I am getting ready to do some logo re-designs for current and future web projects and the first thing I am starting with is my personal logo. What makes a succesful logo? How can a logo help brand your company or blog? There are a lot of critical steps involved in designing a logo and with those steps come a great deal of questions to consider before designing one. The bottom line is you need to do a great deal of research and brainstorming before starting. Read further as I go into basic strategies and list some excellent resources you can get started with.
Everything should start on paper first (consider graphing paper). But even before this step you need to contemplate what your overall brand or identiy is. Think of some of the categories that your entity might fall under. Think of your potential customers or readers and consider a color scheme. Check out 6 Amazing Color Pallette Tools for designers. It is a complte list with links to tons of free ways to gain an edge on color schemes.
After you have some thumbnails generated on paper you can use Adobe Illustrator to draw and vector your logo so that it can be re-sized without any loss of quality. These are all basic strategies you need to think about if you decide to create your own logo. Check out the logo resources I have collected for you below, they will help give you inspiration:
1.) David Airey-Graphic Designer and brand identity designer: I am a huge fan of David Airey because of his attention to detail and amazing talent. He has a great blog and details all of his projects in great depth. David has done work for major companies around the world and has a huge following of designers from around the world. My favorite part of his blog is the design process. For every logo he creates he has a detailed design process that he posts on his blog detailing all the steps involved. This is great for gaining insight into the whole logo design process.
2.) 12 frequent logo design mistakes to avoid: Logoblog is an excellent blog on logo design. This article discuses some keys to logo design like making it simple, memorable, inviting, and exciting. It also goes into detail on sketching ideas on paper and provides some great examples of popular logos used by small companies and large corporations. There is even a link to a free logo generator but that takes the fun out of it if your designing one yourself 
3.) 94 useful logo design resources: LogoDesignLove is another great blog for logo design information. This article is huge and has links to just about every aspect of logo design you can imagine.
4.) 105+ Logo Design Tutus And Resources: This article covers what makes a GREAT logo, logo trends, inspration, web 2.0 logos, evolution of logos, and what makes a good logo a good logo. Another great resource for logo design.
5.) Creattica: This is a great website that has a lot more than just a list of logos. You can also browser photos, posters, business cars, css, flash, and other design stuff. I added this to the list because it has a great deal of logo inspiration. If anything use this to gain an idea of what is out there.
I hope this will get you started on your way to creating a successful logo. I will actually be using the above information to help design a personal logo for myself here at natdevore.com. I plan to post this process once it is completed.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Nat, thanks for the compliment, and for mentioning a couple of my blogs. Very glad you’ve found something of use on them.
All the best.
Thanks for the comment David. Again your work is a great inspiration!
Best regards, Nat.