How To Create A Personal Logo In 7 Simple Steps

A personal logo might involve the usage of your name, your business name, the name of your website, newsletter or product. It should bring together all of these elements to create a brand identity.

What are the Best Logos?

The best logos tell a story from the moment you, or clients, see them. They should resonate with the target audience and communicate what your brand is about. These great logo examples might inspire you:

• The I love New York logo is simple but makes a statement. Designed in 1977, this logo continues to be a symbol of strength for the city today. It conveys love, unity, and creativity.

• London Underground also uses a memorable logo: a red circle with UNDERGROUND in white on a blue background across the middle. Why does this logo design work so well? It simplicity makes it easy to brand modes of transportation, creating a distinctiveness that is timeless.

• Target uses its logo to convey they have everything their customers could possibly need.

This Pinterest board offers examples of a personal logo.

What Makes a Personal Brand?

A personal brand explains the core values of the individual behind the brand and how they can help customers or followers.

It communicates clearly what you’re about and why. A personal brand also tells your story, shaping the ways you are distinctly different from a competitor.

When done right, you can tie this personal brand to your business in a seamless, organic way. A personal brand is important because it not only assists with marketing but lends value in getting your audience to know, like, and trust you.

How Do I Create a Personal Brand Logo?

You can create a personal logo by hiring a professional designer, learning Illustrator or Photoshop or via basic design software. You don’t need a lot of design skills, although a basic understanding of color and font choices helps.

When creating your personal custom logo, consider these factors:

1. Decide On Your Name Versus a Business Name

The answer depends on the URL of your website or the name of your business.

For example, the Become a Writer Today logo represents the name of this website rather than of me, Bryan Collins.

If you’re a freelancer, you may want to use your personal name.

Do you want to include a tagline next to your logo, separately or at all? A tagline is the written equivalent of a logo or a statement that elaborates on a logo. You could create a visual logo and write the name of your personal brand alongside it.

2. List Your Values

Reflect on your profesional identity before creating a logo that works for your brand and business. Knowing your long- and short-term goals, in addition to your target audience, all play a role in creating the right logo and statement.

What is your personality? What are your strengths? Aspirations? How does your business help customers or followers?

Use color and font choices to reflect these values. For example, green often conveys trust while blue conveys calmness. Red conveys action.

3. Create a Mood Board

A mood board helps determine how a logo will make others feel. Evaluating appealing colors, shapes, lettering, images, and other elements can help inspire effective logo design. You can even add a monogram.

A Pinterest board is a digital alternative, as you can pin other logos you like and send them to a contractor as design inspiration. A mood board is particularly useful if you plan to brief a third-party designer.

4. Pick the Right Color Scheme

Reading up on color psychology can help you decide which colors to use and what emotions you want to evoke. For example, green conveys balance, while red encourages people to act.

Your choice of color should also complement the visual design of your website, product, email and business. A mishmash of dozens of colors on one site will put off visitors.

The design services featured further down can help you pick the right colors for your logo. I also like the Adobe Color Wheel.

5. Select the Right Typography

Should your logo use a serif or sans serif font? What types of fonts pair well together? These are difficult questions to answer if you don’t have a background in design. Creative professionals usually make these choices for you.

That said, you can still pick the right typography yourself. Avoid fancy or difficult to read fonts. Font Pair and Google Type will help you pick two-to-three fonts for your logo and, potentially, your tagline.

6. Experiment with Logo Styles

Don’t think about the process too hard—experiment a little. Looking at different concepts or freeform drawing is a good start.

Although you might look at other brands for inspiration, the key is in creating something original your audience will connect with. Some of the best personal logos aren’t recognizable. They also have elements of imagery that often go unnoticed.

7. Hire a Designer or Try Logo Design Software

A graphic designer will help you create an original logo. They will also take care of font and color choices for you. Just remember to clarify the costs upfront and get the source files.

You should also explain where you intend to use the logo so they can provide it in the right formats.

On the other hand, you can design a personal logo for far less money using some basic software. Choosing between a designer and software depends on what you want and how much you can afford.

Working with a graphic design professional is typically more expensive than software. For example, I spent $500 on creating a logo suite for another website compared to $50 via software.

What are the Best Personal Logo Or Personal Branding Services?

You can try quite a few software programs on the market, like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. That said, these programs take time to learn.

Although working with a designer is ideal, this option can prove expensive for new creatives. Here are three affordable logo design services for creatives and small business owners.

1. LogoMaker

LogoMaker helps creatives design logos in minutes using drag and drop software via your web browser. It contains dozens of different templates and designs with customizable and appropriate fonts and colors.

Once you’re happy with the design, you can buy the source files from LogoMaker as a package for approximately $40. As for cons, Logomaker is a popular service, so you might use templates other creatives have tried.

LogoMaker is our current recommendation for creative entrepreneurs who need a logo fast.

It’s relatively easy and cheap to design a professional logo. They’ll also provide all the files you need to use this logo on your website, blog and social media channels.

2. Canva

Canva’s platform is easy to use even if you don’t have design skills, and it will help you find suitable fonts.

The service provides stock photos and samples of logos, colors, and other design elements. This is a good idea for someone who wants a DIY personal logo.

Canva doesn’t provide you with a full package of files like Logomaker, however. You’ll also need to pick some fonts and colors beforehand.

Canva Pro is a reasonable investment for creatives at $12.95 per month. It’s also available with a yearly subscription.

3. 99 Designs

If you have a larger budget and would like to commission a designer, 99 Designs is a good option for creating a personal logo.

Designers bid on projects or competitions, and you can see different ideas before picking a design contest winner. I’ve used this service in the past to create a book cover.

Once you like what you see, you’ll either collaborate on a new design or pick the submitted version. It’s a cost-effective way to get what you need without breaking the bank. Still, a 99 Designs contest will set you back several hundred dollars.

The Bottom Line: Creating Your Personal Logo

Having a personal logo design is an excellent way to build credibility for your niche website, blog, newsletter or personal brand. You’ll probably use it in other places too, like on your social media channels, as podcast artwork and even in your book cover designs.

Thankfully, you can easily design a personal logo without breaking the bank.

Finally, if you want to learn more about personal branding listen to our interview with Pamela Wilson of Big Brand System.

Personal Logo: FAQs