Designing a logo doesn’t have to take months or thousands of dollars. With just a few simple tools, you can design a beautiful logo that can get you started on your journey as an entrepreneur. We’ll show you how in this article.
| Takeaways |
|---|
| Designing a logo doesn’t have to be time-consuming; it can be accomplished in 1-2 hours. |
| Simplify the design by focusing on key elements that represent your brand’s identity. |
| Incorporate illustration to add a unique and creative touch to your logo. |
| Utilize design software efficiently to streamline the logo creation process. |
| Experiment with colors, fonts, and shapes to find the perfect combination for your logo. |
| Keep the logo versatile and scalable for different applications. |
| A simple yet well-designed logo can effectively convey your brand’s message. |
See What’s Out There
The first thing you want to do is look at other logos. This will give you an idea of what’s out there and what you like, or don’t like. It can also give you ideas of what other businesses are doing, which might help come up with your logo design.
If you have a specific idea in mind, this stage can help refine it by helping identify the key characteristics that make up your concept (e.g., color scheme)
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Draw Inspiration From Your Industry
If you’re trying to create a logo for your business, first look around at other logos in your industry. You can also look at logos from other industries and even past or future logos. You can also look at logos from other cultures, countries, and planets!
If you’ve drawn inspiration from another logo before, it’s okay if yours doesn’t look the same; this is just an example of how you might start thinking about drawing inspiration from something else when creating a simple illustrated logo for yourself.
Determine Your Logo’s Function
Now that you have a few ideas in mind, it’s time to determine the function of your logo. You should consider what you want it to communicate about your business and how it will be used. A good logo should be simple, easy to read, memorable, and appropriate for your business. It should also be appropriate for your target audience (the people you’re trying to reach), industry (the type of work or product you provide), and competition (the companies that offer similar products).
The best way to figure out if something is appropriate is by taking some time away from the project and coming back with fresh eyes later on.
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Decide On A Style
Once you have a general idea of what your logo will look like, it’s time to decide on the details. This step is all about deciding how your logo will look. The most important thing to keep in mind here is that every element of your logo should fit with the overall brand identity.
This includes things like color schemes and fonts, as well as more subtle details like shape and size. The style you choose should also be consistent with the style of other logos in your industry or genre, but not so similar that it comes across as unoriginal or derivative (unless that’s what you want).
For example: If you’re creating a logo for an adventure travel company called “Shore Excursions,” think about whether they would be interested in something simple and clean-cut or something more playful and whimsical, and make sure that whatever style you choose will work well within their existing branding scheme!
Set Your Brand’s Mood
Once you’ve got a solid idea of what your brand is about, it’s time to define the mood. The mood is a feeling that is created by a combination of colors, shapes, and other elements. You can also think about mood as an emotional response that people have when they see your logo. It’s important to set the right tone for your brand because it will help you create an engaging experience for your customers.
For example: If I’m looking to build my brand as an illustrator with lots of free energy and personality (totally not true…), then I might want to use this illustration style as my logo: Or if I wanted something more sophisticated:
Choose Your Colors
Now that you’ve chosen your concept and sketched it out, it’s time to start putting color on the page.
For this step, I highly recommend using pencils instead of pens (unless you have a super-fine tip) because they are easier to erase if necessary. A lot of people like to use watercolor pencils but if you don’t want your logo to look like a children’s book illustration then stick with the standard kinds.
Once again, make sure that any colors that will be printed in black and white (like text) stay in black and white for legibility purposes!
This includes logos for web design sites since many of these sites are viewed in grayscale. If there is no color in your logo then use simple monotones so that when printed out they’ll still look good without having much detail lost due to pixelation issues or something similar happening during reproduction processes like printing on paper stock or vinyl stickers being used as promotional materials at events etc…
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Sketch A Rough Draft Of Your Logo
The most important thing to keep in mind when drawing your logo is that you want it to look good, first and foremost. You might love the idea of a unicorn jumping through space, but if the quality isn’t there if the proportions are off or the colors don’t pop your viewers won’t be able to see past those flaws.
To avoid these problems while creating your design, sketch out a rough draft before diving into Illustrator or Photoshop (or whichever program you’re using). This will give you an idea of what works and what doesn’t so that there are no surprises later on.
Digitize Your Logo Sketch
When you’re ready to move your logo design into a vector editing program, you’ll want to import the sketch you created in Adobe Illustrator. I prefer to use the pen tool for this step because it’s easy to select and manipulate individual elements of your design.
If your sketch doesn’t look exactly like what you want it to be and that’s normal! you can easily make adjustments using this tool. To start tracing over the lines in your drawing, select one of the nodes on the path (these will appear as small circles). Then click-and-drag along any line until it is selected and highlighted yellow.
This will tell Illustrator which line segment should be kept intact when exporting this element as a vector graphic later on in this process (which means no more jagged edges!).
To add more details or color, select different parts of your logo by clicking on them with either the mouse button while holding down Shift (to retain symmetry), Control/Command key (to keep proportions), or Alt key (to switch between join types).
This gives us control over how finely we edit each piece without losing its overall structure like we would if we were drawing manually with pens on paper!
Experiment With Effects (If Needed)
You should only use effects sparingly, but they can add character to your logo design and make it stand out from the crowd. For example, if you’re creating a logo for an internet startup that’s meant to look modern and forward-thinking, you might want to experiment with some trendy effects like glow or blur.
On the other hand, if you’re creating a logo for an environmental charity agency that wants to look more professional and serious than most other organizations in its field, then implementing subtle shadowing or adding halftone dots would be smart choices.
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Use Contrast for Maximum Pop
The first thing you need to do is choose a color scheme for your logo. To make it pop, use a contrasting color scheme. A contrasting color scheme uses two colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel (red and green, for example).
If you’re not sure how to use a color wheel to create contrast, check out this post: [How to Use the Color Wheel to Create Contrast](https://www.digitaltrends.com/web-design/color-wheel/)
- Contrasting Colors: Red and Green
- Complementary Colors: Blue and Orange
- Analogous Colors: Yellow and Violet
Export And Format Your Files For Print and Web
Now that your logo is done, it’s time to export and format your files for print and web.
Make sure your logo is in vector format. Avoid exporting logos in raster or bitmap formats (such as JPEG or PNG) as they will be difficult to scale down for print, whereas a vector-based file can scale up or down without losing any quality.
Export both the web and print versions of your logo separately you want to make sure that both look great on their own before combining them into one final file for use across multiple platforms.
Keep in mind that when creating a simple illustrated logo like this one, it’s best not to use too many colors or gradients because this can make things look busy when scaled down on small surfaces like business cards or signage materials like posters and banners where there isn’t much room left over after adding text elements below these types of graphics anyways!
I’ve included some examples below so you can see how using fewer gradient layers affects how well they hold up once shrunk down significantly.”
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Final Thoughts
Anyone can design a simple illustrated logo, and you don’t need to be a professional designer to do it. If you follow these steps, you will be able to create your own simple illustrated logo in 1-to 2 hours!
You can use Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop to create your simple illustrated logo. However, if you don’t have access to these programs (or want to save money) there are other options available:
Vector Stock – Vector stock is free for personal usage and offers vector illustrations that are perfect for creating logos. You can use this site for free or subscribe for cheap prices per month.
ThemeForest – ThemeForest is an online marketplace where designers sell their themes exclusively on their website so there are tons of quality paid templates available here too!
Finally, if you’ve followed along with our simple guide on how to create an illustrated logo in less time than it takes to watch a movie, then congratulations! You are one step closer to getting your business off the ground. Feel free to share any questions or comments below and we’ll do our best to answer them right away.
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources to further explore the topic of creating logos:
How to Make Your Own Logo – Learn the step-by-step process of crafting a logo that represents your brand effectively.
Make a Logo Using Adobe Illustrator – Discover how to design a professional logo using Adobe Illustrator, complete with essential design tips.
Create a Logo in Adobe Illustrator – Follow this tutorial to create a captivating logo using Adobe Illustrator’s powerful design tools.
People Also Ask
What Is A Logo?
A logo is a graphic symbol that identifies your business and represents its brand. It’s used on all kinds of materials, from business cards to websites to product labels.
Why Should I Get A Logo?
It helps distinguish your brand from other companies. Your logo should be simple and memorable so that customers can easily recognize your brand. It also makes it easier for people to identify your company when they see it on social media, in print ads, or on the street.
What Is The Process Of Creating A Simple Illustrated Logo?
The process of creating a simple illustrated logo is quite simple. First, you need to choose the type of illustration that you want to use for your logo. Then you will be asked to choose a color for your logo.
Next, we will provide you with some examples of logos that have been created using this service. You can then choose which one you like best and we will proceed with the design process.
How Long Does It Take To Create A Simple Illustrated Logo?
It usually takes about 1-2 hours to complete your simple illustrated logo. If you are looking for something more complex than just an illustration then we may need more time to complete it but if not then it shouldn’t take us much longer than 2 hours from start to finish!
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.