At some point in your business, you’ll need to get a logo created. Hiring a designer is the first step, but here are a few tips you’ll need to know to get the most from your money.
Search Logos online
The first thing you’ll want to do is do your research. Look up other business’s logos in your field and take note of logos in general that you like. Start noticing the difference between styles of logos. You don’t want to get too specific, but you also want to give the designer something to work with.
Decide on the colors you’d like, and design style you like (if possible).
Research the Designer
To get the best logo, you usually want to go with a designer who has created multiple logos. If you can’t afford a logo (starting at a couple hundred dollars, depending on the designer), make sure you take a look at other designs that person has done… in anything. If you hate/dislike all their other designs, you’re most likely not going to like what they come up with.
If you can, meet with the designer and tell them your vision for your logo. Show them the logo research you’ve done, ones you like, etc. But don’t box them in too much. Colors and design style are good… dictating where things go is bad (and you’ll probably be fired!)
Get the Files
After you’ve settled on a logo, the MOST important thing to remember is to get the vector files. There are two types of files: pixels and vector. Photographs are made up of pixels – little dots of color that together make up an image. You can imagine that when you enlarge a pixel image, if you make it too large, it gets pixelated (the dots become so big you can distinctly see them). You DO NOT want your logo only in a pixel file type.
You want your logo in a vector file. A vector file is made up of points connected by lines. So when you enlarge a vector file, the points simply get further apart, and the lines stretch perfectly so you don’t lose the clarity.
Most clients hire someone to create a logo, pay the designer, and then only receive (or only keep) the jpeg/jpg/pixel file. You need to make sure you have a vector file type from your designer. Some vector files types are: .png or .ai. Even if you can’t open the file (.ai is Adobe Illustrator), at least hold on to it. At some point, you’ll probably want to print/make something that you’ll need to change the logo’s file size for.