Do you like the idea of designing your own logo but don’t know where to start? Well you’re in luck! In this post we offer a brief outline of how to go about making your own logo, whether for yourself, your church or something else entirely.
1. Think about the message
When getting started on designing a logo, it’s important to know what you want it to convey. To do this, you need to think about your audience, the sort of people you’re trying to reach, as well as your brand ethos, what you think, why you exist, that sort of thing.
Most companies write a business plan precisely for this reason (amongst others), but you don’t need to go that far, just jotting a few ideas down in a notebook will help you get a clearer idea of what you want to achieve.
2. Do your research
Next it’s a good idea to get some ideas and inspiration, sites like Pinterest, Dribbble, Behance etc. are useful here (check out our Design Toolbox post for more ideas).
It helps to have an idea of what you’re looking for in terms of style and content – you can actually get pretty specific with your search terms for the best results – but you can also just search for ‘logo’ and you’ll still likely find something that helps.
Whatever you do though, compile a bunch of ideas into a mood board and you’re ready to get creating.
3. Generate some ideas
Get a pencil, a piece of paper and get scribbling. Everyone has their own process here, and I don’t want to say one is better than the other, just do what works for you.
Some people like to brainstorm, some people like to mind map, some people like to just start drawing ideas out which evolve in time. If you’re new to this, why not try all of them? In time you’ll find which suits you best.
The outcome of this part of the process should ideally result in some sketched images. That way you have some solid concepts ready to explore and refine in the next stage.
4. Refine your ideas
This is one of the most fun stages, and when your logo really starts to take shape.
You should already have a few rough ideas ready to take further, and now you’re going take these ideas and play around with them. A lot.
As in the previous step, what this looks like will differ from person to person, but I suggest it should involve taking the concept of each idea, and pushing it and testing it in every different direction to see what you come up with.
For example, you have an idea for a minimalist geometric logo for a church, you start by doing a really simple line drawing of your church with nice clean text underneath it. Great, but we can go further. Why don’t we try making the church shape out of coloured triangles or other geometric shapes? Or how about we incorporate the shape of the church into the text itself? Perhaps we try turning geometric letters of the church initials into an image of the church? And so on…
The potential at this stage is almost limitless, but you will very quickly get a feel for what works and what doesn’t and what feels appropriate and what doesn’t.
I also think it’s a good idea to get feedback at this stage if you can, see if people understand what you’re going for in each design. Do they understand what it’s meant to represent, or the feelings it’s meant to invoke and so on?
5. Pick a final design
Now you’ve refined your ideas down, it’s time to take the plunge and pick one design.
This is arguably the most difficult stage because it means putting aside the ideas that you’ve put a lot of time and effort (and occasionally love) into, and also potentially committing to one design for years to come (if you’re using it for an actual business/organisation).
It’s worth it though, once you’ve chosen that final design you’re nearly ready to launch it!
6. Polish it
Once you’ve committed to a design, now’s the time to concentrate on getting it perfect. This may mean refining your final design even further. Perhaps even making fairly major changes to the overall design if it feels appropriate.
Once you’re happy though, it’s time to produce the final logo. While you certainly don’t have to do this on a computer, you’re going to get the best results using software. We’d recommend using vector software as you’ll get the cleanest lines and can make it bigger indefinitely, although photo editing and desktop publishing programmes are also worthwhile.
For a list of suggestions, see this previous blog post.
7. Launch!
Once you’re 100% happy with your final design and there are no further changes to be made, you’re done. You can start using your logo immediately and showing off all your hard work!
We hope that this little guide is helpful in getting you started with your own logo designs. We’re going to upload a more in-depth document on our Free Resources page soon. Keep your eyes peeled!
