What to Consider When Creating a Logo for Your Website

MonsterPost Editorial

7 years ago

Your website is the first part of your company that most consumers are exposed to, and as such, it should tell the world who you are. As a first impression, a website needs to communicate your company’s values and brand identity. One of the best ways to accomplish this easily and quickly is to create a unique logo.

Your company logo is a vital part of your identity. Having a well-designed logo and tagline gives consumers a clear picture of what your brand offers. When designing a logo to fit your brand identity and website, there are five major factors to consider:

1. Determine Your Goals

Before deciding on specific design elements, it’s important to understand your website’s goals. Having clear objectives helps inform the kind of logo you use, as well as the type of fonts, colors, and other visual elements you incorporate. When you begin planning your logo design, ask yourself these three questions:

Who is the audience you’re trying to connect with? Depending on who your website is aimed at, it will need to transmit different values and messages. Knowing who you are speaking to lets you tailor your branding to make the audience more receptive to your message.
What industry is your website in, and what makes you stand out? It’s important to know your competition and what they offer. This helps you find the areas where you stand out from your rivals, and it helps you create a logo that’s appropriate for your industry but also uniquely yours.
What is the message you want to convey? Most vitally, the previous two questions help define your message. Knowing what you want your brand to say will make it easier to select design elements that communicate your message visually.

2. Choose a Logo Type

There are a variety of logo template styles to choose from, including symbols, mascots, icons, and text-based designs. When you’re designing a website, the best choices are generally word marks, letter marks, or combination marks.

Letter marks – These logos are made up exclusively of letters that represent a company. They work best when your company name is long or has multiple words to remember. Some of the most famous letter marks include companies like HBO and IBM or organizations like NASA. Letter marks are ideal when your brand is more established, or when you’re looking for a streamlined, cleaner design.
Word marks – Word marks also emphasize fonts but use an organization’s full name with a stylized typeface as a logo. Companies like Google, Coca-Cola, and Sony are famous for their instantly recognizable logos. This logo style is particularly useful for websites that have short names that are distinct.
Combination marks – Combination logos combine the best aspects of word and letter marks with a unique visual component. The combined visual and text components can be organized in diverse ways. Combination marks are helpful when trying to forge an association with a particular image or to reinforce name brand recognition. Their flexibility makes them a multi-faceted choice.

With a broad logotype in mind, the next step is to add elements like fonts and colors.

3. Consider the Type of Font

For these three major logotypes, the choice of font is a significant aspect of communicating brand values visually. Modern typefaces can be broken down into five major categories. Each different style can help transmit specific personality and brand traits while assisting with establishing a visual vocabulary. These are the five major font families:

Serif fonts – Serif fonts are used to suggest a more conservative, traditional feeling. But, they also convey elegance and class.
Sans Serif fonts – These typefaces are ideal for companies which value a straightforward, modern, and simple approach to design. They are excellent for conveying a forward-thinking, streamlined brand identity.
Slab Serif fonts – These typefaces make a bold and loud statement. Brands seeking to make a splash or demonstrate their innovative attributes can benefit from using these font types.
Display fonts – Decorative typefaces are fun and bold. Use them to add a unique and individualized touch to your brand.
Script fonts – Script fonts have hand-written style, cultivating a more personal feeling. More intricate script fonts can also suggest a more elegant and luxurious brand identity.

No matter which font you choose, the most critical aspect to consider is legibility. Regardless of the specific font you opt to select, consumers should be able to read your brand name easily.

4. Consider Your Colors

Like fonts, the colors you pick help you communicate your brand identity and values better. Distinct colors have been shown to provoke and elicit different emotions in viewers. Using this knowledge, you can choose the right combination of colors to connect with your audience on a deeper level. Some of the most common colors found in logos are:

Red – This is the color of passion, energy, and excitement. Brands looking for a youthful and modern appeal or want to be seen as high-energy should include red in their logo.
Orange – Orange also conveys a happy, optimistic and warm feeling. Brands seeking a more unique but energetic punch may prefer the lighter orange over the intense reds.
Blue – One of the most common logo colors, blue communicates a feeling of trustworthiness, maturity, and responsibility.
Green – Green connects viewers to nature and the natural. This includes feelings of health, growth, serenity, and harmony.
Black – When you need to appear authoritative or demonstrate your brand’s strength and intelligence, black offers an understated but powerful message.

Colors are another valuable component of your company’s visual language, and they communicate your brand’s values. It’s essential to ensure you choose the right combination to present your brand in the best possible light.

5. Make it Scalable

Most importantly, you should remember that while you may design your logo for your website, you’ll use it for much more. Logos are placed on a variety of marketing, sales, and business materials, and assuring that they can be resized without sacrificing their legibility is vital. Logos should always be designed with multiple sizes and scalability in mind to avoid problems in the future. Here are some of the places you may place your logo:

Products and packaging
Business cards
Presentations
Fliers
Marketing collaterals
Gifts
Internal documents
Emails

Conclusion

Your logo is often the first thing people notice when they visit your website. When it comes to designing the perfect mark for your brand, you should always consider your goals and ensure that the elements you choose help you reach them. By focusing on selecting the proper fonts, colors, and logotypes, you can create a powerful logo that highlights your brand’s identity.