Choose a Logo for eCommerce 8. Examples and Mistakes to avoid

Whether you're just starting an online business or are considering the possibility of a brand rebranding one of the primary aspects of this process is to create an appealing, high-quality logo that conveys your brand's message. However, before starting to brainstorm your ideas, think about what goes into effective logo design and what type of logo will be the best fit for both your company's brand as well as your prospective clients.

In this article we'll discuss the importance of logos, the different kinds of logos and certain aspects that are practical like best practices for designing logos, the various software choices for creating them, and strategies for outsourcing design.

What is an emblem?

While we could be pedantic on the definition of the word "logo", the phrase is typically used for a clear design made up of images, words, or a combination of both to represent a brand or an organization.

Logos and their importance

The logo you choose to use can allow people to quickly to recognize your brand when viewing your ads and posts on social media platforms, looking through results on search engines and comparing different products on an online marketplace, or purchasing directly from your site.

If you'd like your online business to stand out among your competitors, having a strong logo is vital. There are a lot of online companies competing to attract customers' attention it is essential to have a professional, unique, memorable logo that is a clear representation of your company's brand.

An attractive logo can be instrumental in establishing credibility. Think of your favorite, trusted brands. The logos of their brands are likely to come to your mind. The mere sight of a specific color combination or shape might bring back memories of the image of their brand.

Your logo will be an investment in your brand's development, so invest your time and work to develop one that truly represents your business and speaks directly to the audience you intend to target.

Eight types of logos

Logos usually fall into 8 different kinds:

• Wordmark, logotype
• Brand mark, logomark, or graphic
• Combination mark
• Dynamic logo
• Emblems
• Letterforms
• Lettermark, monogram
• Mascots

Wordmark/logotype

"Wordmark" and "logotype" are generally synonymous and refer to"logotype" and "wordmark". They refer to a design that uses typefaces only typically the company name or part of the name of the business. The logos of these types often employ unique typography that makes the logo unique to the brand.

A renowned and famous examples of a logo with a wordmark is Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola logo can be instantly recognized because of its iconic typography that has changed minimally during the last 130 years. L'oreal and eBay's logos are also examples of logotypes and wordmarks.

Brand mark, logomark, or pictorial

"Brand mark"," "logomark," and "pictorial" are used to describe a graphic component of a logo. It may also use words or letters in the same way, but which does not include the company name. They can be representative, like the apple, bird, and shell marks of Apple, Twitter, and Shell Oil, or they could be more abstract, like those of the Atari and Dropbox marks.

The Atari logo hints at the shape of an A, but it is not actually a letter and the Dropbox logo is an array of carefully placed diamonds to give an abstract appearance of boxes.

Combination mark

A combination mark is your company's name paired with the image-based brand mark. A lot of times, companies will utilize its combination mark for most contexts but also use the wordmark of its brand and independently, depending on the situation.

Dynamic logos

Dynamic logos can be flexible contemporary logos that change their elements according to what a company wants to communicate for a particular use case. Google is probably the most well-known example of this with the Google Doodles. Dynamic logos can be animated, static or even interactive.

Google utilizes all three kinds to work in their Google Doodles series. One thing that remains the same in every Doodle is that the name "Google" appears in some way. All other aspects of the logo can alter.

In the case of most companies, the Google approach may not be a good fit - especially ones just seeking to make a name for themselves. It can be a bit difficult for customers who are looking to see multiple iterations of your logo's design in drastically different styles.

Keep in mind that Google doesn't apply the similar flexibility to all uses of its logo. Google Doodle is a trademark that can only be used on the Google Doodle is specifically used on the Google Search landing page. In other places, they use their official wordmark and brand mark.

If you want to create a dynamic logo, you might think more along the lines of MTV.

In most situations, MTV uses the same logo design, however it uses different color variations and sometimes even includes co-branding alongside other businesses. The logo is still easily identifiable as MTV however the variations in color and pattern can help viewers associate MTV with different concepts like ideology, brand names, and concepts to evoke different emotions and keep them engaged.

Emblems

The word "emblem" refers to a logo design that uses words and images to make an integrated logo. Emblems typically look similar to emblems, badges or emblems. The type of design most often with sports teams, universities as well as automotive firms however, many other businesses use emblems as their emblems. Companies like Starbucks, Warner Bros. and Stella Artois all have emblem logos.

Letterforms

Letterforms utilize the initial letter (or sometimes, the initials of a company to make an easy brand logo. While letterforms are usually simpler than a monogram logo, they can be a monogram, like the image above. New York Yankees letterform/monogram.

Lettermarks/monograms

Monogram or lettermark logos employ an acronym or initials for the company for the entire or a portion of the design. The letters often overlap to form a pattern or can be positioned on the background.

Monograms were first used in ancient Greece to identify coins. They indicated the city it was issued by. Later, they were used as signatures for those who had money and power as well as by craftsmen and artists.

Monogram logos have a lengthy time of history, and are commonly utilized by beauty and fashion brands to convey an element of sophistication and heritage. Monograms, however, aren't solely utilized by these types of industries. Nearly every type of business makes use of monograms. Monograms are a cost-effective and long-lasting approach to design the logo of your choice, and are appropriate for virtually any business.

Mascot logos

Mascot logos use famous characters to represent a business. Lacoste's alligator, Cheetos' Chester Cheetah, Reddit's mascot-like exoplanet Snoo and KFC's Colonel Sanders, and Wendy's character, Wendy Thomas, are some of the famous examples of mascots that are used as part of the corporate logo.

Mascots can highlight a brand character, while making it more casual and likable. They can also be used in creative ways in your advertising. But using a mascot in an image can be a challenge because it is simple to change the character you chose to use (see: Ronald McDonald) but difficult to remove them from the mind of people.

So you'll want to carefully think about your mascot, and be sure it's on-brand and scalable with the direction you intend to take your company.

Seven suggestions for creating an appealing logo

The logo you choose to use is usually the first impression a client has with your business. The logo is important to be recognizable, memorable, and represent your brand image, however there are some established best practices in designing your logo to think about when deciding on your logo.

Just because your logo is attractive and distinctive, it doesn't always equate to good design. Even some of the biggest companies have experienced several unreliable logo launches that led to criticism from the media.

Many businesses adhere to the old saying that "any publicity is good publicity." But, unless your brand is intentionally controversial, you should stick to some tried-and-true techniques to ensure that you don't end in a post on the blog about the worst logo designs of all time.

Keep it simple

It is possible that you have heard of the phrase "less is more" is a term that was coined by minimalist designer Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in 1947. It gets thrown around a lot in corporate jargon and can sometimes be used as an excuse for minimal effort design. However, the concept of "less means more" does not mean to keep things plain and boring.

It's a method of design that is focused on functionality as well as aesthetic. Ultimately, the goal is to use as few elements as are necessary to convey the intended message and supply the required function, while simultaneously creating an aesthetically-pleasing appearance.

It is a crucial element when designing logos because the design should be easy for the viewer to comprehend. It should be possible to place it on backgrounds using diverse textures and colors. make it adaptable to various spaces and aspect ratios, and then use it in many different dimensions without becoming difficult or complicated.

It doesn't mean you must stick to an uncluttered logo or anything else. It can be applied to any style of logo that is traditional, contemporary old-fashioned, retro, or even any new trendy design style.

Make sure that your style reflects your company's image and the target audience

If your business produces vintage or old-fashioned items, you might want to go with a retro-inspired logo design that hearkens back to the era that your company represents.

In particular, Big Chill appliances use a vintage-styled typographic logo that evokes vintage appliance emblems from the 1930s-1960s.

The logo of Trader Joe's has an edgy 1960s vibe as does Ben and Jerry's. The logo has a fun and playful 1970s feel that fits with their brand character. Altoids serif font featuring a gold embossed look on the edges give it an elegant and timeless appearance.

Jack Daniels whiskey has not significantly altered its logo since 1947. It remains quite similar to their early Prohibition-era logo. Unlike brands like Levi Strauss that massively changed their logos over the course of time, Jack Daniels has only made small updates to their logo throughout the years, and has been able to remind people of the brand's extensive time of existence.

If your company is a provider of software as a Service (SaaS) or offers technological-based products, or prefers an identity that is clean minimalist, simple, and contemporary, you might want something more minimalist. The following companies all use sleek, modern designs.

A few of them have logo marks. Others solely type-based, and employ unique letterforms to convey their message, whereas other designs have badges or emblem-like look.

If the shop you're running is geared toward niche demographics it is important to choose a logo that will resonate with that group of customers. If it's food that is organic or toys, comics, women's apparel, or hunting gear, you can create a powerful, targeted logo that doesn't stray into the territory of childish and cute.

Some examples of niche audience logos include Walt's Comic Shop, Nelson Rare Books, KiwiCo, and Chewy.

Walt's Comic Shop makes use of a mascot style design however uses simplified lines and a two-color palette along with a clean, sans-serif font. The design is fun and evokes the industry, but it's not cartoonish, and graphic elements and typography can be used together or independently.

Nelson Rare Books uses an elaborate illuminated initial on their logo. This is similar to what could be found at the opening chapter from an antique book. Contrasting with the embellished serif initial, they utilize an uncluttered, broad sans-serif font for the uppercase letters of their company name. This provides visual balance and reflects the essence of their brand's identity as both the seller of rare and antique books, and a shop that uses the latest technology and systems for organization.

KiwiCo delivers science and art kits for kids as a subscription service. They've picked a modern and clean logo, but made it playful with their kiwi mascot, and chunky serif font. The logo's simplicity will allow them to expand their brand in different directions without having to change the logo every time they decide to do so.

Chewy is a pet product delivery service for pet owners. It is evident that their logo isn't comprised of any images and is only type-based. The font is a round sans-serif type treatment that is mixed up, giving it the fun-loving look we usually associate with animals.

Use clip art only.

If you think that you could choose a logo from a clip art free website, you need to think twice. Technically, you are able to apply clip art to your logo if you'd like, but the chances are lots of other businesses have already employed this technique. It is possible that people will recognize it and confuse it with another brand's logo or could give an unprofessional appearance.

Also, not all clip art is publicly available. Simply because you can find it on the web isn't a guarantee that it's available to download. You don't want to be the target of legal action!

However, this doesn't mean that you cannot make use of a graphic that has been designed by a professional as the basis of your branding. It is possible to use royalty-free images from image marketplaces, such as IStock Photos and Creative Market which are where you can get higher-quality ready-made graphic elements to use for your logos or entirely-designed logos, where all you have to do is replace the placeholder in the design with the name of your business.

If you do employ a pre-designed component in your logo, keep an eye out for other logos that may be using that exact identical element on their own logos too. Make sure that you're using the appropriate license to your intended purpose. Some stock image sites have several types of licenses available for purchase for different uses, like printing, web and editorial use.

Avoid overused and cliche designs and fonts

Searching for "worst logo fonts" and "worst logo design" should give you some tips on how to avoid. You should ensure sure your image elements and fonts are not employed by any other company. In addition to helping keep your brand from being confused, but it also will push you toward a more creative and original design that you can be proud of.

There's no wrong option to utilize a popular logo or symbol in your logo design when it's appropriate to your business. Veterinarian logos are an excellent illustration of this. Do you know how many vets utilize a combination of either cats or dogs or paw print an medical + symbol and a heart?

Perhaps the majority. However, that doesn't mean that you're banned from using that type of imagery but it does mean it's more difficult to create an original idea while using the same topics.

Here are some excellent examples of common logo image selections that have been well executed:

For Aurora Veterinary Hospital, the designer employed a limited palette, with an almost abstract image of the dog... or perhaps it's an animal. It's vague enough to represent both species. It's charming without becoming cartoonish. It's contemporary, sleek, and easy to read. It also has an unique representation of the theme of dog and cat in the logo of veterinary medicine.

Advanced Vet Care Center's logo is extremely creative, pointing towards a tail-like cat, and using the typical medical + symbol to make the form of the letter A for "Advanced." This is an upscale logo that is still speaking to the industry that they are representing. The logo is a completely different one than Aurora the Veterinary Hospital's logo. It's much more abstract and minimalist while making use of typical themes.

Creating your own font, or modifying a font's appearance significantly to suit your brand image, is a good way to create an effective and unique logo. But, if the design of typography and graphic design are not your primary background in, then you'll need to read up on the basics of typography before you start working to create custom fonts or changing existing fonts.

Don't go overboard on color or visual effects

Limit yourself to a maximum of four color choices. If the logo you are designing requires over four color options, you should try to limit the colors to only one element of the logo.

In this case, for instance for instance, the NBC logo features a rainbow theme for their peacock symbol, but their font is black. Every element can be see on its own. The solid colors and minimal number of shapes keep the peacock element readable despite using a rainbow of shades.

If you begin using different colors for each letter, the logo begins to fade in the impact. If you add rainbow gradients, drop shadows and glow effects it starts to look pretty chaotic. The effect is certainly original, however it's a bit painful to look at.

Be sure that your design is easily readable on all devices.

For an ecommerce store You'll want to ensure that the logo you choose to use looks fantastic and is easy to read on your site particularly on mobile. However, you should make sure it looks good when printed, is able to translate effectively to horizontal and vertical layouts and has colors that are different for texture and colors for your background.

Don't squish or distort the dimensions of your logo in order to fit a particular area. You can rearrange your logo elements, or make it smaller or larger while keeping its proportions, but stretching or squeezing the logo can make it less easy to read and less professional.

Utilize a vector-based design software to design your own logo

Two types of images that you can make using design software: the raster and vector. Vector images are created by mathematical formulas that permit them to be scaled without losing quality or becoming distortion-prone.

Raster images On the other hand comprise the same number of pixels. Once you scale the image, you can't scale it upwards without loosing image quality or distorting the image in some manner.

As your logo is likely to be utilized in a range of sizes and in a variety of situations on your marketing material, you'll want to make certain that the logo is able to grow without losing its quality. The use of a vector layout lets you edit your logo later easy and allows you to maintain the image's quality regardless of the number of times you reduce or expand the size of the logo.

It is recommended to save copies of your logo in multiple vector (ai, pdf, eps) file formats as and export high-resolution raster file formats (png TIFF, jpg, etc.)) as well as lower-resolution web-optimized files like webp.

Are you interested in knowing more about logo file types? The Mean Creative has a useful checklist.

Logo design software

Do you need the best program to design a stunning logo? There are so many choices out there, it's tough to know where to start. If you already have some graphics design expertise, you might want to utilize a computer or online design software that gives you complete freedom to create your company logo.

If you do not have any design experience, you might want use an online program for creating logos. If you aren't able to create a logo that is the exact image you're after this could serve as a great start if you do decide to hire an artist.

If the logo you've created matches what you want however, it still requires a few adjustments, you can save money by giving the designer you hired to create your logo which is 90% of what you'd like it but just needs a few small modifications.

Online and desktop design software options

    Adobe Illustrator  

• Pros:Illustrator is an industry leading vector design software. Desktop and iPad/Surface Pro versions are offered and feature-rich.
• Con:Illustrator uses a subscription-only model for its software, meaning that there will be a monthly cost. The software can come with a significant level of learning, and it's not recommended for those planning to complete a large amount of graphic design.

    CorelDraw  

• Pros:It offers a one-time purchase option, in addition to an option to subscribe. There's also a less expensive Corel Vector online software with a free 15-day trial.
• Cons:The one-time purchase price is over $500 and the online vector software is a strictly a subscription. Similar to Illustrator it is a learning curve that is a bit intimidating for those who are new to the field. In addition CorelDraw iPad app CorelDraw iPad app has an average 1 1/2-star score on the Apple App Store.

    Canva  

• Benefits There is a no-cost account so that you can make a logo or others designs for free. Canva offers the option of creating a logo in case you find you're not happy by your design work. Canva is a hugely loved and popular design software that simplifies the process that is suitable for non-designers as well as creative professionals, and you can rest assured it's well-supported with regular updates and enhancements. The program also provides free access to a selection of stock photos of Getty as well as other content providers.
• Pros: Premium content and features are gated for users that have paid accounts. It is a software that can only be used online. Searching of stock images, particularly, is a little clunky and may be challenging to pinpoint the exact image you're looking for.

    Vectr  

• Advantages Vector is a basic, free vector design program that's easy to use.
• Pros:It's online only and could be not enough simple, depending upon the kind of work in design you'd like to accomplish. It also runs ads within the program, which could be annoying.

Online logo creators

In addition to Canva's feature to create logos, which we discussed earlier and online, there's also a software that focuses exclusively on the creation of logos using automated technology.

Checka as well as Smashing Logo Both offer low-cost customized logo creation tools. You can create for free the number of logos that you want, but in order to download vector images or brand templates then you'll have to purchase the premium level.

Online logo creation software can be a great method of locating an appropriate logo to do work for you at an affordable cost, but you're not always guaranteed to receive the logo you want. Because these platforms allow you to play around with them They can at the very least assist you in thinking about design direction, consider the things you like and don't want, and take that concept to a graphic artist or agency as a starting base.

Outsourcing logo design

Are you not interested in creating your own logo, or making iterations using a logo creation program? Sometimes it's just better to get a professional from the get-go.

Employing a designer who is a freelancer or a company to design your logo can be a wise investment in the long-term success of your company. Professional designers will bring ideas that you would not otherwise have considered. They will be able to handle creating all necessary files and designs.

It's important to be aware of the possible risks associated with outsourcing logo design. It is important to choose a designer with expertise in creating logos for businesses in your industry, positive reviews from other clients, and who can stay within your budget.

There are some who have had success finding freelance designers through online marketplaces such as Fiverr and Upwork. Some prefer working with someone who is local or has been referred through a relative and/or colleague or the your local chamber of commerce. All of these are perfectly acceptable avenues to pursue in the search for a designer with.

As a client, you'll also need to make sure that you're prepared to collaborate with a professional. You'll want to do an investigation into logos that you like, and think about what you want to achieve with your logo, and then be able to define your goals.

Designers work best when given the right guidelines and a bit of creative flexibility for their designs. If you're not flexible enough in what you'd like your design to look like, or you're too vague the result could be an unsatisfactory logo. your requirements.

In the end, forming your logo in conjunction with your graphic designer is like a conversation that you can go around a couple of times on sketches before you arrive at a design which is just right.

Put your logo to work

If you've got some guidelines for designing your logo that you can refer to, it's time to start creating and get your logo the test. Study other logos. Create a brand colors and general idea.

Then, decide whether you want to create your logo yourself, use an application to create logos or employ an experienced designer. Once you have a logo you like, make sure that you've got all the appropriate formats for your web site and print and start implementing the logo on your site, social media, advertising channels and even products.

It's also an excellent idea to review your logo carefully and run it past some trusted sources for feedback before the logo goes live. Remember, your logo is an image of your business. It's possible that you won't reach a majority of opinion on whether your logo of choice is excellent design, however you can at least prevent the most obvious issues that could make it into blog posts on the worst logo designs of all time.

It can be difficult to design a logo However, with careful planning, research, and the right designer or design tools to create a beautiful, impactful logo that represents your brand that inspires trust and confidence among your customers.