How to make a personal logo: Ideas to help you create your own logo design

Learning how to create a personal logo could be an excellent way to enhance your unique brand and take your career to the next level. You don’t necessarily need to own a large business to benefit from a logo, particularly today. 

Countless solo specialists and freelancers use personal logos to highlight their identities, capture clients’ attention, and facilitate growth. 

Making a personal logo is an excellent way to capture the attention of your target audience and strengthen your image, both online and offline. You can use your “self-logo” on your portfolio, LinkedIn page, blog, and any business cards you create. 

In today’s “creator economy” landscape, influencers, vloggers, and podcast hosts design custom merch with logos. 

Used correctly, your logo will highlight your professionalism, strengthen your relationship with your target audience, and even ensure you can outshine the competition.

Today, we will cover everything you need to know about creating a personal logo. 

What is a personal logo? An introduction

Let’s start with the basics: what is a personal logo?

In a lot of ways, personal brand logos are similar to corporate logos. They’re simple images, often made using a combination of color, typography, and iconography (shapes or graphics). Their purpose is to convey crucial information to your audience about who you are and what you do. 

Just as a business logo provides insight into a company’s core values, purpose, and identity, a personal logo helps people to define your personal brand. 

It demonstrates what you stand for as a professional in your industry, showing off your personality with a compelling color scheme and the right font choices. 

Personal logos are common for a host of professionals in today’s business world. Accountants, freelance designers, fashion experts, and even influencers all have their own personal logos. Used correctly, they can be a great way to make you more memorable in your industry. 

After all, people are more likely to remember an image than a name alone. 

The main difference between personal logos and corporate logos is that a business logo identifies an entire company, while a personal logo is there to highlight your core characteristics as a professional. It’s representative of your work ethic, your personal values, and your unique skills. 

Why create a personal logo? Benefits of personal brand logos

Learning how to make a personal logo can be a time-consuming effort, particularly if you don’t have a lot of experience with graphic design or color palettes. However, your emblem can also be an extremely powerful tool in the right circumstances. 

While not every professional will choose to create a personal logo, self-logo design is becoming increasingly common in the modern world. Today, there are countless freelancers, contractors, solo entrepreneurs, and creators all fighting to capture the attention of clients in various industries. 

A personal logo can be a great way to market yourself to your target audience.

Since logos are often associated with established companies or brands, creating your own can be a good way to demonstrate your professionalism and experience in your space. 

A personal logo also contributes heavily to your personal branding process, making your identity more memorable to your customers and differentiating you from the competition. 

Fundamentally, personal logo design:

Improves brand awareness

Creating a unique logo for your personal brand is an excellent way to capture the attention of potential clients and raise awareness of your own brand. It makes your name, your business, and your expertise stand out. 

Boosts memorability

Adding a good logo to your business cards, website, and anything else, you produce (such as emails and letterheads) can be a great way to make yourself more memorable. Visuals stick in the mind of your target audience for longer than names. 

Differentiates your brand

A good personal logo design will help to distinguish you from other competing experts in your space. It can make you appear more established, professional, and reputable than other small businesses and helps to highlight your core values. 

Fosters loyalty

Logos help us to connect with customers on an emotional level. The right combination of design elements, such as typography, colors, and graphics, resonates with clients on a deeper level, strengthening your chances of brand loyalty. 

Improves marketing

Personal logo creation can also be a great way to market yourself to potential clients, employers, and anyone else you might want to work with. 

A memorable logo used consistently across your business cards, resume, and social media sites can help you to unlock a wider range of opportunities in your industry. 

What makes a good personal logo?

Before you dive into learning how to make a personal logo, it’s worth thinking about what a good logo actually looks like. Learning about the basics of logo design can be helpful here. For instance, great logos make good use of white space, balance, and contrast. 

However, there’s more to producing a top-quality logo than simply producing something that looks good. The best personal logos are meaningful. They highlight the unique nature of the creative entrepreneurs they represent. 

A personal logo could feature just your name or include the name of the company you’ve created. It might tell viewers something about your expertise or skills with a unique graphic or leverage color psychology to convey details about your values and characteristics. 

Fundamentally, a good personal logo should be:

Informative

Logos aren’t just images; they’re insights into who you are, what you do, and what you stand for. A good logo will tell your customers something important about you, such as which industry you serve, your name, or what your personality is like. 

Simple

Similar to professional logos, the best personal logos are often simple and straightforward. They should be easy to read and understand. Overly complex logos can make it difficult for potential customers to define your values. 

Emotional

Good personal logos, like good professional logos, connect with viewers on an emotional level. They evoke certain ideas with the use of color, typography, and graphics. Think about what you want your customers to feel when they see your logo.

Personal logo ideas: Options to explore

Before you start putting your personal logo together, one of the first things you’ll need to do is decide what type of design you want to create. There are many different types of logos to explore, from emblems to wordmarks and monograms. 

Here are some of the most common options you can consider when sorting through personal logo ideas. 

Emblem logos

Emblem logos generally include text or visuals inside of a geometric shape, such as a circle, a square, or a shield. This type of logo is typically associated with professionalism, luxury, and expertise. They highlight the authority of your company and give you a more traditional image. 

Pictorial marks

Pictorial marks eliminate the need for typography by focusing on a simple image or icon. These logos are less common in the personal branding world, as they don’t draw as much attention to you and your personal identity.

However, if you want your logo to be modern and minimalistic, a pictorial mark could be a good choice. Just make sure your graphic represents what you do. 

Wordmarks

Probably the most common form of personal logo, a wordmark consists of stylized font and nothing else. You can create a wordmark using your first and last name or just one of the two. The key to success with wordmarks is choosing the right typeface to convey your brand’s personality.

You’ll also need to think about how you position the right fonts in your logo. For example, you might place one name under another or position them side-by-side. 

Monograms

If your name is relatively long, you might opt for a monogram logo or letter mark instead. These logos are great for simplicity and scalability, and they often look extremely professional. 

However, they may not be ideal if your personal brand is quite new, as it can be difficult for customers to associate your entire identity with just a couple of letters. 

Combination marks

One of the most popular options for personal logos, alongside the wordmark, is the combination mark. These designs combine a picture or image with a wordmark to provide viewers with plenty of information about who you are and what you stand for. 

A combination mark will typically include a simple icon relevant to your industry or field, as well as your name in the typography of your choice. A combination mark can be a great way to draw attention to your brand, but it’s important to get the balance of elements right. 

How to make a personal logo: The basic steps

So, how do you create a personal logo? 

The first step is deciding on your design process. Simply put, do you want to create your personal logo from scratch using SaaS (Software as a Service) tools, or do you want to work with a professional? 

Websites like Canva offer creative professionals access to their own simple logo generator, where they can combine various images and typefaces into a unique emblem. 

Notably, while these tools are relatively easy to use, with convenient logo templates and a variety of assets, they may not be ideal for every professional. 

Depending on the tools you choose, the number of assets you’ll have access to may be limited. This could mean you end up with a logo that looks very similar to those used by other people in your industry. 

Working with a professional designer improves your chances of getting a truly unique logo specifically designed to attract your target audience. 

However, it’s often a more expensive process. You’ll also need to know how to develop a “creative brief” for your designer to give them an insight into the image you want to create. 

Once you’ve chosen your creative method, you can follow these steps to produce the perfect logo:

Step 1: Establish your personal brand values

Before you begin working on your design project, you need to determine exactly what you want your logo to convey. In other words, what kind of brand identity are you building as an individual?

Think about your values as a professional and what you want to tell customers with the combination of colors, fonts, and graphics you use. Are you a wedding photographer with a focus on delivering highly personalized shots? Are you an influencer with a passion for the sustainable fashion industry?

What makes you different from other professionals in your field, and what are the core characteristics you want people to remember when they interact with you? Think of your logo as a visual elevator pitch for your services; what should it say to your customers?

Step 2: Your name or your business name?

Most of the time, a personal logo will revolve around your own name. However, in some cases, professionals may choose to create a specific name for their solo business. 

If you’re using a business name, then you’ll be veering into the world of corporate logo design. This means thinking about not just your personal identity but the image you want to create for your company. 

If you’re using your own name, you’ll need to decide whether you’re going to be focusing on your first name, your last name, or both. A last name in your new logo can often look more professional, while a first name is generally friendlier and more informal. 

If you want to use your full name in your logo, think about how much space it’s going to take up and how you’re going to position both parts of the title. 

Step 3: Create a mood board

When learning how to make a personal logo, mood boards can be extremely useful. They’re essentially a way to brainstorm all of the elements you might want to include in your emblem. 

Mood boards can also be helpful if you need to develop a creative brief for a professional graphic designer, as they’ll give them an insight into the aesthetic you want to create. 

There’s no one-size-fits-all way to create a compelling mood board. You could use a physical board and attach various pictures of designs you like, images you’re interested in, and color palettes. However, it’s generally a lot easier to use digital tools. 

You can opt for a solution like Pinterest, which will help you to arrange various colors, typographies, and icons into one environment. When creating your mood board, the focus should be on inspiration.

You can even include images of personal logo examples you’ve seen from other professionals.

Step 4: Choose your color scheme

If you’ve taken some time to put a mood board together, you should already have an idea of the kind of colors you’re going to want to use in your new logo. The colors present in your logo are extremely important to making the right impression on your target audience. 

According to color psychology, human beings naturally associate certain shades with certain concepts and feelings. If you want to create a highly sophisticated, professional logo, you might choose a monochrome color palette of black, white, and grey. 

If you want to showcase reliability and trust, you might opt for different shades of blue. 

There are some helpful tools online that can assist you in seeing which colors work well together, based on whether you’re going for a contrasting logo, monochromatic design, or something entirely different. 

Adobe Color has its own free color wheel you can experiment with online. Remember, you should ideally only use a handful of colors in your design, as too many can be overwhelming. 

Step 5: Experiment with typography

While you’re not required to use your name in your logo, most personal logos will include at least some typography. After all, it’s much easier for people to remember you and your brand if they can connect your image to a memorable name. 

If you’re using type in your logo, you’ll need to ensure you pick the right style of font. Similar to color, typography can have an emotional impact on viewers. A script-style or handwritten font may showcase your commitment to personalization and customer service. 

A sans-serif font highlights modernity, friendliness, and reliability. 

Alternatively, a serif font may give you a more professional image, making you and your company look stable, authoritative, and sophisticated. In some cases, you may choose to use a combination of two different typefaces, depending on the style of your logo. 

Step 6: Consider icons and graphics

The next step in creating a personal logo is thinking about any graphics or unique icons you might want to add to the mix. Simple icons and shapes can be an effective way to enhance the aesthetic of your logo and showcase extra information about what you do. 

If you’re a writer, you might include an image of a pencil or a quill. If you work in the software industry, you might opt for abstract shapes people can connect with technology. Choosing the right icon can be a daunting task, particularly in today’s competitive world. 

If you’re struggling to determine what kind of imagery will make sense for your particular brand, it might be worth checking out some examples from other professionals in your industry first.

Personal logo examples for inspiration

As mentioned above, learning how to make a personal logo can be complex for beginners. It can be difficult to come up with a good idea that showcases your brand identity effectively. That’s why so many people consider working with a professional designer for extra help. 

However, if you’re trying to create your own personal logo yourself and you need some guidance, taking inspiration from examples in your industry can be useful.

Here are some great examples of what personal logos might look like, depending on your industry:

Personal brand logos for food and beverage experts

Gordan Ramsay is one of the best-known professionals in the food and beverage landscape, and he even has his own personal logo to draw attention to this fact. His logo is a handwritten signature intended to showcase professionalism and sophistication. 

However, you could easily experiment with a range of different styles in this industry, including combination marks that feature well-recognized food items or simple monograms. 

Personal brand logos for fitness and wellbeing

In the fitness industry, the goal of your personal logo will be to inspire and motivate your clients. It’s common to see personal trainers and gym owners producing logos that highlight their approach to generating strength and wellness. 

Depending on the type of fitness you’re involved with, you might opt for a powerful wordmark featuring bold, blocky font to symbolize strength. Alternatively, you could opt for a more relaxed, friendly-looking logo with its own dedicated mascot. 

Photography personal brand logos

Personal brand logos are common in the photography world. Most photographer logos are either wordmarks or combination marks. Many professionals in this field use signature, handwritten style fonts to highlight their commitment to delivering a personalized, unique service. 

While camera iconography is common in the photography world, you can also explore a range of other options, like film cells or even images connected to the type of photography you do, such as headshots, professional photography, or wedding photography.

Business and consulting personal brand logos

If you’re involved in the business world, working as an accountant, a consultant, or even a marketing expert, your personal logo will usually revolve around showcasing what you can do for your clients. 

People in this industry tend to use highly modern and professional logos, which include either wordmarks or monograms. 

Depending on your industry, you might add a tagline to your logo which highlights what you do. You could also use a specific graphic relevant to your field. 

Creative industry personal brand logos

If you’re involved in the creative industry, working as a graphic designer, content writer, social media manager, or something similar, your logo is a chance to showcase your creative expertise. 

Combination mark logos are particularly common in this industry, as they can combine a person’s name with an insight into what they do. 

If you design websites, you might use the image of a computer screen in your logo. If you’re a writer, you may use images of pens or typewriters. 

Personal brand logos in the fashion industry

Personal logos are also common in the fashion industry, where designers, stylists, and other professionals want to showcase their expertise and eye for beauty. Fashion logos generally include a standard wordmark of the designer’s name. 

However, if you’re focused on a specific service, like offering clothing alterations or designing custom garments, you might include icons like scissors or simplified pictures of garments too. 

Making a personal logo that fits your identity

Ultimately, learning how to make a personal logo is similar to creating a business logo. You’ll still need to think carefully about the identity you want to convey to your target audience. You’ll also need to experiment with the different elements of a great logo, such as colors and fonts. 

Although making a personal brand logo from scratch can be challenging, committing to creating a visual identity can be extremely worthwhile. It’s a great way to separate yourself from other professionals in your space and capture a space in the minds of your target audience. 

If you want to learn more about creating a personal brand logo, or get some help producing the ultimate design, reach out to the team at Fabrik Brands today.

Fabrik: A branding agency for our times.

Now read these: 
—The essential guide to personal branding 
—How to rebrand yourself on social media 
—Best personal brand statement examples
—Steps to reinventing your personal brand 
—Personal branding examples for students