A traditional logo consists of two key elements: text and shape. This type of logo is also known as a combination logo and the two elements can be used together or separately. Many companies use a font-based logo because it’s more recognizable.
There are three to seven types of logos, depending on how you categorize and name it. I won’t go into all of them here as the design concept is basically the same. Once you learn how to create the text and logo mark, you can create any shape of logo you like.
Reading: How to create a logo adobe illustrator
In this article, you will learn how to create a combined logo and a text logo from scratch in Adobe Illustrator. I will also share some useful logo design tips along the tutorial based on my personal experience.
Before I start, I’ll quickly explain what text logo and combination logo are.
What is a combination logo?
A combination logo is a logo that consists of both a word mark (text) and a logo mark (shape). The text and symbol can often be used together or separately.
Some examples of combination logos are Microsoft, Adidas, Adobe, Airbnb, etc.
What is a text logo?
No, a text logo is not a typeface. There’s more to it than that.
A text logo can be referred to as a word mark or a letter mark. Basically, it’s a logo that shows the company name or initials.
Logos such as Google, eBay, Coca-Cola, Calvin Klein, etc. showing the company name are wordmark logos. Lettermark logos are usually a company’s initials or other abbreviations such as P&G, CNN, NASA, etc.
Is this what you want to create? In the following steps, I’ll show you how to modify an existing font to create a text logo.
Note: Screenshots used in this tutorial are from the Mac version of Adobe Illustrator CC 2022. Windows or other versions may look different.
How to create a text logo in Adobe Illustrator
You can choose a font or create your own font for a text logo. Creating your own font for a text logo takes a lot of work, brainstorming, sketching, digitizing the font, etc. – starting from scratch.
Honestly, depending on how original you want the logo to be if you want it to be used quickly, changing an existing font is a lot easier and you can create something cool.
Before the technical steps, you need to think about what kind of image you want to create for the brand. It’s really important to think about as it affects your choice of font, shapes and colors.
Let’s say you want to create a text logo for a holiday fashion brand called This Holiday.
Step 1: Use the Writing tool (shortcut T) to add text to a new document in Adobe Illustrator . The text should be the name of the logo. I’m using the brand name “This Holiday” here.
Step 2: Select the text, go to Properties > characters and select a font.
Be sure to double-check font licensing before using a font for commercial purposes. I would say Adobe Fonts is a safe bet as you can use the fonts for free with your Creative Cloud subscription.
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For example, I chose this font called Dejanire Headline.
Step 3: Use the Command + Shift + O key combination to create a text outline. This step converts text to a path so you can edit the shapes.
Note: Once you have outlined your text, you cannot change the font. If you’re not 100% sure about the font, duplicate the text a few times just in case you change your mind.
Step 4: Ungroup the outlined text so you can edit each letter individually and start modifying the text.
Honestly there is no rule how to change the text. You can use any tools. For example, I’m going to use the eraser and directional selection tools to touch up the edges of the font and crop some of the text.
Step 5: Add color to your logo or keep it black and white.
A little tip: Choosing the right color is important because the color(s) should represent the brand and appeal to your target audience. Statistics show that color improves brand recognition by up to 80%.
For example, if you’re creating a logo for a children’s brand, just black and white might not work well. On the other hand, if you’re designing a smart clothing logo, simple black and white can be a good choice.
Since I’m making a text logo for a vacation fashion brand, I would use some colors that represent a vacation – the color of the sea .
You can also distort the text. For example, I use Envelope Distort to distort the text and make it more wavy.
It’s a lazy solution, but honestly, as long as you get the result you want, why not?
If you feel like something is missing and want to add a shape to your logo, read on.
How to create a combination logo in Adobe Illustrator
A combination logo consists of text and branding. You can use the above method to create a text logo and in this section I will show you how to create a vector shape as your logo mark.
Creating the logo mark is basically creating a shape, but it’s not just about creating a good looking shape, you also need to think about how the shape will impact a company or brand can.
Instead of the technical steps of logo design, I’ll show you how to come up with a logo design idea in the following steps.
Step 1 : Brainstorm. Do you think about what the logo is good for? And what can the industry represent? For example, let’s create a logo for a cocktail bar. So, the elements related to the brand can be cocktail glasses, fruit, cocktail shaker, etc.
Step 2: Sketch your ideas on paper or directly in Adobe Illustrator. If you don’t know where to start, you can start tracing images with the elements.
Step 3: Create shapes in Adobe Illustrator. You can use the shape tools to create basic shapes and then the pathfinder tools or use the shape builder tool to combine shapes and create a new shape.
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For example, I used the Rectangle Tool and the Ellipse Tool to create the outline of a martini glass.
I’m going to use Pathfinder’s Unite tool to combine the shapes.
See, now we have a basic shape. You can add as many details as you want.
You can also use the pen tool to trace your sketch or if you have decided to use an image then trace the image.
It all depends on the style of logo you are creating. Or you can even turn a photo into an illustration and create a logo from it.
Tip: It is highly recommended to use grids and guides when designing a logo.
Step 4: Create the text logo part following the method above. For example, I will call the bar “sip n chill”. Remember that the choice of font should match the shape. If you’re making a line logo, avoid really bold fonts.
Step 5: Choose colors for the logo. If you want to keep it as a line logo, just change the fill color to stroke.
Step 6: Determine the positions of the text and shape. Generally, a combination logo has two versions, the shape above the text and the shape next to the text. But like I said, there is no strict rule.
Step 7: Save the logo!
FAQs
When it comes to logo design, there are many questions. If you still have doubts or want to learn more, this section contains logo design questions that you might find helpful.
Is Adobe Illustrator good for making logos?
Yes, Adobe Illustrator is the best design software for logo design. I can’t say it’s the easiest software to use as there’s a steep learning curve, but if you know how to use it, it’s definitely great for logo making.
Why do designers use Illustrator and not Photoshop to create logos?
Designers typically use Adobe Illustrator to create logos because Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based program, which means that You can easily do this by editing the logo. Photoshop is raster-based software, which makes editing vector shapes more complicated.
What size should I design a logo in Illustrator?
There is no “best size” for a logo. Depending on what you use the logo for, the logo size may vary. The advantage of designing a logo in Adobe Illustrator is that you can resize the logo without losing quality.
How do I create a logo with a transparent background?
When you create a logo in Adobe Illustrator, the background is already transparent. Due to the default setting, you will see a white artboard. The key is to choose a transparent background when saving/exporting the logo as PNG.
Final Thoughts
Many people think that logo design is difficult. But I would say that the steps are actually not that hard once you know how to use the tools, the hardest part of logo design is the brainstorming.
It can take hours or even days to come up with a concept, but it only takes hours to create the artwork in Adobe Illustrator.
If you want to learn more about logo design, you can also read my article on logo stats where I collected some logo stats and facts 🙂
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About June Escalada.
