This guide breaks down how to create a landing page that converts, guiding you through the process of selecting the right tools, crafting compelling content, designing with impact, and testing to ensure peak conversion rates.
Are you creating a logo for startup, and you have no idea which direction to choose? Should it be modern or traditional? Monochromatic or in bright colors? With or without icons? There are plenty of options, and you can only choose one! To facilitate this process, we have prepared a guide that will help you design the perfect startup logo!
A startup company logo – why is it important?
If you would like to launch a new marketing campaign showing your brand identity, you should consider why it is worth preparing a professional startup logo. According to the definition, a logo is a unique graphic symbol being part of the visual identification of a given enterprise or organization. Its purpose is to distinguish the company from the competition.
This little sign has a big impact on the marketing activities of startups, especially those related to image building. The logo works like a business card. It is designed to attract attention, remind customers of your company, and enable them to associate the brand with the sign as soon as they look at it. The startup logo should reflect the way the company communicates, as well as its values and activities. Only then will it be effective.
A startup logo – 10 tips on how to create it
We know how difficult it is to create a good logo that will fulfill its function and truly reflect the character of the company. We have gathered 10 tips to help you create a unique design for your startup!
1. Define brand communication
As we mentioned before, logos are a part of the visual identification both in startups and other types of business. In order to be able to work on any aspect related to branding, you must define both long and short-term goals of your company, its communication method and mission. It is necessary to create any brand-related element, including the logo. In addition, to ensure that the logo design process runs smoothly, you need to know the target audience of your startup as well as their requirements, needs, and frustrations. What is more, you must find out what social groups they come from, how they make purchases, etc.
2. Specify the function of your own startup logo
A perfect logo should help in building brand awareness and brand image. This is why you need to know what goals should be achieved through this particular sign and how it should be perceived by potential customers to keep your business going. Try answering these few questions, as they will enable you to prepare an initial outline of the logo.
- What emotions should the logo evoke?
- What should the design be associated with?
- What is the most important thing the recipient should remember when looking at the logo design (e.g., the icon, name, or color)?
Answers to these three questions will allow you to define the general startup logo design, which you will develop in the next steps.
3. Match the logo to the brand styling
The logo should completely reflect the style of the brand, so you need to define your brand identity first. It is important because customers link those two things very tightly. For example, if your business sells modern furniture, but the font in your logo is rather vintage, you may lose many potential clients because some of them will not even check the offer, assuming that you are selling antiques! Surprised? Unfortunately, this is the reality. The inappropriate font in the logo design may result in the situation where you lose a customer, and in fact, money! The same can be applied to the colors or icons. That is why you should think about your own logo as a mental shortcut that tells the recipient what to expect from your business.
4. Do not focus only on aesthetics
Unfortunately, many startup owners pay special attention to the aesthetic qualities of the logo design and forget about the most important part, i.e., the message. Remember that when it comes to the style, there is no chance that the logo will fit the tastes of all recipients, even those interested in your business. However, if you focus on a specific message that shows the audience the style and purpose of the brand, most people will decipher it correctly and pay attention to the content, not only aesthetics. That is why most experts say that an effective logo for startups is one that is unique and legible, not pretty.
5. Create a logo design for potential startup clients, not for yourself
You have received a design for an amazing startup logo, and its innovation speaks to you. However, when you ask different people, you notice that they do not understand its message at all. What should you do?
You do not create a logo for yourself, but for the recipients. It means that even if the logo design is far from your aesthetics (e.g., you do not like the icon or color), yet it gains customers’ approval, you have to bite the proverbial bullet and use it. When it comes to business, your clients should be completely happy, not you!
6. Analyze the direct competition of your startup
When looking for inspiration, observe your industry. Creating a logo is not an easy task. You need to distinguish your company from the competition and fit into the given business sector at the same time.
The startup logo and the psychology of colors
According to the psychology of colors, blue is associated with trust, reliability, and security. Have you ever noticed that this color is included in logos of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, IBM, or Dell? In turn, the combination of black and white is connected to class, elegance, and tradition. Brands such as Chanel, Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld have based their logo design on these colors. Yellow and orange mean optimism, speed, and energy. Additionally, they strongly attract attention. Logos in this color are used by, for example, UPS, DHL, and InPost.
In each of these cases, companies took the importance of colors in the logo design relevant in their industries into account. Brands related to technology used blue, those from the fashion and beauty industry opted for monochrome, while the companies that have yellow and orange logos are connected to parcel delivery. We hope this relationship is clear to you! However, note that only the color connects the various brand groups. The font and the appearance of the logo are completely different. Those are exactly the distinguishing features.
Do you have to follow these rules in your startup?
You do not need to focus on the psychology of color when creating a logo for a startup if you feel it is not for you. If you think that red suits your business, even though it is not popular in the industry, do market research and check what reactions it would evoke in your customers. That way you will be able to see whether they will not be ok with this idea, or on the contrary, it will make them interested! The logo design with red accents may actually help to build awareness of your new business among customers. You can also try to reach a compromise and use, for example, a subtle gradient, which will make a particular industry-specific color just a small addition, yet easy to remember. Such an approach may turn out to be a real innovation!
Of course, the psychology of color and logos used by the competition are not enough of an inspiration. In fact, your ideas should be based on the market research and feedback from your potential customers.
7. Limit your ideas for the logo design
Creating a logo, and a new company in general, is a constant brainstorming. Ideas come one after the other. At some point, we want to use everything – a few icons, many colors, and a variety of interesting fonts. This is not the best idea! A much better solution is to focus on one element and refine it. The logo designs of famous brands are a great example of this: Twitter has a bird icon, Apple a bitten apple, and McDonald’s golden arches. Note that you do not need to use the symbol at all. You can focus on displaying the company name creatively without any icons, like in the case of IBM.
8. Choose a simple design for the startup logo
A complicated company logo sometimes works, but for most businesses, the simpler the brand mark, the better! When startup logos begin to resemble graphics with many icons, colors and fonts, they become hard to remember. And you should bear in mind that the memorable logo design is the only way to have an effective impact on consumer behavior!
9. Create a timeless and universal sign for a startup
Logo designs should be universal and timeless, whether they are for a startup or a large corporation. Remember that this sign will be used not only on the company website, but also, among many, on your social media channel, business cards, advertising banners, or as the engraving on pens. A perfect logo must therefore be prepared in a way that makes it work in many places. Remember also to spend as much time as you need to come up with a logo design that would be included in the group of fashionable logos 10 years ago, today, and 10 years from now. There is no point in succumbing to the transitional trend because the icon, font, or color you choose now will stay with your brand for years.
10. Choose a qualified designer instead of an automatic startup logo maker
If you are able to design a logo on your own, then you are in the best position because you understand the vision you have made perfectly. However, it is rare for a startup owner to create a graphic project. Therefore, if you decide not to use a startup logo maker, but hire a professional, you need to carefully discuss your needs, so that the designer’s ideas match your expectations. When you choose the right person to work with, focus mostly on the portfolio of a given professional, not the price for the service! The logo will be associated with your company for years, so it must be prepared at the highest level. The worst thing you can do is use logo generators. Why? First of all, signs made in this way are most often repetitive, and you cannot customize them to create unique logos. Second of all, the quality of such products is often very poor. Finally, a mark created by the generator, which is repetitive, cannot become a memorable startup logo that customers associate with a specific brand. Therefore, although it is a free option, it is not the right approach if you want to create a successful startup.
In the competitive startup landscape, having a killer logo can make all the difference. If you’re ready to establish a visually striking identity that truly captures your startup’s essence, our comprehensive branding services are here to bring their expertise and design magic, creating a logo that helps your business stand out in the market.
Technical aspects of creating startup logos
Now that you know the basics of creating logos for business, we still need to touch on how the process looks like. Startup logo designs should focus on:
- The logo font
Many people choose a font for a startup logo just because it looks aesthetically pleasing. However, you need to know that the font you pick affects not only the presentation of logos, but most of all the legibility and the message! The reception of text in a design written in italics is completely different than in the case of simple letters with large spaces, or fonts stylized as handwriting. Distinctive typography is another aspect of modern logo design that can be effectively utilized by startups.
- The appropriate spacing
When you design the shape of a logo, you have to remember about the so-called kerning, i.e., the spacing between individual characters. This is an extremely important aspect of the graphic project, yet very often overlooked! You should pay attention to the distance not only between words, but also individual letters.
- A well-chosen and described color palette, which is used not only in the startup logo, but also in whole brand communication
We all see colors a bit differently. In addition, depending on the device we use, the colors also seem to vary. One of the smart solutions is to prepare the logo design in the RGB version (for screens, e.g., for the website) as well as CMYK and PANTONE (for printing, e.g., on business cards or letterhead). Thanks to this, the colors will always be consistent.
When developing a brand’s identity with a thoughtfully chosen color palette, consistency in design language is key. Our custom website design services ensure your website aligns perfectly with your brand’s visual identity.
- The right size of the startup logo
The graphic sign you choose should look just as good (and be legible!) on a small phone display, business paper, and a banner next to the office doors. The size must therefore be properly selected so that it is universal. When checking legibility, make sure to pay attention to all the startup logo elements – fonts, icons, and symbols. It is also worth asking the designer to define the dimensions at which the startup logo will become blurry.
- Formats of the design
Instruct the designer to prepare logos in several formats, as various media will require different notation. You definitely need both the vector, usually for printing, and the raster ones that are used in a digital environment – e.g., on a website or social media. The most common formats in the vector logos include: ai, eps, svg, cdr, while the raster ones are usually saved as jpg, png and gif.
The brand book – the last phase of the logo design for your business
The startup logo designs should always be followed by the brand book. It describes the rules for using the logo, which is extremely helpful in a big team. Such a document is usually prepared by designers. It should include:
- dimensions and proportions of the startup company logo
- the structure of the design
- the minimum size of the startup logo
- the safe area in the design, i.e., the margin around the logo
- different versions of the startup logo design, if required in your business
- the typography of the mark
- fonts used
- acceptable and unacceptable modification of the startup logo
- backgrounds on which the sign may be placed
- the logo’s color scheme
This will minimize the possibility of making a mistake when using your company logo. You also will not have to send someone with doubts to the designer each time.
We hope that this article will help you create the perfect logo. If you want to find out more about startup marketing, make sure to check out our branding tips for startups. In addition, we have prepared brand consistency and logo for marketing company articles. Creating a startup logo design will be much easier once you read them!
