Every brand requires a logo to communicate its identity and stand out among competitors. Every designer, in turn, needs to know how to create such logos. While the process itself is pretty complex and requires lots of learning, this article will guide you through the essentials of logo design. It will help you understand the benefits of the vector format and the difference between working with logo makers and designing a logo manually. Read on to learn more!
Source commercially-ready vector logo designs on Depositphotos
What exactly is vector logo design?
Before we answer this question, it’s essential to understand what a logo means. It is a visual symbol or design that represents a company, brand, or organization. A logo is a crucial aspect of branding used to identify a business among others and communicate its values, mission, and identity to their target audience.
Now, a vector logo is a logo created in vector format. Such graphics are composed of paths defined by mathematical equations and can, therefore, be scaled to any size without losing quality. That’s why such a format is generally preferred for branding; visuals created in vector format look sharp when resized and used across different materials, from small business cards to large billboards. The most common vector file formats are SVG, AI, PDF, and EPS.Â
Vector logo maker or manual logo design: what should you choose?
As technologies advance, lots of new design solutions appear. One such tool is a vector logo maker. It is an online AI-powered software that generates versions of a logo built from pre-made components based on your specifications, such as business name, business niche, and certain keywords.
Vector logo makers can help business owners who cannot afford to hire a professional designer yet. They can also help graphic designers draft some initial concepts of a logo to discuss and polish them later with clients. However, while they are cheap and quick to deliver results, such tools generally lack originality and distinctiveness. For instance, if you try to design a logo for a travel agency with such a tool, you’ll most likely receive vector logos with images of the world, a plane, or palms—an obvious solution.
Manual logo design, on the other hand, is created from scratch with the help of design software. A graphic designer uses their knowledge and research to craft a logo that is unique and clearly tailored specifically to a brand’s values, target audience, and industry. The manual process grants creators more control over every aspect of the logo, including typography, color schemes, and symbolic elements. While this approach can be more time-consuming and expensive, the result is usually more refined and original.
The history of popular vector logos
What’s interesting about popular vector logos is that they are truly timeless. Check out the history of such logos below to discover how little a logo can change over the years and find some inspiration to create your own timeless solutions.
Facebook vector logo
<img alt=”Facebook logo”>
The Facebook logo has been slowly evolving since the foundation of the platform in 2004. Initially, it featured the name “thefacebook” in white lowercase letters on a blue background.
In 2005, the logo was simplified to “facebook,” using a modified Klavika Bold font. The new look was more modern and clean, and resonated with the target audience better. Over the next 14 years, the logo had undergone minor changes, but the familiar blue and white theme has still remained.
In 2019, Facebook introduced a new corporate logo to differentiate the parent company itself from its apps. This logo used uppercase “FACEBOOK” and a color palette that shifted depending on the product, like Instagram or WhatsApp. However, this corporate version of the logo was replaced by Meta’s logo in 2021.Â
Amazon vector logo
The Amazon company was founded in 1994. Its original logo featured a simple, stylized depiction of the Amazon River over the company name “Amazon.com.” This choice was dictated by the company’s ambition to be as expansive as the world’s largest river.
In 2000, Amazon introduced its now-iconic logo featuring the company name in lowercase black letters with a curved yellow arrow underneath. The arrow starts at the letter “a” and ends at “z,” cleverly indicating that Amazon offers everything from A to Z. The arrow intentionally resembles a smile and symbolizes customer satisfaction and friendly service. This logo remains largely unchanged since its introduction.
Harley-Davidson vector logo
This logo is also known as the “Bar and Shield” and is one of the most iconic symbols in the motorcycle world. It was first introduced in 1910 and quickly became a symbol of American motorcycle culture. The original design is a bold black shield with an orange bar across it, displaying the words “Harley-Davidson Motor Co.”
Over the years, this logo has seen several minor updates, but its core design has stayed the same. Although Harley-Davidson also had some special edition logos created for milestones and collaborations, the original one remains a powerful symbol of the brand’s legacy in motorcycle culture.
To sum up
Vector logo design helps small and big brands to stand out among competitors and create strong and adaptable brand identities. While you can use vector logo makers or create logos manually, you need to understand the pros and cons of each method to make the right choice for a client or brand. Hopefully, the tips and iconic logo stories in this article will help you make an easy choice and find design inspiration.