo design. A clean and clear word or name as the logo.
In most cases, you’ll need to use a unique font of your own to design a wordmark logo. Most companies that use wordmark logos, like Coca-Cola, Google, Visa, eBay, and Facebook have created unique fonts for the logos.
Lettermark Type Logos- Call it a shorter version of the wordmark logo. Most of the time, a lettermark logo is created using the initials of the company name and combining them into a unique logo design.
For example, NASA, Chanel, New York Yankees, IBM, all use lettermark logos. The font you use for a lettermark logo is important, but it doesn’t have to be unique to your brand like a wordmark logo. You can use a common font and still make a lettermark logo if you can think outside the box.
Lettermark logos are often used to simplify a long or hard-to-pronounce company name and make it easier to remember.
Combination Type Logos- For those willing to experiment and break free from a mould, combination logo could be way to go.
Here, you can combine a symbol with a wordmark to create a unique logo like Adidas, Pepsi, and Burger King. Or, you can also combine a lettermark with a symbol or an emblem, like Warner Brothers, HBO, and LG.
This type of logos is mainly used by established brands as a way to take the branding to the next level and to make it easier to use in various promotional material.
For example, PayPal recently introduced a new logo because its wordmark logo was difficult to use across different platforms like on mobile apps. So the company made a simpler logo with a combination of a lettermark and a wordmark.
Emblem Type Logos- Just as it sounds, an emblem logo is an iconic logo design that features a more complicated design that captures the brand into a shield or a badge like layout. Harley Davidson, Starbucks, NFL, and BMW are examples of emblem logo designs.
These logos are used by companies to show their attention to detail attitude and quality. Of course, these logos are also quite difficult to replicate so it will be unique to your brand.
The only downside to emblem logos is that they may become difficult to use in smaller brand assets when shrunk down, like on a business card.
Although, if you were to use an emblem design like the one on this example template, resizing won’t affect the clearness or readability.
Mascot Type Logos- You can create a Mascot logo for your brand. Like the mascot used by Android, KFC colonel, and MailChimp’s monkey. Mascot logos are perfect for businesses with creative and user-friendly brand identities, especially ones that target children.
Now, let’s know a bit about logo styles.
Like in fashion, logo designers also follow trends. And just like trends they come and go, while some just find their roots and stay for good. Like they say, when you’re not sure, wear black, so in logo style, when you’re not sure use any of the following.
Minimal Logo Design- Minimalist logo design trend has been around for along and it is here to stay. They use fewer colours, clean fonts, simple symbols, and most of the minimal logos are often black and white.
Uber, Nike, Airbnb, and Louis Vuitton are some of the brands that use beautiful minimalist logos. As you may have noticed, minimal logos are mostly used by luxury brands and high-end corporations. Because it’s a timeless design trend that never goes out of style, just like that black suit.
Colourful Logo Design- Using a medley of colours can look chaotic but when used carefully it can look quite exciting. Many brands and businesses have been using colourful logo designs and these colours actually made their logos more iconic as well.
NBC, Google, eBay, and many others use colourful logo designs. However, this design trend is mainly used by multi-corporations or businesses that cover multi-categories to show the broadness of the company.
For example, eBay hosts dozens of product categories and host thousands of vendors on the platform. And, before Alphabet, Google was the parent company that managed all of its subsidiaries, like Gmail, Google+, and Android.
Using a multi-coloured design is also great to convey flexibility and to show that you’re a brand without gender, race, language, or culture gaps.
Abstract Logo Design- This just like abstract art. It needs deciphering.
Pepsi, Adidas, Airbnb, and many new and established brands use the abstract style of logos.
With an abstract logo design, you’ll have more freedom to explore different styles and designs to create a logo that gives a unique identity to your brand.
Retro & Vintage Logo Design- If you’re planning on using a monogram or emblem type of design for your logo, it’s worth considering using a retro or a vintage style to craft the logo.
Even some of the modern brands and startups use the vintage style of logos to make their brands look more authentic and original. It also seems to have a strong effect on building authority and trust.
At first glance, anyone who looks at a vintage logo will believe your brand has been around for a long. This style gives the feeling of ‘been there done that’ to the brand.
Creative & Fun Logo Design- One can have fun with the logo design as well. Brands and startups that like to get a bit more creative usually make their logos more memorable by making them look fun and quirky. Like the MailChimp logo, RedBull, or the Duolingo logo.
If you’re willing to think outside the box, you can go beyond the given and give your logo design something unique.
Where do I get my logo designed?
Most clients, when they are starting out and they do not have a regular design agency onboard, it looking out stage can feel a bit overwhelming. One definitely wants to make the best use of one’s recourses and make every investment count.
Here’s a way to go about it.
If you’re making a logo for a new personal website, blog, e-magazine, or small home business and have a basic design aesthetic, you should choose the DIY method. By designing the logo yourself, you’ll be able to save some money that you can invest in growing your business.
If you’re making a logo for a startup, a small business looking to expand, an international brand, or a corporation, you should consider hiring a professional. They’ll make sure your logo is crafted to perfection and your brand essence is depicted through it.
We’ll walk you through both these methods and the cost implication. Before jumping to conclusions, read through both sections and see which method seems like the best approach for your project.
Designing your own logo:
The cheapest option for getting a logo is to make it yourself. If you’re a trained designer and know your way around Illustrator well, wala! And if you’re not, the next best thing is a logo generator.
While logo generators are the cheapest option (₹0 to use the service and ₹100-₹1000 to purchase your design), they only offer limited, generic icon and font options. If you go this route and you have a fairly honed design aesthetic, you might get a usable (if generic) logo. If you don’t have any design training, you may end up with something that feels just a little off.
You may find freelancers who are willing to give you a logo for under ₹5000. It may be a great deal, but like with all great deals you should ask yourself why you’re getting it… If it’s because you did a favour for the designer’s mom, then score one for you! If you found them on an anonymous website, it’s not unlikely they’re going to give you something as generic as you could have made yourself. Or the design could be stolen! We constantly see designs created by AltEsc pop up on low-cost freelancer websites.
Hiring a professional designer/ design agency:
The other and probably the easiest method for designing a logo is hiring a freelance designer. Using a designer can be a great experience — you get an expert customising your logo based on your feedback. However, there is a very wide range of experience, which means a broad spectrum of cost and quality of work. Depending on the type of designer you’re looking to hire and their level of experience, it could cost you somewhere between ₹25000 to ₹1,00,000. If you can afford it, hiring a designer will make things quite easier for you to get a high-quality logo designed without having to worry about all the aspects of logo design.
And incase of a professional design or branding agency is another option for getting your logo designed, and often includes a top-to-bottom branding package for the cost. Design agencies often conduct market research and competitor analysis to figure out how your brand can stand out in a good way. Agencies employ creative teams that will approach your project from all angles, ensuring thorough work that is backed up with business data. Of course, one of the biggest hurdles to hiring a design agency is the cost. Brand identity packages (which include a logo) start at about ₹75000 with an agency and are typically out of budget for small brands.
Your third option is a professional design agency with optimised cost. AltEsc is the world’s first end to end creative agency that is cloud-based. Being a cloud-based setup optimises our cost without diluting the quality of work and it also enables us to source talent from across the globe. Our logo or brand communication starts at ₹45000 click here to see what’s included in that price. That’s great, but how do you manage such professional agency-level service at this price? The biggest reason is that we are a cloud-based setup, hence our overhead cost much lower than any brick and mortar agency setup. And we are glad to pass on these cost benefits to our clients. One important thing you have to keep in mind when deciding which direction you want to take- is to vet prospective designers/agency if you want to work one-on-one, you should do your research into their work, style, and client satisfaction. Viewing their portfolios and testimonials is imperative, and getting a direct referral from someone you trust is even better.
Ready to get a professional logo for your business?
At AltEsc, our team of designers and communication experts will make sure that you get the logo that really works for your brand. To get you started, we give you free consultancy. Click here to submit your requirement and we will get back to you within 24 hrs.
What do you get from us?
Getting the logo designed is not an end in itself. There are final hurdles like formats, resolution of the file, etc. We make it convenient for you to start using the logo right away.
- Your final logo design in multiple formats:
- High-resolution, vector format for printing
- Web-optimised format for website, social media and other digital needs - Full legal copyright:
- This ensures that your logo design is exclusively yours
- At AltEsc, we release the copyright prior to the time of final payment
