Children are all about visuals. When something pops out at them that they like, it doesn’t matter what it is. They want it!

If you’re marketing to kids, it’s not enough for the toy to look cool. All the branding has to be eye-catching.

Does your toy company have a boring logo? It won’t matter how great your product is if your logo isn’t great, too.

Every toy company needs a great logo to grab children’s attention and bring in sales. Read on to learn how to create the perfect toy company logo.

Think About Your Target Audience

Sure, you know that your target consumers are children. But, to have a really great toy company logo, you should know even more about your target audience.

This will affect other decisions you’ll make for your logo as you work on the design.

What’s the exact age group and gender you’re aiming to sell to? What will appeal to a 4-year-old might not have the same effect on a 7-year-old.

After you know the “who,” you’ll have to figure out the “how.”

How Will Your Logo Be Used?

The way your logo will be used should directly influence your design.

Will you be using your toy company logo on tiny letterhead? Maybe blown up and used on a trade show booth?

If you’re using it across a lot of platforms you have to design accordingly. The logo will have to look just as attractive at all sizes.

A certain font you want to use might only be legible at a large size. Something that looked great on a small logo could look blurry when expanded.

Using a free logo maker can be beneficial if you plan to use your logo for different things. The logo you made doesn’t look perfect blown up to a bigger size? Design another, similar logo that works for the larger size.

When designing a logo on your own, you have more freedom to play around.

Use Other Logos Only for Inspiration

When dreaming up the design for your toy company logo, look to other logos for inspiration.

Look at logos of competing brands. Take note of what you like. Ask yourself what worked for that logo.

Notice the things you would change. You can even get inspiration from logos you don’t like at all. What made that logo so unsuccessful to you?

Consider all of this new information when you’re designing. But, make sure it stops there. The last thing you want to do is make your logo too similar to someone else’s.

Logos are a huge part of brand recognition. When people look at your logo, they should only be thinking about your company.

People will be wondering what that logo reminds them of. The worst case scenario is they confuse your company with another.

The design should be unique and so should the color scheme.

Choose the Right Colors

Choosing the right colors for your logo is one of the most important aspects of design.

Color is a big part of brand recognition. Research shows that consumers make a judgment on a product with 90 seconds of viewing it. Over 60% of that judgment is impacted by the color of the product.

The right color in your logo can make or break how people judge your brand. That’s why you should take some time considering the best color scheme to use.

Go back to thinking about your target audience.

Maybe your primary consumers are 8 to 11-year-old girls. Your first thought might be to make your logo princess pink. Perhaps that’s the right choice for your brand.

But, consider if your product is something boys would enjoy as well. A pink logo will be immediately alienating to them.

Perhaps a more neutral shade would be a better choice.

Click for more inspiration for a toy company logo. It’s a great example of color usage and simple, streamlined design.

Keep it Simple and Streamlined

Think about some of the best logos you’ve seen from the biggest brands in the world: Apple, FedEx, Facebook. One thing they all have in common is that their designs are simple and sleek.

If your logo has too much going on, it will immediately look amateurish. Less is more.

But, that’s great news for you!

You don’t have to be an artist to design a logo. There’s no need to add a bunch of bells and whistles. A simple picture or the name of your company in a nice font will make the biggest impact.

Active vs. Passive Logos

How can a logo be active or passive? They’re two-dimensional, after all.

What makes a logo active or passive is the story that it tells.

Think again about the Apple logo. When it was first designed, it was just an apple. Later on, they revised the logo to have a bite taken out of it.

That’s active. Someone is eating the apple.

The Twitter logo is another example. The original logo design was the bird sitting idle. The revised logo shows the bird in flight.

The Twitter bird is flying off to send your tweet out to the world.

When thinking about your logo, ask yourself, “what’s the story I want to tell about my brand?” How can you make that story more active?

You’re Ready to Design Your Toy Company Logo

With these tips, you’ll be well on your way to designing a great logo for your toy company. Take some time to sketch and brainstorm. The more effort you put into dreaming up a great design the happier you’ll be with the final product.

Are you not sure you’ll be able to figure out how to design a logo on your own? It’s easier than you think.

Before you get started, check out this logo maker tutorial. By the time you’re finished reading you’ll know exactly what you’re doing.