Creating Your Brand’s Image: 10 Logo Ideas to Help You Get Started

Can you name a brand without a logo? No? That’s because there aren’t any!

From newly-formed startups to America’s oldest companies, every company in the world has some form of a logo.

Your company’s logo has a huge impact on how potential customers will perceive your brand. So, it stands to reason that you want your logo to be outstanding, while also representing your company in a unique yet recognizable way.

But how do you create a logo that fulfills that criteria?

Well, a good place to start is with this guide. Read on to discover ten logo ideas that will help you learn how to make a logo your company can be proud of.

1. Start with Your Name

The purpose of a logo is to get your company’s name out there, so it makes sense to start with the name itself.

If it’s a long name, such a law firm with several partners, consider how the initials would work in a logo instead of the full surnames. An example of this can be seen in the logo of the fictional law firm Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill, from the series ‘Better Call Saul’. The HHM logo also lends itself to company documents and signage much better than the full name.

On the other hand, short or distinct company names work well in a wordmark. Some examples of companies with wordmark logos are Google and eBay, where the distinctive, snappy names take advantage of simple designs for optimum effect.

2. Use Color

The psychological impact of color makes it an integral part of logo design.

Certain colors in combination can make all the difference to how potential customers view your company and brand. And, by choosing unusual colors, as FedEx did with their purple and orange logo, you can really set yourself apart from the competition.

If you already have established company colors, then play around with them when designing your logo.

If not, try to limit your colors to three at most. Any more than three colors will be expensive to print. Plus, too many colors can look childish or too busy.

3. Experiment with Custom Type

Designing a logo is about more than trying out different fonts for your company name. You want to create your own logo to be unique and memorable rather than basic and easily copied.

After all, custom hand-drawn type or even handwritten logos like those used by Coca-Cola and Disney are iconic for a reason.

So, before you consider adding some kind of graphic or pictorial symbol, it’s often a good idea to investigate how your company name would look using custom lettering.

4. Add in a Graphic

If you don’t want to go down the custom type route, work around your name in a basic font and play around with different graphics.

A good start is to combine the graphic with your company’s lettering. Sometimes the simplest ideas can be highly effective here. Think about the Amazon logo, where the arrow going from the ‘a’ to the ‘z’ represents Amazon’s ability to provide everything you need, from A to Z.

The logo for the signage company Image360 is another example of this, where a circle of colored arrows elevates the text logo. And, once you’ve decided on your own logo design, you can click here to order your company signage from them.

5. Try out a Combination Mark

As the name suggests, a combination mark is a logo made up of text and some kind of pictorial mark or abstract symbol.

Some well-known combination mark logos include Lacoste, Nike, and McDonald’s. In these three cases, the companies are associated with both their text wordmarks and their pictorial symbols. These two elements can be used together but also work well separately.

As such, a combination mark is a good way to build your brand name while also helping to associate it with a simple and easily recognizable symbol.

6. Avoid Clichés

Coming up with a logo design also means steering clear of clichés.

Over-used logo graphics include a chat bubble for social media companies, a tooth for dental practices, and scales of justice for law firms.

These might be the first images that spring to mind when you consider your company and what it does, but this will be the case for your rival companies too.

7. Play on Your Company Name

A good way to come up with something more unique is to consider ways to play on your company name and what it does best.

For example, let’s say your company is a dental practice but it’s called David Diamond Dentistry. So, instead of an obvious tooth symbol, how about a gleaming diamond logo?

If you specialize in adults, then keep the symbol modern and minimalist. But if most of your clients are children, then a smiling diamond or a cartoon-style logo would be a better fit.

8. Consider an Abstract Symbol

Abstract symbols are another great option as they are unique but also recognizable.

Some famous examples include the Adidas flower symbol and the Pepsi divided circle. Abstract marks like these condense your brand into an image. But by being abstract, they allow for more scope with logo design.

Plus, abstract symbols convey your company through a symbol, while avoiding the cultural implications of an existing image, such as a bird or an apple.

9. Don’t Neglect Negative Space

Another way to set your logo apart from the rest is by using negative space. A classic example of this is the FedEx logo, where the white space between the E and the x forms an arrow.

Negative space is a common design trick, but as these negative space logos show, it is a technique that never fails to impress.

10. Tell a Story

All good logos tell a story. As well as being an attractive symbol, strong logos are loaded with meaning and history.

The arrow used in the FedEx logo mentioned above drives home the company’s promise to move forward and make deliveries, while the Apple logo has a ‘byte’ missing.

If your company has a great story behind it or a particular brand mission, consider ways to incorporate these into the logo design. It’s these stories that make your company unique so they’ll do the same for your logo.

Great Logo Ideas for Your Company

The appeal of a great logo helps to market your brand and create a recognizable image for your customers to remember.

Another factor you may need to consider is how well your logo will represent your company and brand in an international arena.

If your company currently operates or plans to operate on a global scale, choosing the right logo may have a huge impact on this. After all, some marketing campaigns can get seriously lost in translation, while the best logo ideas often cross language and cultural barriers more easily. Let’s have a bit of fun, have a go on this car logo quiz to see if you can recognize the following brands

Melissa Thompson writes about a wide range of topics, revealing interesting things we didn’t know before. She is a freelance USA Today producer, and a Technorati contributor.