Choose a Logo to use for Ecommerce: 8 Examples + Common Mistakes to Avoid
If you're starting your first online business or are considering a rebrand, one of the most crucial aspects of the process is establishing a high-quality, eye-catching logo that conveys your brand's message. But before you start brainstorming your ideas, think about what goes into your logo's design, and also what logo style will be most appropriate for your brand and your target clients.
In this post we'll look at why logos are important, the eight kinds of logos and some practical considerations such as the best methods for creating logos, software options to create them, as well as strategies for outsourcing design.
What is a logo?
We could get nitpicky regarding the concept of "logo", the term is used most often for a clear graphic made of images, words, or any combination of the two to represent a brand or organization.
The importance of logos
The logo you choose to use can allow people to quickly and easily identify your company's brand, whether viewing your ads and posts on social media, browsing search engine results or comparing items on the online marketplace, or purchasing directly from your site.
If you'd like your online business to stand out among the competition, having the right logo is crucial. There are many online businesses competing for attention from customers You'll need to choose an impressive, distinctive, memorable logo that is a clear representation of your company's brand.
An attractive logo can be instrumental in establishing credibility. Consider your most loved brand names that you trust. Their logos probably immediately come to mind. The mere sight of a specific design or color might evoke an image.
The logo you choose to use is an investment in the brand's growth, so make sure you take time and energy to create a logo that communicates your company's image and appeals to your target audience.
There are eight types of logos
Logos usually fall into eight different types:
- Wordmarks, logotypes,
- 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 a design that uses typefaces only typically the company name or part of the company's name. The logos of these types often employ unique typography that makes the logo distinctive for the particular brand.
A renowned and famous examples of a wordmark logo is Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola logo instantly stands out, thanks to its iconic typography that has changed minimally over the last 130 years. L'oreal as well as eBay's logos are other examples of wordmarks or logotypes.
Brand mark, logomark or pictorial
"Brand mark," "logomark," and "pictorial" are terms used to describe a graphic component of a logo. It can also contain words or letters in the same way, but which does not include the company name. These marks can be symbolic, like the apple, bird, and shell marks of Apple, Twitter, and Shell Oil, or they can be more abstract like those of the Atari and Dropbox marks.
The Atari logo hints at an A-shape, without being an actual letter. The Dropbox brand mark uses the strategically-placed diamonds to give an abstract box appearance.
The combination mark
A combination mark is your company's name paired with the image-based brand mark. Often a company will use the combination mark for all contexts but also use its brand mark and wordmark independently, depending on the situation.
Dynamic logos
Dynamic logos are flexible modern logos whose elements change depending on what the branding wants to portray in a specific use. Google is perhaps the most famous example of this with the Google Doodles. Logos that are dynamic can be static, animated, or interactive.
Google uses all three of them into use in their Google Doodles series. One thing that remains the same in each Doodle is that the logo "Google" is featured in a specific way. All other aspects of the logo can be altered.
In the case of most companies, the Google strategy could not be the ideal fit - especially ones just trying to get established. It may be confusing for potential customers to see multiple iterations of the logo you've created with completely different designs.
Be aware that Google doesn't apply the kind of flexibility in the various uses for its logo. Google Doodle is a trademark that can only be used on the Google Doodle is specifically used for the Google Search landing page. In other places, they use their official wordmark and brand mark.
If you want to create an exciting logo, be thinking about something more like the style of MTV.
In the majority of use instances, MTV uses the same shape of logo, but uses different color variations and sometimes may even include co-branding with different companies. Its logo remains easily identifiable as MTV however the variations in color and pattern could help people associate MTV with different concepts such as ideology, brands, or even concepts to evoke different emotions and continually re-engage viewers.
Emblems
The word "emblem" is a reference to a logo design that uses images and letters to form an integral, single logo. Emblems are often reminiscent of emblems, badges or crests. This kind of style most frequently in university teams, sports teams as well as automotive firms however, many other businesses use emblems as their emblems. Businesses such as Starbucks, Warner Bros., and Stella Artois all have emblem logos.
Letterforms
The letterforms are the first letters and sometimes the initials of a brand, to form an easy brand logo. While letterforms are usually simpler than a monogram logo the letterform could also be monogram, as in the one above. New York Yankees letterform/monogram.
Lettermarks/monograms
Logos with monograms or letters use the initials of the business or acronym for the entire or a portion of the design. Sometimes, the letters are overlapping to form a pattern or may be inset onto the background.
Monograms were initially used in ancient Greece to identify coins. They indicated the city the coins were issued by. Later, they were used as the signature of those with the most power and wealth, as well as by artisans and artists.
Monogram logos have a lengthy history and are often employed by beauty and fashion brands to express a sense of elegance and heritage. But monograms are not exclusively utilized by these types of industries. Just about every category of business has made the use of monograms. They're an efficient and space-saving way to create an identity, and they're appropriate for virtually any business.
Mascot logos
Mascot logos make use of famous characters to represent a corporate brand. The alligator from Lacoste, Cheetos' Chester Cheetah, Reddit's stylized creature Snoo, KFC's Colonel Sanders, and Wendy's hero, Wendy Thomas, are the most well-known examples of mascots that are used as part of the corporate logo.
Mascots are a great way to highlight a brand's persona, making the brand more relatable and casual. They can also be used as creative elements in your marketing. But using a mascot in an image can be a challenge as it can be easy to outgrow the persona of your choice (see: Ronald McDonald) However, it can be difficult to remove them from the minds of the public.
Therefore, you'll need to take time to think about your mascot, and be sure it's on-brand and scalable with the direction you intend to take your company.
Seven ideas for designing an effective logo
The logo you choose to use is usually the first impression a client has with your business. We've already established it is important to be recognizable, memorable as well as represent your brand image, however there are some proven best practices for designing your logo to take into consideration when selecting a logo.
Just because your logo is attractive and distinctive, it doesn't always equate to good design. Some of the most renowned names have seen several unreliable logo launches that led to negativity in the media.
Certain businesses rely on the old saying that "any publicity is good publicity." However, unless your company's name is controversial, you'll want to follow a few tried and true design tips to avoid ending in a post on the blog on the most sloppy logo designs of all time.
Make it easy
There's a chance you've heard the expression "less is better" is a term that was coined by minimalist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in 1947. It gets thrown around often in the jargon of corporate communications and may be used as an excuse for low-effort design work. The idea behind "less can be more" should not be used to make things plain and boring.
It's a philosophy that values both aesthetic and function. 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.
This principle is very important in logo design because you want your design to be simple for viewers to grasp. The design should allow you to place it on backgrounds using different colors and textures, configure it for different spaces and aspect ratios, and use it in a variety of sizes without it becoming difficult or complicated.
This philosophy doesn't mean that you must stick to an uncluttered logo or anything else. It can be applied to any type of logo that is traditional, contemporary and vintage or any style that's trendy or modern.
Use a style that reflects your brand as well as your intended public
If you run a business that makes antique or old-fashioned items You might wish to go with an old-fashioned logo that is reminiscent of the time that your company represents.
For instance, Big Chill appliances use the look of a typographic style which evokes the look of vintage appliances that date back to the 1930s and 1960s.
The logo of Trader Joe's has an edgy 1960s vibe, and Ben and Jerry's has a fun and playful 1970s feel that fits with the brand's style. Altoids serif font that has a gold embossed design along the edges provides it with an old-fashioned and classic style.
Jack Daniels whiskey has not substantially changed their brand logo since 1947. It is still like its pre-Prohibition era logo. Contrary to brands like Levi Strauss that massively changed their branding identities throughout the years, Jack Daniels has only minor changes to their logo throughout time, bringing back to customers of their brand's lengthy history.
If you're a business that sells software as a service (SaaS) and offers tech-based products, or would prefer an identity that is clean, uncomplicated, and modern it's possible you'd like something more minimalist. These companies use contemporary, minimalist design.
Certain of them incorporate logo marks. Others are purely type-based and use distinctive letterforms that represent their identity, while some have badges or emblem-style appearance.
If the shop you're running has a focus on niche customers it is important to choose a logo that will resonate with the target customer base. If it's food that is organic and toys, comic books, toy stores, women's apparel, or hunting gear, you can achieve an effective, genre-targeted logo that doesn't stray into the realm of childish or cheesy.
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 cartoon-like design, but makes use of simplified lines as well as a two-color palette along with the clean sans serif font. The design is fun and evokes the business, however it's not overly cartoonish. the graphic and typography elements work well both together and in isolation.
Nelson Rare Books uses an intricate illuminated initial in their logo, like what you might find in the first chapter from an antique book. Contrasting with the embellished serif initial, they use an uncluttered, broad sans-serif font that is used in every uppercase letter for the company's name. This creates a sense of balance visually and conveys the brand's image as a seller of rare or antique books and the shop is built on modern technology and organizational systems.
KiwiCo provides science and art kits to children through the basis of a subscription. They've picked a modern and clean logo, but kept it a little playful by using a kiwi-themed mascot as well as a the serif font that is chunky. The logo's simplicity allows them to grow their business in various directions without having alter the logo whenever they need to.
Chewy is a pet product delivery service for pet owners. Their logo doesn't contain any imagery and only uses type. They've used a rounded sans-serif design that's been jumbled, lending it a playful look that is often associated with pets.
Don't use clip art
If you think you can choose a logo off a free clip art website, think twice. Technically, you could make use of clip art whenever you'd like. However, chances are lots of other companies have used this technique. People may recognize it and think it is a different business' logo or it may simply give an amateur appearance.
Additionally, not every clip art works are in the public domain. Just because you find it on the web isn't a guarantee that it's available to download. You don't want to be the target of a lawsuit!
This doesn't mean you can't utilize a design that was already created to use as an element of your brand's logo. You can find royalty-free photo marketplaces like iStock Photo and Creative Market that you can find higher-quality, ready-made graphic elements to use to use for logos, or completely-designed logos where all you need to do is substitute the placeholder on the design with the name of your business.
If you are able to employ a pre-designed component within your logo, bear in mind that other people could be using the same element in theirs as well. Be sure to use the right license for the purpose you intend to use it for. Certain stock image websites have several types of licenses available for purchase for different purposes, such as print, online, or editorial usage.
Do not use cliche or overused designs and fonts
A search of "worst Logo fonts" as well as "worst logo designs" will give you a few tips on how to avoid. However, you must also ensure sure that the elements of your design and typography are not being employed by any other company. This will not only help to avoid confusion between brands, but it can also help push you toward a more innovative and unique design is something you are proud of.
It's never a bad choice to use a common symbol or image for your logo's design if you can relate it to your particular industry. The logos for veterinarians are a wonderful illustration of this. How many veterinarians use some combination of either a dog or cat, a paw print, a medical + symbol, and a heart?
Most likely. It doesn't mean you're banned from using this kind of image - it's just means it's a lot more challenging to think of some thing unique using standard subjects.
Here are some great examples of common logo image options that are well-executed:
To design Aurora Veterinary Hospital, the artist used a simple palette with a somewhat abstract image of dogs... perhaps it's a cat. It's just wide enough to be able to convey the two animals. It's cute without being cartoonish. It's clean, modern and simple to read, while being an unique interpretation of the common theme of dog and cat in the logo of veterinary medicine.
Advanced Veterinary Care Center's logo is extremely creative, pointing towards a tail-like cat, as well as using the standard medical + symbol to make the shape of the letter"A" for "Advanced." The logo is symbolic of a corporate image, but communicating to the business they represent. It's a very different interpretation that Aurora the logo of Veterinary Hospital. It's more abstract and minimalist while nevertheless utilizing the most common designs.
The creation of your own typeface, or altering a font's look substantially to fit your company's identity, can be an effective method of creating an original and powerful logo. If the design of typography and graphic design are not something that you have a background in, you'll want to study the basics of typography before beginning work to create custom fonts or modifying existing ones.
Be careful not to go overboard with color or visual effects
Try to limit yourself only to a minimum of four color choices. If the logo you are designing requires more than four colors, you should try not to exceed the color limit of one graphic element in the logo.
In this case, for instance, the NBC logo has a rainbow theme for their peacock symbol, but the text on their logo is black. Every element can be read on its own. Solid colors and a small amount of geometric shapes make the peacock's element in view despite using a rainbow of shades.
But, when you begin using different colors for each alphabet, the logo will begin to lose impact. Going further by applying drop shadows, rainbow gradients and glow effects the logo begins to appear chaotic. This is definitely unique, however it's pretty painful to look at.
Make sure your design is clear in all applications
When you're setting up an e-commerce site it is essential to make sure that your logo looks great and can be easy to read on your site particularly on mobile. But you'll also want to be sure that your logo looks great when printed, is able to translate easily to horizontal as well as vertical layouts, and also includes the color options for various backgrounds and textures.
Be careful not to distort or squish the aspect ratio of your logo in order to accommodate a certain area. You can rearrange your logo elements or make it smaller or larger while keeping the proportions of its appearance, however expanding or squashing your logo's design will cause it to be harder to read and less professional.
Utilize a vector-based design software for creating your own logo
There are two different types of images that you are able to develop using design software, vector and raster. Images that are vector-based are created using mathematical formulas which permit them to be scaled without losing quality or becoming distortion-prone.
Images in the form of raster, on the other hand they are composed of the same amount of pixels. Once you scale your image down, you can't scale it to the same size without losing quality or altering the image in some manner.
As your logo is likely to be employed in a wide range of sizes and in a variety of situations across your marketing materials You'll need to be certain that the logo is able to scale without losing the quality. Using a vector layout allows you to edit your logo in the future more simple and also helps preserve the image quality regardless of how often you reduce or expand the size of your logo.
Also, you should save versions of your logo in multiple vector (ai pdf, eps) file formats as and export high-resolution raster formats (png TIFF, jpg, etc.)) as well as lower-resolution web-optimized file formats like webp.
Want to know more about the different types of logo files? The Mean Creative has the handy cheat sheet.
Logo design software
Do you need the best software to create an awesome logo? With the many options available there, it can be tough to know what to do. If you already have some knowledge of graphic design it is possible to make use of a desktop or online design software that gives you complete freedom in creating your own logo.
If you're not a design background it's possible use an online design software. Even if you can't find a solution that's precisely what you're seeking It could prove to serve as a great starting point if you choose to employ a graphic designer.
If the logo you've created is close to the style you'd like however, it still requires some minor tweaks, you could make money by offering your freelance logo designer something that is 90% what you want it to be but just needs a few small changes.
Desktop and online design software options
- ProfessionalsIllustrator has become an industry leader in vector design software. Desktop and iPad/Surface Pro versions are both available, and the software is feature-rich.
- Con:Illustrator uses a subscription-only system, which means there will be a monthly cost. The software can come with a significant rate of learning, which means it's not recommended for those planning to do a lot of graphic design work.
- Pros:It offers a one-time purchase option as well as an option to subscribe. Additionally, there is a lower-cost version of Corel Vector online software with the option of a trial period of 15 days for free.
- Pros:The one-time purchase price is over $500 and the online vector software is a subscription only. Similar to Illustrator it is a learning curve that could be quite daunting for beginners. Also it is worth noting that the CorelDraw iPad app has an average rating of 1 1/2 stars rating in the Apple App Store.
- Advantages Canva includes a free account option so you can design a logo as well as others designs for free. Canva offers an option to create a logo if you find you're not happy with your own design efforts. Canva is a hugely loved and popular design software that simplifies the process designed for creative and non-designer professionals, and you are assured of its support with regular updates and new features. It also offers freemium access to a selection of stock photos of Getty and other stock content sources.
- Con: Premium content and features are gated for users with different levels of paid accounts. The program is only available online. The search feature to search for images from stock, in particular, is a little clunky and it can be difficult to locate exactly what you are searching for.
- Pros: Vector is a free, simple vector design program that's easy to learn.
- Pros:It's online only and is perhaps not enough basic, based on what kind of work in design you'd like to do. It also runs ads within the application, which can cause annoyance.
Online logo creators
In addition to Canva's logo creation option that we mentioned earlier There's also an online program that focuses exclusively on automated logo creation.
The Looka as well as Smashing Logo both provide low cost automatic logo design services. It's free to create the number of logos that you want, but if you want to download vector files or brand templates then you'll have to buy one of their premium tiers.
The online logo creator software could be an excellent method of locating a logo that will do work for you at an affordable cost, but you're not likely to find the logo you want. Since these two platforms can be used for free and test, they could at the very most help you consider design direction, consider the things you like and don't prefer, and then present that concept to a graphic artist or agency as a starting place.
Outsourcing logo design
Not interested in designing your own logo or endlessly creating iterations with a logo creation program? In some cases, it's best to hire an expert from the beginning.
Employing a designer who is a freelancer or a company to design your logo can be an investment that will benefit the future of your business. Designers with experience will provide ideas that you would not have otherwise considered and can handle making all of the required design versions and file types.
However, it's also vital to consider the potential risks when outsourcing the design of your logo. Make sure you select a designer who has previous experience in designing logos for companies within your field, who has received good reviews from previous clients, and who can stay within the budget you have set.
Some people have good success getting freelance designers via marketplaces online like Fiverr and Upwork. Others prefer to work with a local person or who has been recommended via a family member or colleague, or even a the local chamber of commerce. All of these are perfectly acceptable avenues to pursue when searching for a designer to work with.
When you're working with a client, also need to make sure that you're prepared to collaborate with a graphic designer. It is important to conduct some research on logos you like, think about what you'd like to achieve by your brand, and then be able to convey your requirements.
Designers thrive when given certain guidelines as well as some creative flexibility for their designs. If you're not flexible enough in what you'd like your design to appear like, or you're not clear enough the result could be an unsatisfactory logo. your requirements.
In the end, forming your logo with your graphic designer is like a conversation, and you may go back and forth a few times on sketches before you find a logo that is perfect.
Put your logo to work
With these logo design tips to use, it's the time to get creating and get your logo use. Research various logo designs. Come up with a brand colour scheme and overall aesthetic idea.
Then, decide whether you would like to design your logo on your own, employ the software to design your logo, or hire a professional graphic designer. When you've got a logo you like, make sure that you've got the correct file types for web and printing, and then start to implement it on your website, social media, marketing channels, and products.
It's also an excellent idea to carefully review your logo and run it past some trustworthy sources to get feedback prior to you go live. Remember, your logo is a visual representation of your company. You may not get a agreement on whether your logo of choice is great design, but you should at least avoid the most obvious issues that could make it into blogs about the most unprofessional logo designs ever.
It can be difficult to design a logo However, with careful planning, research and the best tool or designer, you can create an attractive, powerful logo that represents your company's image and creates trust and loyalty in your customers.