Tips for creating your own logo and visual identity
This might be a bit taboo for my industry, but I am personally all for a DIY logo or visual brand identity in certain circumstances.
I will never diss a DIY logo, and in certain circumstances, I will actually encourage a DIY logo.
One example of this is if you are starting a new business and you are a bit unsure about what you are going to offer, or who you want to offer it to, this is when a DIY logo is perfect. You might just want to test the waters, dip your toe in, and get a feel for where your new business might head. In this case, a brand strategy and visual identity might not be the best use of your time & money, which you can put to much better use at this part of the journey.
And then later down the track once you know more about your business and your audience, this would be when I would recommend a wholesome brand strategy process, to re-brand your business, and create a more refined vision for the future.
So if you have decided to DIY your own logo, I have a few little tips for you:
Don’t start with a logo!
I often suggest to people to not go straight to your logo when DIY’ing a brand. I know right! Instead I would start with a colour palette that feels good. You can try searching “colour palette” and some keywords for your business on Pinterest or https://coolors.co/ to start getting an idea of a palette that feels good for you.
Next, some imagery of you and your business if you have it, goes a long way. If you are the face of your business, people want to see you, trust me! If not possible though, perhaps some stock images from Unsplash that suit your business is the next best option.
This gives you a lovely starting point - colour, imagery, and your face all go a long way to creating an emotional connection, sometimes even (dare I say) more important than the logo!
2. Fonts, baby, fonts!
Next I would suggest playing around with some fonts for your typography on your website. To keep things simple fofr you, perhaps just stick with a heading font and a body copy font for now. Canva & Google fonts have lots of good free fonts, and also try searching “font pairing” in Pinterest for some ideas.
It is great to choose two with some contrast between them - for example: serif font for headings, sans serif for body copy or vice versa. Or bold and impactful for headings then more delicate for body copy, is another way of creating good contrast & hierarchy.
3. Last stop, a logo!
With the top two steps done, only now I would launch into logos! I would suggest browsing some logos on Pinterest or canva that might suit you, based on how it is all starting to feel for you.
Simply setting your business name in a nice font that compliments the rest of your details goes a long way, and is simple & low-risk when starting out. You can also google "font personalities” which might give you an idea of what you might like.
Sites like Creative Market and You Work For Them have some affordable paid fonts which may give your logo a bit more edge than free fonts. If you are designing your logo in Canva, you can upload paid fonts into Canva if you have the premium subscription.
You can play around with how the words are set, for example, stacked on top of each other, centred, etc, or just one single line. I wouldn’t get too adventurous with shapes, details and illustrations at this stage, as this adds more complexity, unless something feels great of course.
I hope this has helped you a little on your DIY journey, and if you need any help with your DIY visual identity, you are more than welcome to book in for a Canva Spruce Up, and I would be more than happy to spend 30 mins sprucing things up for you. When I say “more than happy to” - this is an understatement. I would LOVE TO! This is so much fun for me!
