Ask any experienced business owner and they’ll tell you that developing a strong brand is the key to success. Although there’s much more to branding than designing a logo for your startup, it’s the first step you need to take when developing your brand.

After all, with so many businesses out there, how can you expect consumers to remember your business if you don’t have a logo? Just on Facebook, there are 30 million small businesses and the last thing you want to do is get lost in the crowd. Given all the above, here’s how to design a logo for your startup:

Be unique

Launching a startup has never been easier and the number of small businesses out there is constantly increasing. This means that competition is getting stiffer and setting yourself apart from other startups out there is the key. Therefore, it’s critical to design a completely unique logo for your startup that consumers won’t be able to associate with anything other than your business.

So, even though there’s nothing wrong with searching for inspiration online, you should make your logo something as authentic as possible. This will also ensure you don’t get confused for another company in your industry, which is never a good thing.

Go for custom type

While we’re still on the subject of being unique, there’s nothing that can give your logo an authentic feel like some custom lettering. So often we get to see logos that consist of an image and one of the fonts you can find on the web.

Still, customers want you to put a little more effort into it and they’d prefer not to know what font you’re using. While you may not have the skills it takes to come up with a whole new font for your logo, you can always find a graphic designer who’ll be ready to get the job done for you.

Avoid clichés

It seems like there are new trends in graphic design emerging every year and a number of them can be used when designing a startup logo. However, we still see business owners using the same idea over and over. The problem with this is that consumers have already seen plenty of logo design clichés such as arc over the top or random colored dots.

Jumping the train and incorporating these clichés into your design just isn’t enough to make your business stand out. Instead, keep an eye on new graphic design trends and look for ways you can include them in your company’s logo.

Make it versatile

Your logo is the visual representation of your startup and putting it everywhere is a foolproof way to ensure people recognize and remember your business. This includes everything from your storefront to your company’s Facebook profile picture. So, when designing it, try to think about how it’ll look when you put it on promotional items for your customers or employee uniforms.

The more versatile your logo is, the more opportunity you’ll have to promote your business and make customers remember you. Choose the colors that go well with any background and make sure the design is easy to understand.

Use the colors right

Colors play a huge role in logo design – simple as that. There’s an emotion attached to every color and if you use it right, your logo will be much more than just a visual. Let’s say you’re running a fast food restaurant and you need a logo for it. The color red denotes urgency and including it in your logo is a great way to give consumers another reason to turn to you.

Also, if you’re running a business that has anything to do with preserving the planet, using green which denotes nature is a must. Choose your colors carefully and your logo will perform better.

Keep it simple

Not every logo has to be complex. In fact, as we move towards a more minimalist approach, many companies nowadays decide to use simple logos.

For example, just take a look at the Apple logo. At first, it seems like there’s just a silhouette of an apple that doesn’t appear to be memorable. However, there’s also a missing bite that makes the logo unique and gives it character. So, sometimes, all it takes is a little bit of creativity and you can turn an extremely simple logo into something special and unique.

In the video below, graphic designer Tom Satori shares 5 useful tips for designing minimal logos:

Know what it means

Not every logo is just a graphic designed by professionals. A good logo also has a story behind it. It’s also just one of those things that can encourage customers to choose you over your competitors.

Just take a look at what some of the most popular brands did when they designed their logo. There’s a “byte” missing in the Apple logo and the Twitter logo consists of a bird flying in an upward trajectory. So, don’t just come up with a logo for your startup. Attach a good story to it and people will find it easier to connect with your brand and become loyal customers.

Although you won’t stick to just one logo forever, it’s important to put a lot of time and effort into designing one for your startup. Fail to do this and people will simply forget about your business even if they liked your product.

Keep an eye for new places where you can put your logo and you’ll see more and more customers showing up.