5 simple ways to create your own logo

One of the most creative and expressive aspects of your business can be designing your own logo and creating a brand colour palette. It can be a pretty costly process but fortunately there are some more affordable options and ways of harnessing your own inner designer to create something you love! This month ACMM Coach and marketing team member Lauren Howe shares some of her suggestions on how to do this.

I remember when I started my business, one of the very first things I wanted to do was come up with a business name, logo, colour palette and branding style guide. I engaged a very talented graphic designer who supported me in creating branding that reflected me and my offerings beautifully. However many moons later my business evolved and as a result I needed to change my business name and all the branding that came with it! Not being in a position to afford a graphic designer this time around, I gave myself permission to delve into this creative expression myself and here are some tips I learnt along the way:

Discover who you are

Over the years I have learnt that your business is ultimately and ideally a reflection of you and the best way to convey your business to others is to get clear on who you are.

To start with you might like to make a list of all your qualities that make you YOU! It can help to ask your friends and family to send you 3 qualities they would use to describe you. There might be a theme that emerges and this can help you refine your list. Then pick your top 3-5 qualities and think about how you might express this visually through your business.

If you are a whimsical, joyful, loving and optimistic person what colours, fonts and imagery would convey who you are to your clients?

Seek inspiration

Most of us are not graphic designers, and it can be challenging to visualise how colours and images will look when placed together. To help with this I recommend exploring Pinterest and creating a brand board. Pinterest is an image sharing and social media service designed to enable saving and discovery of information on the internet using images in the form of pin boards.

If Pinterest isn’t your thing you can create a mood board using images and colours from magazines,

Some things you might like to add to your board are colour palettes, logo designs, fonts or images you like. As you begin to pin things to your board you might start to notice a visual theme arise and this will help in narrowing down your own colour palette and logo style.

For a colour palette usually having 3-6 colours is a good base.

Get creative

Once you have landed on your colour palette, images and fonts you like it is time to play! There are many mediums you can use to create your logo but my favourite is Canva. Canva is a graphic design platform, used to create social media graphics, presentations, posters, documents and other visual content such as logos! It is pretty simple to use and comes with lots of logo templates to help get you started.

When designing your logo you might want to look back at your Pinterest board for reference and also ask yourself the question “does this logo capture who I am and what I want my audience to know about me?” If not refine and change what you have created. Give yourself permission to experiment and play! This can be a really fun process.

Once you have created your logo you can download it as a jpg and also a png (this gives you a clear background that you can overlay onto images or website banners).

Seek help

If creating your own logo feels daunting or time consuming then I recommend seeking a professional to assist you. You could seek a local graphic designer or even a graphic design student who might offer you their services at a more affordable rate.

Alternatively, there are sites like fiverr and 99designs which have international designers who can create a logo for you at a very reasonable price.

Be willing to change

As meditation teachers we know that change is inevitable! Businesses aren’t stagnant and as it grows and you change as a person, your branding might need to be revised. Be open to revisiting your logo and branding guidelines to ensure that it is still capturing your essence and the purpose of your business.

I hope these tips assist you in your logo design journey and you have some fun along the way!