Feeling overwhelmed? You’ve probably saved a bunch of logos you love from Pinterest or Google—but what comes next?
To figure out the design style that’s right for you, there are four key aspects to consider: Font Style, Color, Imagery, and Feeling.
1. Font Style
Fonts fall into six main categories:
▸ serif
▸ sans serif
▸ handwritten
▸ script
▸ handwritten script
▸ typewriter
You’ll also encounter subcategories like italic, brush, calligraphy, or stencil, but these six cover most needs. Think about which style you’re naturally drawn to.
Other details matter, too:
Weight – the thickness of the letters (heavy, bold, normal, light, extra light). Some fonts only come in one weight, but designers can often adjust them.
Kerning – the spacing between letters (tight, standard, or loose).
2. Color
Color choices set the mood and can trigger psychological responses. They may also have different meanings across cultures.
Ask yourself: Do you want bold and energetic (reds, yellows) or subtle and calming (blues, greens)?
Great resources for exploring palettes include Coolors, Color Hunt, Design Seeds.
Design Seeds, Pantone, and ColourLovers.
Fun fact: It’s hard to imagine a time when color concepts didn’t exist, isn’t it? Leonardo da Vinci was one of the first known writers to examine color theory in the late 1400’s. In 1666, Isaac Newton introduced his Theory of Color, including the primary colors. A hundred years later, secondary, tertiary, and the concept of warm and cool colors were added to our current understanding of color theory.
3. Imagery
Decide whether your logo will include an icon or illustration, or if it will be text-only (a “logotype”).
Consider usage: business cards, website headers, social media profiles, t-shirts, stamps—logos must be scalable, meaning they work in both small and large formats.
If a logo is too detailed, it may lose versatility. A solution: create multiple versions—text-only, text + illustration, icon-only, or condensed formats.
4. Feeling
Finally, think about the overall impression your logo should give.
Should it feel: unique, professional, handmade, artistic, corporate, organic, clean, precise, balanced, symmetrical, layered, or simple?
Think about what a potential viewer may feel within the first 10 seconds of seeing your design. Research conducted by EyeTracking, Inc. shows that a consumer can make a choice in as little as a third of a second.
4. FEELING
And the last MAJOR design decision is in regards to the overall FEELING of the design!
How do you want the design to feel? What lasting impression should the design give?
Unique, professional, handmade, artistic, corporate, organic, clean, precise, balanced, symmetrical, layered, simple?
Putting It Together
In short, a logo should quickly embody who you are and what you do. How can you visually achieve this?
Fonts, colors, imagery, and feeling—they’re the puzzle pieces that make your logo feel like you. You don’t need to choose everything upfront, but keeping these in mind makes the process way more manageable.
Ready to start your logo journey? Begin by exploring your style preferences, gathering inspiration, or sketching out ideas—you might be surprised how quickly a clear direction emerges.
