101 logo ideas

How to turn a logo idea into strategic branding

Before getting into the details of how to collect logo ideas, it’s important to know that keeping your brand consistent (always use the same logo, some colors, etc.) is one of the biggest pillars of branding. People need to recognize your business quickly, and for that, your business needs to look and sound the same wherever it pops up. Another critical pillar of branding is to create a unique brand in the first place.

A unique brand stands out and is, therefore, easier to remember. However, a brand needs to stand out the right way—just like a yogurt needs to look like yogurt on a supermarket shelf, not like a pudding.

People need to be able to compare your product to other options. This is called “Positioning”—the way people perceive your brand and how people compare your offering with similar choices.

When looking for logo ideas, check out your competitors and make sure your logo and your brand colors are different. For example, a modern (and cool!) way to create a logo for a business’s brand identity in 2024 is to use wordmarks (sometimes called text logos) instead of logo symbols. Logo symbols are images, such as an image of a camera for a photography shop.

Use other logos as inspiration

We’ve added nine logo templates above. All of the logo fonts we used are part of our unique mix-and-match Bauhaus font system.

When you look at a logo for inspiration, notice the following 6 things:

1. the differences between serif (fonts with little feet) and sans serif fonts
2. letters or details in the fonts that stand out
3. spacing between the letters (this is called letter spacing or tracking)
4. the case: ALL CAPS, lowercase, or Title Case?
5. the weight of the type—is the logo thick or thin?
6. the color

For a more approachable feel, try a sans serif font first. If you’re going for personality, elegance, or sophistication, a serif font works better. Wider letter spacing makes a logo feel less corporate, tight spacing makes it feel compact. Title case is a good standard for how to spell your business name in a logo. All caps is classy too. Lowercase is very friendly. Thicker type says bold and young, thinner type is elegant. Details in a logo font make the entire logo unique and more memorable.

For example, if you’re aiming to design a logo that communicated strength and precision, select a font with pointy tips. Common letters that can be sharp are the letters A, K, M, N, and W.

Or, if your brand should convey a sophisticated, perhaps natural tone, take a look at these typefaces similar to Nature mag’s font.

Or, if you’re looking to highlight a personal brand or if the brand positioning is centered around “fun,” check this 2023 fun fonts collection or this cute bubble font.

Two ways to start your logo

Start with a template: An easy way to get started with your own logo is by clicking one of the templates above. This will open up the logo maker app for you to customize the business name, design, and colors.

Start with a font: Instead of diving into all logo aspects (symbol, font, colors) at the same time, start with the font. Have a character trait in mind that you want to get across in your brand. Just focus on that. Then, pick a font category that matches your chosen trait or brand tone. For example:

• modern fonts
• classic fonts
• retro fonts
• geometric fonts
• organic fonts
• elegant fonts
• startup fonts

From idea to logo design in 3 steps

Step 1: Type out company name

Type your company name into the logo maker input field and click the Next Step button. You’ll see a selection of logos from which you can pick one as a baseline for your design.

Step 2: Select design

For a modern or cool logo, try a wordmark first. You can always add a logo symbol later in the logo maker app.

Step 3: Modify logo

In the main editing area, click on one of the letters of the logo. A dropdown of alternative letters shows up right below the letter you clicked. To select another letter for your logo, click on one of the alternative ones. In the sidebar, use the sliders for weight and letter-spacing to quickly change the overall feel of the logo.

Pro tips for logo ideas

How to pick the right font?

Whether a logo is a business logo or a mark for a personal brand, the process for finding the right logo font is the same: Have a logo idea in mind and then click through the font options in the right sidebar of the Mojomox logo maker app. Go back to the Logo for Inspiration section above to read about the different meanings of serif and sans serif fonts.

Once you’ve found the right font, tweak it with the sliders. Try, for example, the weight slider: the thinner the logotype, the more elegant the logo. The thicker the type, the stronger a logo appears. Thinner styles are harder to read when the logo mark is small.

What format is right—vertical or horizontal?

The most versatile logo format is a horizontal logo as opposed to a stacked logo. You can have both a horizontal and a vertical logo lockup for your brand but it’s quicker to get started with one that fits nicely into the top bar of a website. For modern applications, you may need a shorter version of your logo. The short version of a logo is often the first letter or if your brand name is two words, the starting letters of the name. In our example, “Undy,” this would be the letter U.

How to get ideas for colors

It’s a good idea to have a few color options in mind when looking for logo ideas but in the logo design process picking a color palette comes after having the actual logo design done. This way you keep the focus on the font and symbol details of the design. A color palette should support another aspect of your brand strategy than what your logo does. Additionally, find a palette that is far away from your competitors’ colors so that people can remember your brand more easily.

Figuring out what colors work well together is easy with the logo and brand kit creator. The fastest way to find a palette is by starting out with a preset palette. In the gray sidebar, click on Colors and click through the color fields. Each field represents a palette of three colors, the main color being the one that’s shown. Once you have a palette that you want to make adjustments to, click into one of the three color fields below Custom Colors. With the color picker tool, click into an open document on your computer to get a color, move the color navigator, or type in an RGB or Hex number.

When selecting colors, keep looking at the brand kit section below the logo editor to see if all color combinations are easy to make out. If not, fine tune the colors until they match well.

How to quickly test your logo idea before finalizing

Designers know that good design means that form follows function. Whether you’re aiming for a cool logo or a classic logo design, the functionality is more imporant than the looks of a logo. In practice, that means: Before exporting your logo files, make sure the mark is readable in small. For that, scroll down inside the logo creator to the Brand in Context section and see if your logo works in small. Tweak the design until it does.

Then, it’s time for testing your design. Download multiple versions of your logo (lighter and bolder weights, more or less letter spacing) and upload them to your website. See which one works best. Try other applications too. For example, if you will have packaging that will be shown on shelves, print out your logo and mount it on a sample box. See if the logo stands out next to competitive products.

Try the logo maker (no account needed, it’s free to try!) by typing your brand name into the input field at the very top.