How a logo design checklist can help your business start-up's brand identity

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When I first started my business I had a completely different name. I tried to make everything as simple as possible so I could get started on my small business. I was ready to make some money.

I used the same colors as a website design theme I wanted to incorporate for my brand. The colors were bright and the fonts fun while still being serious enough for my brand concept.

I was so naive.

I quickly got tired of the bright colors and didn’t think the font fit my business persona. I was constantly changing things and couldn’t keep many things straight. I had developed my brand identity, not well but it was created, and I was hoping to get over the sense of imposter syndrome.

After talking with my business mentor and paying for a client-coach, I took another month or more developing a brand identity that reflected my clients and my values for my business start-up.

It wasn’t an easy fix but it’s been one that I’ve been able to confidently put myself behind. I took the time to invest and develop my brand and logo design rather than creating a band-aid type logo design.

Logo designs can be tricky to nail if you’re trying to do it yourself. You might know you really like a certain font or have your brand colors picked out, even a name to go with them.

If you’re certain you want to create a logo design yourself, try to understand some of these points to create a memorable and functional logo design for your business start-up in this logo design checklist.

Logo Design Checklist Tip #1: Readable

One of the most difficult concepts I come across for new logo designers or business start-ups hoping to complete a do-it-yourself logo design is when a logo is unreadable. It can be for a number of reasons: tricky font choices, abstract concepts, poor color combinations, etc. but it remains one of the most common trip-ups.

Many issues I find with unreadable logo designs are wanting to incorporate ‘cool’ elements into a design that is impractical. You might find a fancy script font or fun color elements, even gradients, that you want to incorporate into your brand, but that won’t lead to readable logo design.

Make sure to give your logo to others, whether that be family or random people on Facebook, so your logo design has a chance to be read and critiqued by others.

Logo Design Checklist Tip #2: Adaptable

You should have a few logo design alternatives once you are able to solidify your primary logo design. Your primary logo design should be able to be adaptable to your logo design alternatives fairly easily. The design might change a bit, but it should remain consistent throughout the different designs.

Your primary logo design should be easily adaptable to various color selections. You should be able to adapt your logo design into white, black, one-solid color, and a reverse-text option if you are able.

Your logo designs should be able to adapt to various colors within your color schemes in your brand identity. Check each of your logo design alternatives to determine which are best suited with the others. You should have a complete list of which colors work with each logo design after running through all of them.

Logo Design Checklist Tip #3: Identifiable

Even as an abstract idea, you should make your logo design identifiable with your brand identity. You don’t have to make it obvious or hit your customer over the head with it, but make your logo design identify with your brand identity.

You might be a bit confused with what I mean by this. Even if your logo design is abstract, make it flow with the style and the aesthetic of your brand (such as bp). If you have softer colors in your brand identity’s color palette, a strong and bold abstract logo design will not go with your brand identity. You’ll want a logo design that is cohesive and corresponds to the feeling of your brand identity.

Also, if there’s a clearly stated reference to something in your brand identity name, take an animal, for example, be sure to have a clear depiction of that animal, if you use one, in your logo design. It can still be an abstract concept but make sure those references are clearly identifiable in your logo.

Logo Design Checklist Tip #4: Relatable

Remember your audience when you develop a relatable logo design for your small business. Your ideal client probably embodies similar and certain characteristics that relate them to your company. You’ll want to make your logo design relate to those people, whether you want an edgy or softer aesthetic.

Your business should revolve around your ideal client, not the product you’re trying to sell. The same should be reflected in your logo design.

Similar to many brands today, you’ll want to show your brand as a leading entity that helps your client improve their life.

The best example that helps their clients relate to a product is Nike, which wants to improve the physical endurance of their client’s through their sportswear. Their logo design reflects their ideals by remaining simple and modern throughout their brand.

Logo Design Checklist Tip #5: Timeless

One of the best logo designs that remind me of timelessness is the Coca-Cola brand. Throughout time, Coca-Cola remains unchanged throughout its ad campaigns.

Not all brands are so lucky, like its competitor Pepsi. They continuously have to change and reshape certain elements of their brand to fit its updated logo design. A new logo design doesn’t have to mean a total overhaul of a brand’s identity but it usually means a new modernized version to appeal to younger generations, which tends to change its ideals over time.

Avoid certain trends that might influence your logo design to cause you to redesign your logo in a few years. You might remember Apple’s old logo design that used 3D rendering on its apple icon, but it had to be modernized a few years later to update its newer generation market. Some of the best logo designs never have to be updated, but most good logo designs really only have to be updated every few decades.

As usual, there are plenty of other logo design tips that can be offered, but this is a good starting point for new logo designers or DIY business owners who are looking to invest in other aspects of their small business. If you need help creating a communicable logo design to your clients, take a look at my portfolio to see if my style could help your business start-up appeal to your clients.

Want your own logo design checklist? Download the free checklist in my resources tab!

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