3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before DIY’ing Your Logo
So, you know you want to start your own business. You’ve come up with the perfect business name and written out your business plan: now you need a logo and branding! Because you’re in the beginning stages of your business and can’t drop $1,000 on a professionally-designed logo, you start the process of designing one yourself.
You open up Pinterest and start looking for inspiration, pin a few things you like, and then hop on over to Canva to start designing your logo. You play around with a few concepts until you finally land on something decent. You think, “I guess this’ll do for now.” Then, you upload your logo to your social media profiles, add it to your email signature, and start thinking about ordering business cards. Sounds good, right?
Except you’ve missed a step.
You didn’t think about the strategy behind your logo.
See, your brand is way more than just your logo. A brand is about the feeling your customers get when they see your website or Instagram profile for the first time. It’s about building a relationship with your target audience, and speaking to them in a way that truly resonates with them.
How do you know if you’re sending the right messages when you haven’t taken the time to define who you’re talking to and what you want to say to them?
See, every good logo takes careful thought and consideration; so, before jumping right into the design phase, ask yourself these questions first.
1. Who is my ideal customer?
Getting into the nitty-gritty of exactly whom you are targeting with your product or service is crucial before you even start to think about designing a brand identity. Who is your ideal customer? Where do they live and work? Where do they shop? What shows do they watch? What are their main pain points? Be as specific as possible here: you want to know your audience like the back of your hand.
2. If I could describe my brand in one sentence, what would it be?
You need to refine your main message before you start talking to people! A great way to start is by creating a simple but powerful tagline for your brand that clearly tells your audience what exactly you do. Your tagline should answer the following questions, in no particular order:
What do you do?
Who do you serve?
Where are you located? (This doesn’t apply if you’re an online-based business who can serve anyone, anywhere!)
How do you help people improve their lives?
Write out the answers to these questions and organize them into a clear and concise sentence. Here are two tagline formulas to help you get started, but play around with your words until you craft your perfect tagline!
Tagline formula for product-based businesses:
(My/Our) [insert product] help [insert who you help] in [insert your location if applicable] [insert how you help them] so they can [insert how you improve their lives].
Example: Our intuitive website templates help creative entrepreneurs launch their websites quickly so they can get back to doing what they love.
Tagline formula for service-based businesses:
(I/We) (am/are [insert what you do] in [insert your location if applicable] who helps [insert who you help] [insert who you help them].
Example: I am a hairstylist in Knoxville, TN who helps badass women fall in love with their hair.
Got it?
Good! Now blast this everywhere (i.e. your website and your social media bios) so people know exactly what you do and who you do it for!
3. How do I want my brand to look and feel?
Put yourself in the shoes of your ideal customer. Imagine seeing your logo and website for the first time. How do you want them to feel when they interact with your brand? What is the first impression you want to make?
It helps to identify three to five keywords that you want to pop into your customers’ heads when they see your brand. This will help you immensely when you start thinking about colors and dreaming up logo ideas!
Feeling stuck coming up with your words? Here’s a list of adjectives to pull from!
Adorable
Approachable
Authentic
Balanced
Bold
Brave
Calm
Casual
Cheerful
Classic
Confident
Cultured
Delightful
Delicate
Down-to-earth
Dynamic
Earthy
Efficient
Elevated
Exuberant
Faithful
Playful
Familiar
Feminine
Fresh
Friendly
Generous
Gentle
Graceful
Helpful
Honest
Joyful
Lovely
Luxe
Mature
Minimalist
Modern
Natural
Nice
Original
Organic
Peaceful
Pleasant
Powerful
Quiet
Relaxing
Romantic
Sincere
Sophisticated
Spiritual
Supportive
Tailored
Tasteful
Thoughtful
Timeless
Unique
Vibrant
Vintage
Warm
Welcoming
Witty
Whimsical
Youthful
Now, use your adjectives, tagline, and target audience to inform your design decisions!
Time to head to Pinterest and create your mood board! You want to be highly selective with the images you choose to pin. Before adding a pin to your board, ask yourself if it aligns with your brand adjectives and whether or not it’s something your ideal customer will be attracted to.
Try to take your own personal style out of the equation: unless you are your own ideal customer, the things your audience will align with are probably different than what you personally align with! Always ask yourself, “Is this pin for my ideal customer, or is it for me?”
When you’re done, take a look at your Pinterest board. What colors are you seeing? What common visual styles are appearing?
With your Pinterest board in a separate tab (or printed out), define a palette of three to five colors to represent your brand. Use these colors to help you design your logo!
By asking yourself these questions and walking through these steps before you start designing your brand’s visual identity, you can ensure that you’re designing for your ideal customer instead of designing for you. Happy designing!
After you’ve finished your logo and picked out your colors and fonts, it’s a good idea to gather it all up into one document that you can reference whenever you need to! Grab my free brand style guide Canva template to create one for yourself!
[Insert email opt-in form and pic of brand style guide]
Important note: While you absolutely can DIY your logo and branding in the beginning stages of your business, this is not meant to be a long-term strategy. When the time comes and you can afford it, invest in a professional to design your dream brand identity! It’s so worth it!
