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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What do the logos of Pepsi, Google Chrome, G&E, and Starbucks have in common? They all use a circle grid in their design.

Using this grid is a trend so popular with current designs because it evokes a mix of beauty and slickness. In fact, psychology is at play with shapes as much as color when used in logo designs.

The question is, should you use a circle guide for your logo design? Will it help you broaden your reach, connect with your audience, and gain newfound popularity?

To help you answer those questions, we have some details and discussions to help you decide and contemplate before applying it to your design.

What is a Logo Grid?

A logo grid is a tool that aids in creating shapes, adding geometrical harmony in the logo design. These grids are also called construction guides, due to how the grid lines work as guidelines for measurements and shapes.

With it, you can incorporate circular elements along with complex patterns. Combined with other design elements a circular grid can grant you unique patterns for your logo design.

Keep in mind that the circular grid is not the only tool that you can use in your design. It’s a supplement to help you come up with the most optimal logo that benefits your company’s goals.

You can also use the rule of thirds from photography as a design principle for the grid. The golden ratio is also another design element that you can use for the grid or you can simply use the column and gutter grid.

Advantages and Cautions in Using a Circle Grid

An advantage to note when using a circle grid, or any grid in general, is that it helps create focus and organization. A circular grid allows for clean and polished looking designs for the logo with its implementation of varying sizes and placements according to ratio and visual appeal.

Another advantage of using a grid is that it helps the designer plan better for the elements involved in the design. This allows them to create harmony in creating the logo. And despite the initial thought that they are constricting, there is room for flexibility as the lines will help you see when making adjustments.

On the other hand, the utilization of a grid may appear to be restricting and the effect that it leaves on logos may end up looking almost similar to every design made. Another thing to consider is that you might end up getting caught up in the mathematical nature of the grid that you forget that you are building a logo, not a graph of an equation.

Those who would argue about using freehand design in logos view the grid as constricted, subjecting them to be stuck in a box in creating their logos. Another argument is creating your own grid would be time-consuming and difficult.

Should You Use a Circle Grid?

The answer varies among different designers. Before using a circle guide, consider the following factors:

Are the Grid and Geometry Relevant to the Design?

Is the grid relevant to the logo’s design? If it is, make sure that it is part of logo’s identity. Use them at the very beginning of the design and be faithful to its application. When executed correctly, you’ll have a logo that is visually appealing.

However, some of these will still need some visual tweaking as certain grids may not work with the design in mind. You will also consider the typography and color if it appeals visually and jives with the logo design.

A good example for this is the logo design for the Jewish Museum by Sagmeister & Walsh. In it, the designers utilized the geometrical design of the Star of David and made it as a key element into making this logo. It draws from the past, and with this identity in play, the logo gives out a fresh, modern look on the museum’s brand.

Prior Experience and Ease in Using the Grid

Are you comfortable in using a grid in your design? Have you tried using a grid before? If you are at ease and comfortable in using the grid, go ahead and do so.

Though you may also consider the thought of breaking out of the grid for your design. Regardless of which, it may necessitate the need for you to create your own grid for your logo design

Polish and Symmetry to the Design

This is more of a design suggestion but also a consideration. If you plan to use a circle grid to your logo, you may also consider how it can add symmetry to the design. Perfect circles are useful in setting up curves and corners for the logo.

The “All Day Ruckoff” logo by designer Kaelgrafi presented a good example of symmetry in the design. The way the construction guide presents the symmetry in the logo showcases the polished and clean look in its make.

What to Not Do with a Grid

In using grids for your design, make sure it adds value to it. Otherwise, it will end up as a crutch that simply acts as an excuse to a weak design. A design grid must enhance the logo, not distract from it.

Another is to not over-rationalize your design with empty metrics and imaginary geometry. An example would be like the backlash for the Yahoo! logo, where the explanation on the design grid being lazy to almost non-existent.

Give Thought When Using Circle Grids

When planning to use a circle grid, look at your design again and ponder about it for a bit. Do you think it would add appeal and enhance the logo? If it’s a solid yes, use it and make sure it gives your logo a more polished life to it.

What you want is something that enhances your logo, not a distraction.

Feel free to visit us today and discover more guides and tricks. You can also use our free logo maker to get started with making visually-stunning and appealing logo designs.

Branding and color choices can make or break a business’s chance of success. This is especially true as it takes more and more to stand out from your competition.

Because of how important logos and overall branding are, it can be stressful working on an idea for a client.

Are you currently tasked to create a marketing logo for a client’s Facebook page? Read our top seven tips below to nail it on your first shot.

Logos with Clever Double Images

Do you know what visual double entendre is? If not, that okay. Basically, it means one image can be viewed as two ideas or concepts.

Make both ideas or images relevant to your brand.

This creates interest for the viewer but also stamps your logo with a true sense of flair and authenticity. Get creative with this!

Carefully Choose Colors for a Marketing Logo

Color will evoke feelings in consumers, so you must know your client and their market. Be mindful of how your logo colors will translate to grayscale.

One other thing to consider is how your logo works with other elements on your Facebook page. If using the logo as the profile picture be sure it is cohesive with your cover photo.

It can take time to design a Facebook cover photo, but it will be well worth your time.

Less Detail is Often Better

This is a mistake people often make. They try to cram too much information into one little logo. Simple logos tend to withstand the test of time and can become iconic.

Think along the lines of Apple or Nike.

Don’t Jump on a Fad Bandwagon

Every once in a while a new idea becomes insanely popular within the logo and branding industries. Fight the urge to join in on these.

The fads will likely pass and then you are left with a logo that is either similar to many others or just will look dated in a few years.

Custom Typeface

Creating a typeface or font just for your client is one of the best ways to create a totally unique logo that will stand apart from others.

If you will be using a lot of text in a logo, don’t just use a standard preset. Clients are expecting (and deserve) more.

Be sure whatever font you end up with works well with images or other elements in the logo.

Use Negative Space

Another visual trick is using negative space. This is a trick to keep logos simple and on brand for your client. A popular example is the FedEx logo. Think about that space between the E and X.

Do you see the arrow?

Make It Meaningful

One final tip when working on a logo for a client is to make it mean something. The logo should tell at least part of a story about the brand or business.

Try to work in the core values if possible to portray trust and reliability to consumers.

Time to Create the Perfect Logo

Even if you were feeling stuck with creating a marketing logo before, with these tips you should have plenty of new ideas.

If you are ready to test out some of these ideas, check out our amazing online logo maker.

CBD is taking the vaping market and natural healing industry to new heights. This powerful substance is changing the way people think about how they consume hemp products, and why it’s beneficial in the first place.

As a business owner operating in this realm, you definitely know a thing or two about CBD’s positive effects. But, have you done a good job of communicating this to your market?

The more of an effort you make to educate current consumers and reach out to potential CBD users, the more successful your business will be. This involves doing everything from blogging about CBD to answering user questions to even having a stronger logo than the one you do right now.

Every part of your business adds up if you want to offer the best CBD experience possible. Here are a few things a strong logo design has to do with company success.

1. Catch the Eye’s of New Users

Have you ever been driving on the highway and did a double-take of a billboard you pass by? Do you often pick up products in the grocery store or at the mall because of the interesting logo the packaging displays?

CBD consumers think in the same way. Like with any other kind of shopping, when a user sees something they like, they’re going to be intrigued by it. As such, your logo needs to be interesting enough to get their attention.

A unique, out-of-the-box design is much more likely to catch someone’s eye than a boring, typical logo will. Play with different ideas if you’re trying to reach new customers.

See what other CBD companies are doing for inspiration, like Wellspring CBD which you can click to learn more info about.

2. Increase Brand Recognition

It doesn’t matter how many new customers you get if you keep losing them. Your logo also has to help build brand recognition, which in turn supports your customer retention strategy. Good logos keep people coming back for more.

Think about the most timeless logos out there. From Nike sportswear to McDonald’s fries and Apple computers, people are sometimes drawn to certain products just because of the logo they have. Create repeat business like this and your company is practically guaranteed to do well.

3. Make People Feel Something

As much as a logo’s design keeps people coming back for a few more purchases, it’s what they feel that turns them into loyal, long-term customers. Your logo has to stand for something.

Try to incorporate brand values or some sort of personal touch in your new design. You may have to give this a few tries until you get it just right, but when you do, the results will speak for themselves.

4. Establish a Strong Connection

When you stir an emotion within someone, you open a door to create a strong connection. Over time, a stronger logo design starts to build trust with users. It’s something they can look at and know they are going to get the quality they’re looking for.

This comes in handy in case something does go wrong and you need customer service to step in. It’s also useful to have such a strong logo because all it takes is seeing the logo on social media or passing by someone else using one of your products to keep building the connection you’ve established.

5. Stand Out Against the Competition

The final way a strong logo design helps your business thrive is that it makes you stand out. Think about it: the CBD market is already growing and it’s only going to get more saturated.

You need a strong logo right now if you want to stand out and stay relevant in the future. Get this taken care of and you’ll be in good standing to keep the market share you already have and continue to grow.

Start Creating a Stronger Logo Right Now!

Although a logo design has a lot riding on it, it’s not hard to come up with something great. All you need is a little bit of time to clear your mind, some inspiration to get started, and a logo making software to get the job done.

If you want to build a stronger logo for your CBD business, click here to get started.