The top characteristics of a successful brand include consistency, passion, and leadership. But you know one more thing that they did right? Their logos.

Their logos are unique. Why are their simple but elegant designs so memorable?

Chances are, you’ve already memorized the logos of the top companies today, such as Apple, Android, HP, and McDonald’s. These brands went through different changes and considered different things to come up with their logo.

What’s their secret? What makes a good logo exactly?

It’s not only one factor – it’s a lot of things that all have to come together. Dive in for some tips on creating your own cool logo.

Know What You Want to Convey

Before deciding on colors and graphics, you have to know what you want the logo to convey first. The logo is the face of your brand, and so it should represent your brand’s message, values, and personality.

It should have meaning, and it should be clear the moment your consumers lay their eyes on it. Ask yourself, what feelings do you want the logo to invoke in the audience?

When your company’s purpose is clear to you, you’ll make better choices when it comes to the design, colors, and other elements.

Research Your Audience

You know your company, now you have to know your audience. Your logo must be able to communicate your brand to them, so now your job is to think how your logo can do that.

If your target market is the upper class, you’ll want the logo to exude luxury. If it’s millennials, you might want your logo to have some quirky elements.

Consider the following factors when you’re deciding on your target audience:

• Age group
• Gender
• Location
• Socioeconomic segmentation
• Education
• Lifestyles

Once you’ve determined your audience, you’ll have a better action plan on making your logo.

The Right Colors Make All the Difference

One of the most important factors in making a logo is choosing the right colors. Each color has its own meaning, and each one carries its own ideas.

Learn more about meanings of colors, so you’ll get an idea of the reactions you’ll get from the audience. Don’t be afraid to play with the color palette! You can even turn the logo into gray scale just to see if it works better.

Examples of companies that make the right use of colors are McDonald’s, and Kellogg’s, and Coca-Cola. Notice how they all use red in their logos. Red is an extremely popular choice when it comes to food and beverage companies, as this color sparks the feeling of hunger.

However, note how Adidas and Apple’s logos are similarly effective as well despite the lack of popping colors.

Make Use of Negative Space

Want to be creative without adding too much graphics? Try playing around with negative space.

Negative space is the space around or between the subjects. The space around the Adidas logo, for example, is negative space, as well as space in-between the slanted stripes.

Many companies use this space to add a flair to their cool logos. Take the FedEx logo, for instance. The negative space between E and x looks like an arrow, doesn’t it?

It’s subtle yet clever. It leaves a lasting impression on its customers, which makes it an effective logo.

Another example is the Spartan Golf Club logo. The subject shows a golfer and the trajectory of its swing, but the clever use of negative space creates a second image of a Spartan helmet.

Know the Latest Digital Design Trends

Study the current market and be aware of the latest logo trends. This 2018, you’ll see a lot of minimalist cool logo designs. Simple shapes and fonts are everywhere, which is most welcome since they’re easy on the eyes.

However, it’s also a good idea to stay away from the current trends. You want your logo to still be relevant in the years to come. Sure, you can update it down the road, but that will require a lot of money and risks.

Furthermore, you want your logo to be unique. When the logos of every other startup businesses this 2018 look the same, how will your customers be able to differentiate you at a glance?

Custom Lettering is Your Friend

Sometimes, a logo doesn’t need more than a good font. Google, Canon, IBM, and The New York Times are only a few examples of brands that have effective logos despite only having letters in their logos.

What makes it effective (aside from colors), is the lettering. Most have commissioned their own typeface so that it’s unique to their brand. You won’t find it as an option in Microsoft Word, unlike Comic Sans that other brands seem to think as a good choice.

Another famous example is the Coca-Cola logo. The typeface is unique, which makes it easily recognizable.

It also spurred some imitations. Still, it will make you think of the beverage company.

This is another reason why you must consider getting a custom typeface – to make your brand stand out from the rest. Imitating a famous font only says that your brand is second-rate.

Make It Your Own

Ever noticed how every time you see an apple with a bite, you immediately associate it with Apple?

This is what you want to achieve – when people easily recognize the logo as yours even when it doesn’t have your name attached to it.

Observe the Evernote logo. An elephant head isn’t a very unique idea, isn’t it? Its relation to a note-taking app isn’t clear as well.

However, the way the logo represents the elephant head – from the folded trunk to the fold in the ear – makes it unique. Even without the Evernote lettering below it, you’ll think of the app when you spot the elephant head.

Twitter is also a great example, as well as Nike with the check mark.

Create Your Own Cool Logo Now

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Not sure how to start or how to use our logo maker tool? Feel free to visit us now and check out our tutorial.