How to design a logo: A step-by-step guide for absolute beginners.
By: Shantanu Kumar
Tags: Design Process, Design, Design Thinking, Logo, Resources

Step 1: Client Discovery

A logo is quite literally the face of a brand. Firstly, you have to understand what the brand is aiming to achieve and what its business goals are. To be more elaborate, you have to embody the spirit of the brand. To do this you have to sit down with your clients and ask what exactly they are looking for because they can help you understand what kind of impression the brand is striving for.

Jolt down all the requirements on a piece of paper and on another piece of paper try to write down certain keywords or adjectives that come to your mind whilst thinking about the brand for which you’re trying to design the logo. This technique is known as Mind-Mapping. There are other techniques as well, but I find mind mapping to be the most effective of all.

At the end of this step, you should have your own well-informed take on the brand. This initial step will set the foundation for upcoming steps, it helps you to understand the core personality of the brand.

If you are just getting started and you are wondering how to get your first client, I will definitely cover that topic in a separate article.

Step 2: Find inspiration

Now, they are a lot of ways to do this but in my opinion, the best to start is by researching the industry. For example: if you’re designing a coffee brand, start by looking for other coffee brand logos and figure out what techniques or color combinations are being presently used, and ask yourself what can you do differently that can set you apart because the last thing you want to be is another brick in the wall.

Inspiration Resources

Need a good place to start? I suggest you can choose any one of these sites :

Behance: Behance is a platform developed by Adobe and it's great for finding complete projects, most of these projects will include a roadmap and a style guide to explain their process.

Behance is a platform developed by Adobe and it's great for finding complete projects, most of these projects will include a roadmap and a style guide to explain their process. Dribbble: Dribbble is a good resource to connect with other fellow designers and ask for feedback. Also, a great place to get unique design elements.

Dribbble is a good resource to connect with other fellow designers and ask for feedback. Also, a great place to get unique design elements. Pinterest: This might sound obvious, but Pinterest is a go-to online platform for design inspiration. Its search engine allows you to browse through all of the web to including Behance and Dribbble.

This might sound obvious, but Pinterest is a go-to online platform for design inspiration. Its search engine allows you to browse through all of the web to including Behance and Dribbble. Instagram and other social media: There is more to Instagram than sharing pictures with your friends and family. Instagram is a great website for design inspiration. You should follow other designers, using their work to expand your personal/professional taste.

Note: The point of all of this is to surround yourselves with examples of great design and designers. Exploring some sources of design inspiration could bring out the creative spark. It’s no secret that the creative industry can drain you of ideas, but I’ve found that creativity is like a muscle. If you don’t use it, it gets weaker. Also, this helps you to make informed decisions about your own designs.

Step 3: Start Sketching

Original sketches of some of the most popular logos.

By far the most important part of the process and rather an overwhelming one also. Now I cant stress on this point enough that you don’t have to be good at drawing to be a good designer. You can learn the basics about sketching from any of the tutorials that are out there. The act of sketching can alone get your creative juices flowing. It helps you to bring your ideas to life and the discovery and research performed come in handy at this time.

The goal of sketching is to bridge the gap between an idea and the creation of design, so that the blank canvas is no more blank when you head over to vectorise your logo in illustrator.

Now that you have a clear idea about the spirit of the brand and are feeling inspired. It is time to bring out the big guns — paper and pencil. There are now a lot of things you can choose from like different types of typography and shapes. Sketching a variety of ideas makes you see what works and what doesn’t. You can help yourself by asking yourself these questions :

What type of logo will best suit the brand (7 types of logos)? On which platform the logo will be used? (Website icons, signs, and banners, product packaging, social media profiles and banners, business cards, etc) Who is your target audience? What sets your company apart from your competitor?

After all this, it’s time to put your hands to work and start sketching!!

Note: Sketch a bunch of logo ideas and just before you think you’re ready to narrow down your choices, sketch some more. You might surprise yourself with something you like better. If you’re having a dilemma between what to keep in your final design and what to discard, show your significant other, your friends or your clients. New, fresh ideas come from the unlikeliest of sources. So, never hesitate to ask for a feedback.

Step 4: Choosing a color palette

Color represents different types of complex emotions. Our brain perceives every color differently and you can add this to your advantage while choosing your palette. Color represents the kind of message you want to send to your audience, hence, choose wisely. This in itself is a very big topic to cover in a single article. So, I will write a detailed article sometime in near future. Until then you can use this as your reference. They’ve done a marvelous job in explaining all key concepts there is to know about colors.

Step 5: Bringing your design to life.

Now that you’re done with everything it’s time to vectorize your sketches. I personally use Adobe Illustrator as it is the most popular one in the business but there are others as well, choose anyone you like.

In this step, while designing your logo you have a chance to experiment with your design, play around with the color, shapes, and typography and see what looks the best.

Once you’re done with your first draft, show around and ask for feedback. Feedback helps a lot as you’re because you’re now able to see your design from a fresh set of eyes. No matter how perfect you think your designs are there is always room for improvement.

An Example

Here is a quick example of my logo progression from my recent project. I have journaled my entire design process in the form of a video (here).

Parting Thoughts…

With all this in mind, I want to say that everyone has a unique approach to designing logos and I have mine too. I’ve tried to articulate every detail that my design process entails. For businesses, logos are like their tinder profile picture, it will help them attract more customers, which will make them know more about you. So whether you’re making this for personal use, or for a client of yours, try to tell a story that will resonate with everyone.

All love.