Logo Design Ideas: 5 Types of Logos You Need for Your Business
May 16
Looking for logo design ideas? Well, as a graphic designer, I’m going to share a little peek into my own process:
Yesterday I had a “launch meeting” with one of my branding clients. This is the final meeting of my Brand Experience, after the project’s complete. We meet via video chat to go over their new visual branding system, and how to use it.
During yesterday’s meeting, I informed my client that they were getting 235 different logo files from me… Yes! You read that correctly 2-3-5! Now, the reason for the high number is because I provide my clients with all the various file types I believe they’ll need, and in various color modes. But still, I was providing a system of 35 different logo designs—so when a potential clients tells me they’d “just like a logo” it always makes me laugh a little.
If you’re looking for “just a logo,” then I’m definitely not the right brand designer for you! I believe, just like you need a comprehensive visual branding system, you also need a comprehensive system of logos.
So if you’re currently scratching your head, wondering what kinds of logo designs you need for your brand, I’ve got you covered—in today’s new video, of course!
Logo Design Ideas For Your Small Business
Why Is Logo Design So Important?
This video and blog post are part of a larger series all about visual branding. As I mentioned in the first video, Visual Branding systems encompasess all of the ways you visually communicate with your audience (including your logo, website, brand imagery, brand colors, and more).
Your logo (and hopefully a logo system) is the cornerstone of that entire Visual Branding system.
Why You Need More Than One Logo
You probably started your business thinking you just needed a logo—and maybe a website. And now you’ve been watching this video series where I’ve told you that you need a complete Visual Branding system… which might have you feeling a bit flustered.
And now I’ve just told you that you not only need a logo—but you need a whole system of logos—sheesh!
Bear with me here.
The reason your logo and logo system are so important is that they create brand recognition with your audience. So you want to make sure that you not only have a great logo — but you have multiple iterations of that logo for the various situations you’ll have throughout your visual branding (i.e. not just a logo, but a logo system).
I’m going to walk you through the various types of logos you’ll need for your brand:
Logo Design Ideas: The 5 Types of Logos You Need For Your Brand
Be sure to watch the video above to see examples of all of these different types of logos!
Main Logo
In the “logo hierarchy” your main logo design comes first, we want your audience to be very familiar with this logo. And for me, personally, this is where my logo design process starts.
Once I’ve completed the main logo, I begin designing the rest of the logo suite.
Secondary Logo
For me, this one is an alternate orientation. If the main logo is more vertical, I’ll create a secondary logo that has a vertical orientation. It’s very important to have this alternate orientation because there will be situations throughout your visual brand identity in which the real estate won’t allow for the original orientation (it could be the header on a website, or the design of the business card).
Submark
A submark is definitely optional, but one of my favorite elements to use throughout my client’s visual branding systems. It can be used as a subtle reminder of the brand.
Alternate Logo Design
This is another optional logo, with different configurations that still share the main logo’s aesthetic.
Logo Animation
This is a new offering for my company and I’m super excited about it! When I started planning my YouTube Channel, I knew I didn’t want a static version of my logo for my videos. I wanted something dynamic with motion—so I reached out to a good friend (who’s a very talented motion graphics designer) and hired him to design my logo animation.
He’s now working with me to offer logo animation services for my branding clients!
To recap, the reason you want a comprehensive system of logos—instead of just one—is so that you can build better brand recognition and share your logo throughout the various situations of your Visual Branding system.
I hope these logo design ideas got you thinking about how you can expand your visual branding system! And if you’re ready to take your brand next level, let’s chat!
