Have you ever created a music logo design? Even if you see cool music logos every now and then, it doesn’t mean it is easy to create one.
Marketing and branding are constantly changing, especially in the musical industry.
Digital music has changed the way the industry connects with listeners, and you will find that social media is actually the new game changer.
You can remember, for example, Justin Bieber getting his big break from his YouTube videos.
Video marketing, specifically, has somehow served as a replacement to MTV music videos. The videos were actually our first music ads, but today new artists are commonly found on videos that are shared on social media. To make a mark here, you need a call signal, which is better known as a music logo.
Any artist knows that music logos are the most important visual aspect, and the power of a good music logo should never be underestimated. If you have a good music logo design, it’ll last you a lifetime, and it may also make a good profit through merchandise.
The benefits of music company logos
If your goal is to create a connection on social media, you should have unique music logo ideas. This should be an image that will reflect your company across the board, and you will need it for anything from your YouTube thumbnail, to your other social media profile images.
These logos are the key to online branding, and it should give your users, or listeners, an overall feel for the company. From the graphics and color, to the vibe, it should represent your business well. This applies for music apps logos, music store logos, music label logos, and any other cool music logos you may think of, so be careful.
Using logos for a music business
How you use your music logo is a pretty big deal when discussing thumbnails and social media profiles. It basically introduces your business before a consumer actually listens to it, or takes any further steps in connecting.
Regardless of whether you want musicians to buy instruments, or trying to attract new talent, or anything else, the first symbol they’ll see is your logo. To put it shortly, you have to do your best with your logo.
The logo is a pretty big selling point, as it gives your fans a graphic representation. You’ll be putting it on your merch, albums, website, everywhere. You do know this already, so let’s see how you can create a memorable logo.
A style guide
From freelance illustrators, to designers, photographers and small businesses, as well as multi-national corporations, they would all benefit from a style guide. That is a document that puts down some rules for applying their brand assets, such as the logos, colors and fonts.
The primary purpose of this document is to give others a guidance as to how the company’s branding is to be used when they want to create anything from a business card to a website, basically anything that will visually represent the business.
Even if your company only has one employee (yes, you), a style guide will help you regarding how you can tie together all the ways you present yourself visually, and help you create your brand identity in the process. Regardless of the scale of the business, a style guide will have a pretty practical purpose, and is also very fun to do as well.
Why do you need one?
You may be wondering why you’ll need something that will put restraints on how creative you can get. Well, designers usually fall into two camps.
If you work for an agency, or as a freelancer, you’ll be used to working within the restraints of the guidelines of your clients, but you may feel like you have a bit more freedom for your everyday work.
The client may outsource to get a different perspective, which may result in them lifting the restraints a little, to reap the benefits of the creative insight they just got.
After all, big clients tend to have an in-house design team, people whose jobs revolve around sticking to that style guide, and creating company materials that live up to a certain standard.
There’s where the second camp comes in – designers that work in-house, for one business or organization exclusively.
The first camp may feel sorry for the second camp, because they may feel like they don’t get enough creative work.
While this may be true for some in-house design teams, for others, this isn’t really the case. The deciding factor here is the brand guidelines of the employer.
If you have a successful style guide, it will channel creativity, instead of restraining it. Which leads us to a single statement, which you should stick to if you want a good style guide. A style guide should merely guide creativity, and never restrain it. There are a few situations that adhere to this motto, and you can use them as guidelines on building your style guide.
The building blocks
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and brand guidelines aren’t that different from that perspective. It all takes a bit of work, and how much it takes is up to you. Below you’ll find guidelines for the essentials, but how much you want to follow and stick to them is completely up to you.
Keep it simple when designing a music logo
Minimalism isn’t just a method of design, it something that ensures longevity throughout your career. For example, the Beatles logo is just black text, but the font is instantly recognizable, and has worked throughout their entire careers. A lot of artists are tempted at throwing designs, colors, shapes etc., but you should be careful, and keeping things simple is pretty effective.
Choose color carefully for a music logo
Colors can evoke emotion, so you should be careful. If you don’t want to stick with neutrals, make sure it isn’t something too loud, or a hue that doesn’t really work with your brand’s voice. Fewer colors will also save on printing costs as well. And, be subtle with the color. Even if you use it in just a few places, such as a letter or a symbol, that can make a huge impact.
Versatility is very important
Great logos tend to come with two pieces. One is the logo, the complete one, and the other is an icon that you can use by itself. For example, the Nike logo is the check, and “Nike” below it, but you will also recognize the “swoosh” by itself.
When you’re creating a logo, make an image that you can either use as a complete symbol, and you can break down without it losing the meaning.
Typography matters in music logo designs
Your logo will most likely consist of text and subtle images. Therefore, you should indeed be picky about the typeface. If you want a classic feel, go with serif fonts. If you want a clean look, go for sans serif fonts. For example, Pixar and Apple’s serif fonts give a regal, classic vibe.
A bold band image for a music logo
What does your band stand for, and what do you want to send to your band as a message? The logo should communicate both of these things. For example, we can take a look at The Rolling Stones’ logo.
Millions of fans will recognize the shiny red mouth and the red tongue sticking out. It is known as “Hot Lips”, and was drawn in 1969 by a 24-year-old student. How much he charged for it? 50 pounds.
He was a student at London’s Royal College of Art, and was inspired by Mick Jagger’s mouth, and the Hindu goddess, Kali. The logo first appeared on the Sticky Fingers LP in 1971, and it was instantly a fan favorite, being used decades later.
An iconic, professional image
You may be coming up with a whole range of services and products that are music related. Your brand is more business, and less performer. In this situation, you’re best off with one iconic logo image, which you can just tweak for each branch.
Universal Music Group and Universal Studios are good examples, as they deal with different sectors, but you’ll see that they are actually visually linked with their logos.
Both of them share the image of a globe which has North and South America. The Universal Studios logo is usually seen in full color on a black background, but the Universal Music Group logo is usually a sketched version, in black and white instead.
Simple, yet spot on
If you want to make a music service or app, take a look at the logos of some popular ones, such as Pandora or Slacker Radio.
They usually keep things simple, and play around with fonts and colors. Pandora is a great example, and the particular shade of blue reminds of their brand immediately.
Napster, for example, has a logo of a catlike face, and the outline of headphones on its head. The logo is also sometimes found in thick, blue lines, and the cat’s eyes are in green. Spotify is another alternative, with the green circle and three curved lines. The lines represent wireless streaming or sound waves.
You can get inspiration everywhere
Thinking outside the box is actually accepted and appreciated. Music logo design inspirations can be found from a person, place, song or an object. Just grab an idea, and play around with it, you’ll be surprised.
You can experiment with images, colors, shapes and fonts, until you get the look you want, and the look that will convey your message. Once you have it, you’ll see your brand taking off with the audience.
Get inspiration from the lyrics
Feeling stuck? Look to your lyrics for the answer. Is there a particular line in your biggest hit, one that fans scream out along with you at concerts? Use it to improve your design.
Get your own font
The font plays a huge role. Even if you decide you want to change up the colors or design later on, if you have a font that is your own, can help you a lot in keeping things consistent.
Most bands will want a custom font, especially with the growth of their fan base. However, if you can’t afford it, just make a few letters stand out. Make them a different shade, or make a design out of them, the possibilities are endless.
Carefully choose colors
The colors tend to say a lot about the type of music people can listen to from your band. Heavy metal goes well with blacks, silvers and reds, and if the music is easy and relaxing, greens and blues are the way to go. However, make sure you have at least two colors, especially If you’ll be wearing your own merch onstage.
Your genre can be your guide
If you’re a classical music band, having a logo with neon hues or raining glitter isn’t that much of a good idea. But, if you make electronic music, such as techno, that’s amazing. Make sure that your design correlates with the type of music you play. And, if you’ve changed your sound recently, your logo might be in for a redesign as well.
Your fans can help
Want to show your fans you appreciate their opinion? Let them influence the music logo design. You can do this with anything from them voting on the final options, to them helping you create images, or you can get feedback from dropping subtle hints about the upcoming logo reveal on social media.
You should remember that these are the people that will wear your logo, and you have to make them happy.
Ending thoughts on music logo design
The aforementioned logos and ideas are very successful at presenting what they stand for, and spending some time to study what makes them so good, is actually well worth it.
The logo is actually the visual identity that makes your audience aware of your services. Give the above a good read!
If you liked this article about music logo designs, you should check out these as well:
- Tips On How To Design A Great Logo
- Vintage Logo Design
- Restaurant Logo Designs: Tips, Best Practices, and Inspiration
- Cool Logos: Design, Ideas, Inspiration, and Examples
- Logos on Pinterest
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