9 brilliant logo ideas for design inspiration.
Get inspired by some of our favorite logo designs.
1. Work with wonderful wordmarks using Adobe Express.
A wordmark (or logotype) is a text-only type of logo that is most commonly the brand or company’s name. You can make a wordmark using one font or mixing it up like the font pairings seen here. Some fonts have gained specific meaning over time.
2. Intertwine text and imagery.
In these examples, we see how imagery becomes a part of the wordmark by replacing a letter with a symbol. Does this approach work well with your logo? If you go this route, try crowdsourcing friends, family, and peers to make sure your customized wordmark is legible to the reader. Keep it simple and find ways to match the symbol with the text as much as possible. In Lemonade Apparel, the text’s modern, simplistic mood matches the minimalist, clean lemon icon, creating a cohesive design.
3. Place text over imagery.
Another way to incorporate text with imagery is to layer it. Allow your imagery to serve as a background layer and create text to place on top that stands out against the design. Keep in mind how the background image creates a silhouette for your overall logo, and play with the image’s sizing to change the silhouette’s shape.
4. Layer text on top of text.
An exciting way to create dimension and hierarchy is to overlap layers of text. This effect generally works best when the text in the back is bold and large, and the front text is thinner, smaller, and a contrasting color so it can stand out. Make sure the important information is in the front, so it’s easy to read.
5. Explore text effects.
One way to enhance your text is to explore opportunities using text effects. You can create a background photo fill for your text, as seen here, or use drop shadows, beveling, or outline strokes to make a statement. Consider the effect that best communicates your branding. Beveling is generally used for athletics or academics, while an image fill, as seen here, is something more playful and modern.
6. Use repetition for emphasis.
Repetition is a design tool that can be used for style or to communicate a certain message. For instance, PBS and the Olympics use repetition in their logos to represent plurality, diversity, and unity. Here, we see Zefer using repetition in a way to echo a three-dimensional effect or a motion blur, alluding to motion or technology. Test out repetition with shapes, text, or color.
7. Showcase yourself, your brand, or your business.
You might want to emphasize your brand identity in your logo. As seen here, nothing does a better job of selling a donut than actually seeing one. That certainly makes us interested in a tasty glazed treat. Allow any visuals in your logo to really sell your brand or product.
8. Use unique icons or imagery.
Icons are a versatile design tool. You can scale them, crop them, color them, make them into a pattern, mix two to make a whole new design, the list goes on. There are countless icon options out there these days, so choose one that feels unique to you. Avoid symbols used by other similar brands or your competition.
9. Keep it classic with a black & white logo.
If you’re going for a more classic, traditional, or timeless approach, go with a black and white logo. Think of iconic brands such as Chanel or The New York Times – their logos fare perfectly when printed both in black and white or in color because the black remains the same both ways. Black can also communicate something more edgy or subdued or something that should be taken seriously. You can always design a black logo and add color to it for a special variation.
