How to create a logo - step-by-step instructions from A to Z. Create a logo for your brand! It's simple! How to draw a logo correctly

A logo is usually called the name of a company, firm, website, presented in graphic form. Logos are widely used as a trademark and emblem in advertising, notices, product packaging, etc.

Together with other marketing tools, a logo attracts consumer attention, increases brand recall, strengthens brand loyalty and increases trust, which allows a company to stand out in a competitive environment. It is the logo that in most cases plays a huge role in shaping the visitor’s first impression of the site.

Why is a logo needed?

A professionally designed logo can make or break a business, it is the heart of a company's recognition. In some cases, a poorly executed logo can be the difference between systematically attracting customers and not getting any at all.

There are three main types of logos:

• Text . The essence of a brand, website or company is expressed through some text, font and color in which the brand name is used;
• Iconic. Often expressed by a specific abstract graphic element, an abbreviation, or a single capital letter;
• Combined. This type of logo is the most common, universal and memorable. Represents a combination of text, symbol, or sign.

Each logo must meet the following basic requirements:

• Creativity and originality. A unique sign will be the business card of your site;
• Associativity. If the logo reflects the theme of your activity, this will be a big plus;
• Conciseness. " Everything ingenious is simple" Figures that are difficult to perceive are much more difficult to remember.

As practice shows, obtaining high-quality and original symbols requires both competent implementation and a creative approach.

Self-generation of logo ideas

The answer to the question " how to design a logo?“First of all, it involves creating the concept and content of the final product: website address, picture, slogan, symbol, etc. Also, you need to choose a suitable image for an example or basis and decide on the characteristics.

Most often, the logo size is not too large - 250 pixels wide and 100 pixels high, but if you want to use a different size, everything is in your hands. You can draw a logo yourself, buy a ready-made version on the Internet, or order it from a designer.

It is important that the basis for the logo is not “exposed” on the vastness of the World Wide Web:

• It is absolutely not necessary to achieve realistic brand symbols: abstract elements in some cases look more expensive and more impressive;
• If you have any difficulties with an idea, no one forbids you to look at competitors’ websites and analyze the success of their symbols;
• There are many free services on the Internet for template logo development, however, more on that later.

Programs for creating your own logo

If creating a simple logo from a template for some reason does not suit you, you should think about a more professional approach to the matter.

To do this, you will need a ready-made drawing, approved as a basis or example, and a graphic editor:

• Adobe Photoshop. This tool for creating and processing raster graphics is a leader among similar programs due to its high speed, efficiency and wide capabilities and multi-functionality. Implemented the ability to work with contours and layers;
• Adobe Illustrator. Quite a popular program for editing and creating vector graphics. Anyone can download the demo version from the official website and use it for free for 30 days;
• CorelDRAW. A popular software package for working with vector graphics, supporting a huge number of various formats and having rich functionality.

The advantage of working in the editor over using Internet services is that it does not require Internet access and has a much wider range of capabilities. So, how to create a logo using the program?

Creating a logo in Adobe Photoshop

Let's look at creating a simple logo for a website in Adobe Photoshop, step by step. Our logo may change color depending on the background, and if there is a need to change or modify anything, be sure to save a copy of the final file in .psd format:

The result of the work is a multifunctional image, which, thanks to the use of only two colors, can be placed on any background. In addition, the letter F will look great as a site favicon.

Online services for creating a logo

There are hundreds of designers and web studios on the Internet offering their services for the professional development of graphic attributes of any complexity. However, often beginning web developers do not have the means to order a logo from qualified specialists, and they lack the skills to work with computer graphics.

How to make a logo for the site in this case?

The way out of the situation is online services for creating logos and banners. It is worth noting that most of these sites do not support the Russian language, but you can still add the Cyrillic alphabet to a ready-made template.

Let's try to understand such services

• Cool Text. Select the style that interests you from the available options. Then go to the settings page and type your text. In the same section you can choose the font size, its texture and color. Save the logo by first selecting the appropriate file format:
• Logo Maker. First, choose a visual symbol for your logo from the provided collection, then write the text, select the font, and customize its placement. Please note that this service requires registration at the stage of saving the file, but you can familiarize yourself with its work without authorization:
• Logo Yes. At the top of the main page of this site there is a link “Logo Creator”, by clicking on which you will fully receive the answer to the question “ how to create a logo for a website?" Having configured all the proposed parameters, in the last step you will be asked to buy the resulting logo:
• Logo Easy. This service operates according to a standard principle and has a large number of settings, but requires authorization. Logo templates are available in abundance.
• Simwebsol. A fairly simple site without unnecessary bells and whistles. Write the text, select fonts, colors, image, file format, click “Create Logo" and save the finished logo:
• Logo Design Engine. This service allows you to create not only a logo, but also buttons for the site. Depending on what you need, select “Free Web Buttons" or "Free Logo Design" from the menu:

LogoEase is a free service that allows you to easily create various logos. To start using it, click the Start your logo button in the site toolbar and open the editor. Then choose a template that you can customize: add your own text, choose a font, change the scale, fill with different colors, and much more. After this, all you have to do is download the logo file in ZIP format and use it on your website or blog.

This service is very similar to the previous one. First you need to select the appropriate category, then decide on one of the many samples, and then edit it as you wish. The site allows you to upload up to six logos for free. In addition, users can purchase high-resolution files created with LogoMaker, which can be used for printing, business cards and posters.

CoolText is a really cool thing that allows you to create spectacular logos using fairly simple means. This service only works with text logos, but the number of possible design options is so large that you will definitely find something to your liking. Here you can get results in a couple of clicks that would require hours of training and special programs to achieve. The logo can be downloaded in a variety of graphic formats, including PNG, JPG and GIF. You can also create buttons for your websites and download a variety of fonts from a huge list.

Another text logo generator. Don't be fooled by the name: it's not limited to flame effects alone. There are over 200 different effects in total, and some of them are quite funny. The operating algorithm is the same: select an effect, enter the desired text, edit the properties, save. By the way, in addition to the already familiar PNG, JPG and GIF, there is also PSD.

Logaster is an online service for creating logos and corporate identity elements. Six million users have already appreciated the advantages of working with this service. Logos developed with its help have appeared in 167 countries around the world on everything from business cards and letterheads to websites and billboards.

This editor impresses with its design and the number of features available. Creating a logo involves selecting the necessary elements from the service’s extensive library, adding inscriptions, and then editing and customizing them. You can save the logo in PNG format. Of course, the paid plan provides a much more extensive library of elements and additional functions.

Have you ever used automatic logo generators?

Good afternoon, dear readers.

In the previous article we talked about, but how to make a logo yourself?

It’s quite a painstaking task, but if you manage to come up with something brilliant, then, believe me, it’s worth it.

Initially, the logo was invented in order to highlight your company / website in the market. If you want to achieve this, then you should definitely read this article.

The logo is the face of your company/website. If there is no original logo, and your site does not attract attention at all, then it is unlikely to stand out from the huge number of similar sites.

If you want your Internet resource to be visited by as many users as possible, then you just need to create something that really attracts attention.

First, let's figure out what types of logos there are.

Types of logos

Character

Display the logo in the form of pictures, signs, symbols, icons. This type is popular among huge modern companies or websites. An image can be meaningful, it all depends on what meaning you put into it. Popular companies with this look: Apple, Nike

Text

This type is quite simple, but just as popular as the symbolic one. It represents ordinary letters that are displayed in different shells. Examples with this type: M-Motorola, ACER, Nokia.

Combined

This type of logo consists of the previous two. It includes various images of objects, animals, plants and the text itself. Examples: Adobe, Adidas, Microsoft.
Which type will you choose? The choice is yours.

Creating a logo for the site

There are many programs (services) on the Internet for creating logos for online websites. Some of the most popular programs:

• Logaster.com
• LogotypeGenerator
• Flamingtext
• hipsterlogogenerator

The programs are simple to use, all actions are performed step by step. Believe me, a logo can be created very quickly, with at least a little skill. If you are not confident in your abilities, you can always trust a professional.

Below are instructions for creating logos using the flamingtext service as an example:

Notes! You can download it for free only with a watermark.

Favicons for the site

To attract mass attention to a website, many people use Favicons.

A favicon is an icon in a special format that is displayed before the page URL in the address bar, next to the bookmark.

Favicon and logo usually look the same. Only the favicon is much smaller and has a different format (.ico)

In order for it to carry a semantic load, certain requirements must be met:

• Create a Favicon in the same style as the site is being designed. Use the same design elements and color palette.
• Keep the Favicon simple so that it is easy to understand.
• Don't use complex images.

To create a Favicon there is such a resource X-Icon Editor. The program has import and export functionality, as well as Favicon preview on the browser tab.

Photoshop and Paint

I would like to note that the most wonderful logos can be created in Photoshop, because you completely come up with them yourself. Photoshop has rich functionality and a wide palette of colors.

Don't be afraid if you have never worked in such a program. There are many detailed instructions online and video tutorials on how to use the program. But if you don’t have time to study, then find a pro on one of the freelance exchanges. Here are the most popular:

• FL.ru
• WebLancer.net
• Qwork.ru

There is also the well-known standard program “Paint”. This is a very simple program. It is, of course, very inferior to Photoshop, since it contains only the simplest tools. But thanks to these tools you can create a masterpiece

In conclusion, I would like to note that everyone can do everything, you just have to set goals correctly and love what you do.

If this article was informative for you, subscribe to blog updates, recommend reading the article to your friends on social networks.

Bye everyone and see you soon!

Sincerely! Abdullin Ruslan

Hello, dear friends.

Introduction

My name is Dmitry Borkov, I do graphic and web design. My main areas of focus are the development of website design, logos and printed products.

In our digital age, especially in the web environment, design is developing rapidly, but only its meaningful use makes design a truly powerful tool. To do this, you need to look at design as a visual language that takes into account information, mood and creates a powerful subconscious message.

Therefore, especially for the blog website I decided to write series of articles about how to develop a logo for a company or website, and also show an approach that will help make design an understandable and conscious tool for conveying the message you need to the world.

If you are NOT a designer and you need a logo, then you can contact me for help in developing it. You can find me on VKontakte: vk.com/dborkov82

How does the whole development process work?

The design process itself consists of the following stages:

1. Development of the semantic core of the logo (we will consider this stage today).
2. The birth of the main image.
3. Typography or an excursion into fonts.
4. The shape and polish of the final impression.

In this article I want to tell you about what a logo is, where it begins and how its semantic core is developed.

When the core is developed, you can go in several ways, choose a ready-made logo on a stock photo or order it from a designer. Any of the proposed options will allow you to get a high-quality logo for your projects. A third option is also possible - independent development, but only if graphic design is your second “I”.

First of all, we need to understand what a logo is and what purposes it serves.

Logo Misconception

Most people choose a logo without having a clear idea of ​​it, guided by taste or subjective feelings that are not fully realized and do not allow them to see the whole picture.

This phenomenon can be found even in the sphere of design professionals; outside the professional sphere the picture is similar. At that time, the logo is the very first part of the corporate identity that a potential client sees and begins to build trust.

I wonder why this happens?

The answer, as always, is simple and lies on the surface. The traditional definition of a logo is actually false because it does not reveal the full meaning and it sounds something like this: it is a unique, recognizable, memorable sign, and so on. I will not give the entire list of these parameters; they can be found on the Internet, but they are of little use. You can find many memorable, recognizable signs, but not every one of them you will want to put on your business card!

All this is because you also have criteria for choosing a logo at the moment, you just don’t realize them, but we will discuss them later, but for now I would like to tell you one important point.

Semantic core or path from inside to outside

Why should a logo be chosen based on semantic and not just taste preferences?

Because any picture, image will evoke a whole series of associations in the viewer, and he will think of it himself and associate it with your company, and do this mostly unconsciously. We all know that words can't tell you anything. Writing with a pen on paper is a little more difficult, but drawing a picture about nothing is completely impossible, because a picture is a concrete material image.

A logo can be ironic, friendly, reliable, bright or calm. All its components - image, composition, color, shape create certain impressions, and it is very important that they all convey the same message, but each in their own way. It is then that the message will be clear, clear and understandable.

The viewer will perceive this information unconsciously, unless he is a design professional. He will not be able to understand all the meanings and ideas that I wanted to put into the logo, to understand why I chose this particular image. Therefore, hence the rule - the image that I broadcast must be as accurate as possible, simplified, cleared of all excesses, and only then will it be understandable to the majority on a conscious and subconscious level. A logo is not just a pretty picture, it is a meaning crystallized into a form.

Therefore, work on it must begin with the creation of a semantic core, the main impression that I am going to make, and in our simplified case, the process of obtaining a logo can be divided into 2 fundamental stages:

1. Creation of a semantic core.
2. Choosing a logo on a stock photo.

You can see other stages of logo development, working with designers and involvement in all the nuances of the process in my other articles. Now we are looking at the simplest scheme with minimal investment, which will allow you to get a high-quality brand name with an understanding of what is good and what is bad for your logo. I'll take you step by step and show you how to do it.

Creating a semantic core

The logo is me and my business

So, first, let’s correctly define what a logo is.
A logo is a brand name that answers three simple questions:

• Who am I?
• What am I?
• What I do?

First of all, you need to answer these 3 questions in relation to your niche, and to make it easier for you to look at your own activities from such a new angle, let's look at these questions with an example.

Let's imagine that I am a carpenter and am engaged in making paintings - wood inlays. For me, carpentry is a way to transfer creative ideas onto a wooden medium, to create a wooden background that will remind you that nature is the most comfortable environment for humans and you can and should interact with it carefully. My stories are about friendship between humans and forest inhabitants; they convey kindness, comfort, and interaction.

The logo is “the best me”

Answering the question “What am I?”, you need to go the other way and answer, what qualities should I have in order to succeed in my business? Imagine seeing yourself in the future who has achieved the highest goal in the business you are doing, and imagine what qualities does this “best you” possess? There can be many of these qualities; write down at least 7 that come to mind.

Choose the most key quality and forget everything secondary, a logo is, in fact, a small icon, and there is no room for secondary concepts :)

Then we get the following answers:

• I am an artist - a carpenter who works with wood.
• I create an atmosphere in which it is pleasant to be.
• I am bright, kind, joyful.

Crystallizing an idea into an image

After writing similar 3 points about your niche (and I hope you answer these questions on a piece of paper while reading), I am sure that you will begin to form certain images, this is just the beginning, and then we will help these images grow into a whole tree of ideas.

Now you need to write down what associations and images each of these points evokes, write 7-10 examples for each point.

• What does a wood artist look like and what does he do?
• What does good look like? What picture do I call light?
• How do I know if this atmosphere is comfortable?

It is very important to formulate these concepts in the form of words, and not try to turn them into a logo image ahead of time. Drawing on paper stops the flow of visual associations as you begin to get used to it.

The process of turning an idea into a form should happen in stages, some stages will go very smoothly for you, some will go through some rough spots. It is the roughness that requires the most attention, and here it is important to remember that the quality of the result depends on the most problematic stages of its creation, and not on the most developed ones.

Problem areas require the most complete disclosure; only then can we say that we have created a full-fledged semantic core and we can move on to other stages of logo creation.

So, if you've gone through the steps above, you now have an idea of ​​what you want your logo to look like, and we can move on.

Choosing a logo on a stock photo

A little about stock photos

I specifically named this section this way, since we will not draw the logo ourselves, unless the graphic designer is your other “I”. Unless you are a professional in this field, we need to make a serious impression on potential clients, not just amuse them, so we need to entrust this process to a professional. In this article I won’t talk about working with designers, that will be a separate article, but now we’ll talk about working with stock photos.

There are several large photo stocks, such as:

We'll use any of them, but first we need keywords to search for.

The right keywords are the key to success

To do this, the first thing we do is type our keyword in the search query line, and first of all we find an article from Wikipedia for it. Open the article and select English in the left sidebar in the section in other languages. It is this method that allows us to get the meaning of our word used in English, at the same time, Google Translator can give a literal translation of your word into English and get a meaning that is not used in speech, for which when we search we will either find very little or find nothing at all.

If Wikipedia does not help us translate in this way, we will use other translation services from the same Google, for example.

The keyword obtained in this way can be safely inserted into the search bar of the stock photo, adding the word logo to it.

After this, from the search sample, we look at which of the presented works correspond to our semantic core and our criteria. I recommend selecting 10-20 logos and saving them in a separate folder, note that the logo should be marked on the stock photo as a vector illustration that you can edit.

Choice largely determines the outcome

Now you have about 20 potential logos and now it is important to make the right choice, for this I will offer you the method that I use myself.

Review your 20 logos and duplicate the folder containing them. Now your task is to count the pictures and remove exactly half of them. Then repeat the same operation with the remaining 10. When you have 5 logos left, do the following - put them away until the next morning and don’t look at them again.

Tomorrow morning you will open the folder with these 5 logos and with a fresh mind you will see which one will really be yours. Now you can register on a photo stock and buy this illustration. If your logo has text, edit it using vector editors such as Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop.

Conclusion

All! Now we have finished creating the semantic core, and we have an understanding of which logo would be the best for us. From this you can already form a technical specification for working with a designer, which you will read about in other articles in this series.

We chose a logo from a stock photo, and if you are not a designer and don’t want a designer to develop the logo, then this is the best option, and we did it.

You can now be congratulated on your new brand name that accurately reflects the essence of your business!

In the following articles we will look at all the elements of the early process, and if you ever come into contact with a logo as a client or designer, you will definitely find something new and useful that will help make your brand truly bright, meaningful and trendy.

See you in the next articles and thank you for your attention!

Friends, leave your comments and questions below under this article, I will always be happy to answer them and help you develop a logo. I left a link to my VKontakte page at the beginning of the article.

This page is done using a special online constructor. Logo maker is a program for creating a logo online in Russian, which works through a browser. The user does not need to first download a program for creating logos and install it on the computer; the advantage of the web service is that it is available anytime, anywhere, on any device connected to the Internet.

The free logo maker we offer is designed to be a quick and easy do-it-yourself process. Developing a logo in the program involves selecting a design from ready-made templates, editing it and adding text inscriptions.

The online logo generator is designed for users of different levels, maximum simplicity is designed to make it easier for beginners to create a logo for personal purposes, experienced users and designers will receive a convenient tool for their professional activities. Information for those who are interested in making money on the Internet - How to make money on logos.

Let's see how the logo maker works and how to use it to make a beautiful logo.

How to create a logo in the online designer

1 The first step is to indicate who we are

In the “Name” field you should write the name of the company, website address, your name, area of ​​activity or what you would like to see on the logo.

If the logo should have a slogan, click on the “+Add slogan” link. An additional line will open where you can specify a slogan or any desired text, which will be placed in the second line on the logo, for example, you can write a phone number or contact address.

Now all that remains is to select the type of activity so that the logo creation program will make an appropriate selection of suitable icons for the logo, and click “NEXT”.

2 Second step - choosing a design

At the next stage of creating a logo, you need to select the appropriate appearance from a large number of options and click “NEXT”. The service presents an impressive database of logos on various topics, made by professional designers. Based on the specified text and the selected design, the logo generator will compose the original logo image.

3 Third step - edit the original logo

It's time to edit the created logo. To do this, click on the “Edit logo” button. Here you can choose the location of the picture, the name and slogan on the logo; if necessary, you can change the picture, change the fill color of the picture, the font color and add a shadow. For those who are interested in creating a logo, the program in Russian allows you to create a logo using the Cyrillic alphabet. After all the necessary manipulations with editing the logo layout, you need to continue by clicking on the “NEXT” button.

4 Step four - save the layout

If everything is satisfactory and the logo turns out the way you imagined it, click the “SAVE” button, after which you will be asked to create an account in the service so that you can download, create and edit logos from your account. In an already created account, you can create a logo for other purposes or change an already made logo at any time.

After simply registering with the logo creation service, you will be able to download the created logo. Online logo software generates 6 color variations of the original design. The resulting online logo designer allows you to download it for free in small-sized png format, as well as purchase high-resolution sources for a fee, while the logo program itself is available free of charge to everyone.

There are other free programs for creating logos, including programs for logos in Russian, but the service located on this page is rightfully considered one of the best, with a large collection of beautiful multi-thematic templates developed by professional designers.