Today, if you are like most people, you have a side hustle. Maybe your full-time job doesn’t pay enough, or you are trying to launch another career while still working another job. On the other hand, you could simply love something and decide to make a career out of it.
No matter what it is, a side hustle is a great way to slowly develop a business on the side without spending significant amounts of money. You can also do this without impacting your day job, which is most likely paying all the bills.
No matter what type of side hustle you have, you need a logo and some type of branding. Every business, no matter what it is, needs to build credibility and trust with customers. One of the best ways to do this is with your branding strategy. Your brand is the full experience you want your customers to have.
If you do not make a memorable impact on customers, you could fail as a business. In short, even a side hustle needs a logo. The good news is that you do not have to devote significant time or money to it.
Steps to Create a Logo
To make the process easier, here are some steps you can take to create the ideal logo and branding for your side hustle.
Step One – Tell Your Story
Every business has a story to tell, and often it is the story that pulls customers in. It is best for you to incorporate your story in the logo you create. This helps your customers connect to you and your business. Instead of thinking about what your company does, think about why your company does what they do.
You want everything about your logo, including the color, font, and style, to tell your story. Understanding the story that you want to tell about your company is the most important part of creating your logo.
Step Two – Brainstorm
Once you know the story that you want to tell your customers, you have to translate that story into a logo. A great way to do that is to transform the story into signal words. For example, if you are working in a specific industry like music, you can look up synonyms of the word music and other words that encompass what you do.
You want to find about five or so words that describe why you do what you do in the music industry. It is essential to keep in mind your focus on the why. When you select these words, they can help you refine your focus when designing your logo.
Step Three – Sketching
With all these ideas and concepts in your head, you can begin to sketch out all the ideas you are thinking about. It may seem silly, but if you allow the ideas to evolve fully. While this may be frustrating, it is an opportunity for you to realize your ideas fully.
If you continue to refine the sketches by allowing the first one to influence the next, you will begin to see a logo form. You may want to focus on one aspect for each sketch, such as shape or name.
When sketching your logo, keep the shapes simple. Try to avoid generic symbols like a star and stay away from clip art. Continue to be creative during this step, as it helps your final design. Once you have several sketches, go through them to pick out your top three.
You want to consider the sketches that your eyes keep finding. Once you narrow down the sketches, show them to people for feedback. Then, take them to your friends and family, especially those that fit into your target audience.
You have to be ready to accept their honest feedback without getting upset or defensive. Their feedback may be similar to the way your customers feel. Their feedback can help you narrow in on one design.
Step Four – Colors
Color is important, and you should seriously consider adding it to your logo. However, be incredibly selective with the colors you choose. In general, you should not use more than three colors. There are always color trends specific to each industry. It would be beneficial to you to understand which colors are typically used in your industry. On the other hand, you also want to stand out from others in your industry. It is a delicate balance when it comes to selecting colors.
Another consideration is selecting colors that look good no matter where you place your logo. You may be designing against a white background, but keep in mind that your logo may not always be on a blank canvas. It would be best if you focused on creating variations of your logo that can be used on light and dark backgrounds.
Step Five – Fonts
The font is not needed as part of your logo, but it can be a nice touch. However, you do want to consider the font or typeface you will use for your company’s name. This is most important when your company name is presented without the logo. The font you choose also tells a story about your business. For example, if you are a modern business, you may want to use a sans-serif font.
Step Six – Logo Design
When it comes to creating the actual logo, you have some options. You can use a logo maker, hire a freelance designer, or create a contest to create a logo.
The benefits of using alogo maker are that it’s affordable, and in some cases, you can find free options. It can be helpful and affordable when you are just starting your side hustle and don’t have a lot of money to spend. In addition, such tools tend to be easy to use and provide you with a large number of suggestions to get you started.
There are some downsides, including they may not be able to understand the story behind your logo. As a result, they may not be able to embody the feeling you want your customers to have. They offer a ton of options that could be overwhelming and lead you down a path that takes you away from the overall feeling of your company.
When you opt to hire a freelance designer, you are going to pay more, but you are gaining an expert in design. You can speak to the individual and explain your company, your why, and the feeling you want to invoke. They will provide you with a number of options, but it won’t be as many as you get with a logo design tool. While you get fewer options, they will be refined and geared toward your goals.
Another option is to run a logo contest to find the logo for your company. The benefits of this are you get a wide variety of responses from many different people. It is affordable. You offer a prize amount, and you get many different options from which you can choose. However, a significant downside is that you cannot stop any of the submissions. You can receive a large number of poor submissions that you have to sift through.
Final Thoughts
That may seem like a lot of information and numerous tasks to get your logo started. Do not rush this process. While there are many steps, you want to feel good about each one as you make your way through them. Take your time and follow each step through to the end to create the best logo for your side hustle.
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