The time has come to design a logo for your business in Lancashire, but you’re not sure where to start. You want a logo that ties your business to the community, is easily recognizable and draws people from the street into your shop. It’s also something that you can use for advertising, put on your merchandise tags, in-house labels, and more for a cohesive but definitive business association.
Fortunately, logo design is fairly easy, and you can do it with a logo builder or editor. The following 7 tips will get you started on your design journey, and with a little time and creative effort you’ll find that you have a logo that matches the imagery you’ve had bouncing around in your head. Read on to learn more about the process and what to consider as you work on making a logo for your business.
1. Ask Yourself What You Want From Your Logo
Once you’ve established the basics of your logo, ask yourself what you want from it. Do you want a logo that speaks for everything you do and is used for everything from advertising to your website? Or do you want a logo that offers the opportunity for derivative logos, such as mascots? Maybe you want a logo that helps promote your connections to Lancashire.
The best logo design is simple, but some businesses benefit from elements that can be separated from the main logo and used elsewhere. This can be a menu, a list of rules, advertising materials, etc.
Take a step back from your business, look around, and imagine how the logo fits into the overall scheme of things, regardless if it’s a virtual or brick-and-mortar business. This will help you determine what you want from your logo.
2. Design a Logo to Attract Your Ideal Customer
You’re selling to a specific demographic and want your logo to appeal to your ideal customer. The logo needs to convey a lot of information in a single image to let returning customers know they’re at the right shop in Lancashire, and catch the eye of passersby that may become new customers. You also want the logo to be recognizable, suitable for use across a range of applications, and not overwhelm or confuse the viewer.
Ask yourself what your customer would associate with your business. If you’re a bakery that specializes in gourmet cupcakes and biscuits, your customer would quickly associate the visual of a cupcake or biscuit with your business.
Using a fancy script further drives home the fact that you’re in the business of making gourmet bakery items. In turn, your potential customer almost instinctively understands that you’re an upscale bakery because of the visual associations. The potential customer quickly turns into an actual customer because they recognize what the logo means and will step foot in your door to investigate further.
3. Check Out the Competition’s Designs
You can get a lot of direction and ideas from looking at the logo designs of businesses in Lancashire and around the U.K. that are similar to yours. The idea here is not to copy so much as it’s to find inspiration and understand more about what draws the customer into the business. You can get ideas of the type of graphics that are used for similar businesses and create variations that reflect your vision for your business.
After you’ve done your research and you’re drawing upon the competition’s work for inspiration, be mindful of accidental copying of the different elements. Accidental copying is something that happens subconsciously, but as long as you don’t move forward with a design that’s too similar to an existing logo, no one will be the wiser. Have others look at your logo design to make sure that your logo is as unique as possible.
4. Use a Logo Maker Tool
A logo maker tool helps you save time and money on your logo-creating efforts by providing you with pre-made templates that are fully customizable. It enables you to test various design layouts, change colors, use different border shapes, and select a font that is in line with the image you want to present. Once you’re satisfied with how your logo looks in the tool, you can save it and have it sent for printing.
It’s wise to have an idea of what you want before you get started on your logo design for your Lancashire local business. Ask yourself about the size, overall shape, graphics, font, and anything else you would like to see in the finished work. A logo maker tool lets you select all of these features as well as allows you to import an existing graphic. You can pick your overall shape, pull your graphic around the inside of it for placement, and place your lettering wherever and however you like.
There are lots of great logo makers out there to choose from, two of the best are Tailor Brands and Canva, but I would probably go with the logo maker from Tailor Brands. The next few tips are designed to help you put your design together in a way that’s pleasing to the viewer and meets your needs for your logo design. While they’re not written in stone in that you have to follow them absolutely, they do help you make good design decisions as you build your logo.
5. Picking the Colors for Your Logo
Color sets the tone and mood of your logo while communicating to the customer the overall feeling of your business. However, you need to be careful when it comes to using color, as too much overwhelms the eye, and not enough won’t impress the viewer. Ideally, a logo should have three different colors: one for the background, one for the font, and one for a graphic or detail.
As you consider your colors, try to use ones that are associated with the type of business you operate. For example, you’re selling outdoor gear to people who come to Lancashire and go hiking in the nearby Yorkshire Dales National Park. Using earthy colors in the logo helps deliver the impression to a passerby that you’re in the business of selling items for outdoor use.
Be judicious in the use of color in your logo, and remember to keep it simple. There are times when you may wish to use more colors, but don’t let them overwhelm the logo lest your message get lost.
6. Using the Appropriate Font for Your Logo and Business
Your logo needs the name of your business, and you need a font that reflects the kind of business you’re running. It’s important to use a font that’s legible and conveys the feel of what you’re selling. For example, your business is engaged in the sale of rugby and football jerseys. You want to use a font that reflects the ruggedness of these sports, which means you’re best served by a blocky, solid font that mimics the lettering used on the jerseys. In contrast, if you’re selling lingerie, you’ll want a soft, feminine script that conveys a feeling of luxury, softness, and intimacy.
Take your time with the font selection. There are hundreds of thousands of fonts to choose from, and you’re likely to find one that aligns with your needs with a little bit of searching. You may like to use a font that’s commonly seen on signs in and around Lancaster to make your logo feel familiar to locals. Also, try out different fonts to find one that’s a good fit for your brand. It never hurts to have a few different font types to look at as you work on your logo design.
7. Deciding on a Shape for Your Logo
Your logo isn’t restricted to being a circle or square, unless you want a geometric shape. You can have your logo consist of an outline of the lettering and an image, have odd angles, or follow the edges of the image with the lettering contained within. There are no rules when it comes to the shape of your logo, and sometimes a quirky logo shape becomes associated with your brand.
Remember that you’ll be putting the logo in different places around your business. The external shape needs to fit wherever you happen to be placing it, whether it’s the door, a window, a website, or hanging behind the front counter. You don’t want to overwhelm where it’s being placed, but you also want it to convey your message. Balance is key to the overall shape of your logo.
In Conclusion
Your logo design effort is your opportunity to create something unique that reflects the overall intent of your business. It’s also a form of passive communication between you, your customers, and those who have yet to discover your Lancashire local business. Best of all, you don’t have to spend a lot of money and time on your logo design with a logo maker.
Take your time and review these tips as you make progress with your logo design journey. They’re intended to help you think about your design and the considerations to make, and enable you to make the best logo design possible. Have fun with the process as you work towards creating a logo that speaks volumes to the viewer with a single glance.
