Your entire business brand is built off your logo. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs rush the logo creation process, whether they hire a designer or designing a logo themselves. It’s understandable as a web entrepreneur that you just want to get your business off the ground and not spend your time going through rounds of design revisions. This is time well spent however. Get your logo right in the first place and your branding foundation is built on solid grounds. A logo that’s misaligned with your business and target audience might require you to do a costly rebrand in the future. This article covers five simple tips to keep in mind as you engage in this creative process.

Align Colors With Your Company Values

Before you jump into your logo design project you need to define what message you want to send with your branding. What does your business stand for? The best way to align your logo with your business values is through color. When it comes to color don’t just choose a pretty color. Colors have different meanings and the psychology of color and their impact on marketing have long been studied. Find out what each color conveys and then choose the appropriate color for your logo.

Font Choice Makes a Difference

Similar to color, fonts also convey different messages. It’s not just a stylistic choice but you also want a font that speaks to your core demographic. Is bold the right choice or is a delicate, script font a better fit? Find out what the different font types stand for and then choose the best one. It doesn’t stop there however. If you are including a tagline in your logo you also want to make sure that your font pairing works well. This is a difficult thing to get right, even for experienced designers. Try a free tool like FontJoy to see which combination works best for you.

Keep Your Logo Graphic Simple

When it comes to logo graphics it’s best to keep things simple. Many entrepreneurs tend to go for intricate designs. Of course graphics with lots of details and a realistic look are impressive. The goal is not to show off a beautiful illustration in your branding but rather to create something memorable. Graphics that are simple in design a more memorable. If you look at famous web logos like Amazon, Google and Netflix you’ll notice how their logs have evolved over time to become super simple. This doesn’t mean your graphic has to be flat and boring but try to keep clean lines and simple shapes.  Use a free design application like Logo Creator to try your business name with different graphics.

Your Logo Needs to Look Good Across Different Media

It’s one thing to design a pretty logo that you’re satisfied with when you view it on your laptop. How does the logo look when it’s reduced in size to a favicon, or scaled up and placed on a large billboard or bus bench ad? You are just starting your business and you don’t know which form of advertising and promotion will serve you best yet. Make sure your logo works across all media, dimensions and resolutions. The best way to test this is to scale your logo to extreme dimensions, view it in black and white, and try it across print and web.

Your Logo Comes Before Any Other Brand Assets

Although this is rather obvious it’s worthwhile repeating. Your logo is the foundation for your entire brand. Once you have designed your logo you can then build our your web and print branding assets. For example many web entrepreneurs makes the mistake of designing a website first or buying a web template and then getting a logo. As a result the logo often looks out of place, which is the first sign of an unprofessional and inconsistent brand.

A Few Words in Conclusion

Starting your business is exciting. You want to launch your website and get up and running. When it comes to the task of designing a logo it’s worthwhile to slow down a bit to make sure you get it right. When your logo is rock solid you can build the rest of your brand assets with confidence. Keep these tips in mind and you’ll be on the right track to building a professional brand.