Design a Band Logo

A band's logo is a great way to brand your band. It allows fans to immediately identify your work, but it also acts as something tangible for fans. Bands that are getting their start and bands with some success can benefit from having a well-designed logo.

Steps

  1. Consider similar band’s logos. Look at other bands logos for inspiration. This will (hopefully) give you an idea of what you want. Don't copy a logo and try to pass it off as your design. Consider bands that play a similar style of music. If you play in a heavy metal band, don’t look at country bands for inspiration.
    • You might find common themes that you could translate into a logo of your own. For example, many hard rock bands uses icons like a sword, skull, snake, and heart.
  2. Research commercially successful logos. Knowing commercial logos will help you design a logo for your band. Look at popular brands like Apple, IBM, CBS, and other similar companies for research. You can take design traits from corporate logos and apply them to your design.[1] Be careful not to borrow too much from a corporate logo and risk infringing on a trademark.
  3. Ask your community. You’ll be surprised by the amount of feedback you can receive from asking around. People in your music scene and community have opinions and knowledge of what works. Tell them the name of your band and describe the sound of your band. Make a post on your Facebook page, asking for advice and thoughts for a band logo.
    • Explain the sound of the music and ask if any images or ideas come up. You never know what people might think of.[2]
    • You could even try to get advice from local designers.
  4. Decide what design elements would fit your band. Some bands simply use their name in an interesting font as their logo. Other bands abbreviate their name, and some just use an image for their logo.
    • Examples of bands that use their name as the logo are Metallica, AC/DC, and Anthrax.
    • Examples of bands that use an image without any words are The Rolling Stones, Weezer, and The Grateful Dead.
  5. Consider your band’s current status. A good band logo can be a great marketing tool for bands who haven't yet reached a larger audience. Design a logo that appeals to your potential fan base and the logo could help you reach those fans.

  1. Draw several ideas. Begin brainstorming with your pencil on paper. It is good to imagine words and images, but the quickest results occur once you put those ideas out onto paper. Use a sketchbook or blank notebook, and start drawing several different ideas.
    • They key to designing something in the beginning is to give yourself plenty of options.
    • The best way to go about these sketches is to get as many out as you can.
    • Don’t worry as much about the quality of the logo. You will be spending plenty of time refining and expanding the designs you’re happy with.[3]
  2. Revise your favorite designs. Consult with your bandmates to choose a handful of your favorite designs. Try to narrow your selection down to five or six logos. If it helps you, cut each design out and lay them out next to each other. Now create variations of each design. Modify the original design in some way, for example, try to make the logo more simple and stripped down. Try to keep a balanced weight for each design in regards to graphics, color, and size.[4]
    • Use one of the revisions to redraw the original design into a cleaner logo.
    • If the design has a mixture of words and images, try strip the design of one of these features.
    • The more ideas you throw out, the more likely your band will agree on one.
    • Keep every sketch and design, even if you aren't sold on one.
  3. Show your friends or bandmates. Spend a while brainstorming with your bandmates and trusted friends about the designs. Take any feedback somebody has seriously. Have each member choose their favorite out of the whole series of designs. Isolate each design that was chosen as a favorite from the band.
    • Line up the chosen designs and have a vote if anybody likes somebody else’s choice more than theirs.
    • Hopefully some of your band members will discuss what they like or dislike about your designs. Ask them what works if they don’t bring it up.
  4. Continue with your revisions. Once you’ve narrowed your designs to about 3 or 4, you should continue modifying and revising. With this round of revisions, you shouldn’t alter the design too much. Make subtle changes at this stage. For example, you could make a line thicker or skinnier. If one of the logos is in color, make it black and white.
    • Show your bandmates the newest revisions and gather their thoughts.
    • If everyone is still in disagreement, you’ll have to repeat the process and make more drastic changes to the designs.[4]

  1. Scan your logo to a computer. Gain access to use a scanner to upload your design onto a computer. It helps if the computer also has photo editing software, like Photoshop, but this isn’t required.
    • You can also go to an office supply store, like Staples, to scan your design. These stores will scan your photo to your desired quality and then store the design either on a flashdrive or in the cloud.
    • Scan multiple designs just in case you want to go in a different direction later down the road.
  2. Store the scan in a photo-editing software. There are several photo-editing software options that are not Photoshop, but Photoshop is the industry standard. Open the software and upload your logo into the program. Once in the program, you should save the logo.
    • You can download one of these free alternative softwares: GIMP, Pixlr, Paint.net, or PicMonkey.[5]
    • Make sure to check out each program's specifications to see if it is compatible with your machine.
  3. Make digital revisions. Once the image is in your editing software, you can make adjustments to the logo. Play around with filters, vary the colors, or even add text of the band’s name. It is easy to take these tools and potentially add too much to your logo. A good thing to do with the software is to remove any white space.
    • By deleting white space, you’ll be able to add your band’s logo to any flyer, regardless of the flyer’s color.
    • You can also edit and modify the quality of the image. A good image type is .tiff.
  4. Publish the logo online. Add the logo to your band’s web pages. Set the profile picture of your band’s social media pages as the logo. Add the logo to any upcoming show flyers. Get the word out through the internet.
  5. Print out the logo. Once you and your band is completely satisfied with the band logo, you can begin to print the logo onto merchandise. Send in the logo to a local print store to get t-shirts created. Add the logo to your newest album. The best place to put a band logo is on the back of an album. Another idea is to use the logo as an album cover.
    • The options are limitless once you have a logo.
    • The key is to not change the logo or the name of your band. If you change something, the logo won’t be as effective.
    • You can also print out the logo onto pins and stickers.[2]

Tips

  • One option is to find a symbol or rune for your band, like the hooked cross from Blue Oyster Cult.
  • Once you decide on a font, stick to it.
  • Once you know what genre you are (rock or metal), consider making the band logo more fitting to the music style. For example, for brutal death metal, consider making it spiky-looking or splotchy, like Ingested's logo.

Warnings

  • Make sure not to make it too similar to another band's logo

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/vital-tips-for-effective-logo-design/
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://gomedia.com/zine/tutorials/how-to-design-occult-looking-band-logo/
  3. ↑ http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/pro-guide-logo-design-21221
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/06/12-essential-rules-to-follow-when-designing-a-logo/
  5. ↑ http://fieldguide.gizmodo.com/the-best-photoshop-alternatives-that-are-totally-free-5974500
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