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How to Design a Killer Cannabis Logo for Free Online
Are you looking for a quick and easy way to create a logo for your cannabis business? You’re in luck! In this blog post, I will show you the tools that I have used over the years to design logos for cannabis companies. With these tools, you’ll be able to design an amazing logo in just minutes. Plus, I’ll also share tips and tricks of the trade so that if you want to spend more time perfecting your logo, you can do so. Let’s get started!
How to Design the Perfect Logo for your CBD Company Without Spending a Dime
Designing a Cannabis or CBD Logo can be a daunting task. However, there are some amazing online tools to help. Combined with a good creative process, you can design the perfect logo for you next hemp-derived product line quickly and easily for Free. Here’s how in just 12 steps with in depth videos to help guide you through the process.
Step 1: Do the Research
The biggest mistake most entrepreneurs make in business is a lack of research. I don’t know whether it’s laziness or that a decent percentage of entrepreneurs are in a manic state when their creative sides are kicking. Either way, jumping right into any part of branding, including logo design, without the proper research is not the path to take. Here’s a quick overview that will explain what a logo is, types of logos, colors, and practical use considerations to help you on your logo design journey.
What is a Logo?
A logo is an emblem or visual representation of a brand, organization, or product. It is typically composed of shapes, symbols, and/or text that can be used to identify the company or its products or services. Logos are often the first thing people notice about a company’s brand identity and can be one of the most important elements in marketing and branding strategies. They help to convey meaning and message to customers by reflecting the values and personality of the organization. Logos should be designed with consideration for their context, as they will be used in various media formats across print, television, web, and other digital platforms.
Careful thought must also go into creating logos so that they look fresh and at the same time, can remain timeless. The goal being that, regardless of aesthetic trends, a logo will still have an impact on its viewers even after years pass by. Moreover, it’s important to remember that logos aren’t just for visual appeal. They should represent more than just a few shapes placed together. Rather, they should express what a company stands for speaking directly to a company’s target audience to attract new customers and inspire loyalty among existing ones.
Anatomy of a Great Logo
Simple Design
Brand & Industry Representation
Target Audience Appeal
Timeless Design
Logo Types
There are 10 Different Types of Logos you should know about before choosing the right logo type for your new cannabis brand: Wordmarks, Letterforms, Monogram, Symbol, Abstract, Mascot, Emblem, Combo, Dynamic, and eSports.
Wordmarks
Wordmark Logos are text-only logos using a specific font or typeface with your entire Brand Name.
Letterform Logos
Letterform Logos, not to be confused with Letter mark or Monogram Logos, are a text-based logo with a single letter.
Monogram Logos
Monogram Logos, also known as Letter mark Logos, are text-based initials or Acronyms of your Brands identity using more than one letter. Think HBO.
Symbols
Logo symbols, which are sometimes called pictorial symbols or brand marks, use a single symbol or icon to portray a brand’s nature.
Abstract Logos
Abstract Logos are truly unique geometric designs, unrecognizable to anything but the brand.
Mascots
Mascot Logos consist of a single two-dimensional cartoon character. This could be a fictional character, a real person, or an animal such as a dog.
Emblems
Emblem logos include seals, badges, and crests, sometimes with text inside or as part of the emblem.
Combo Logos
Combo Logos combine text and images into one. For example, a wordmark with a mascot or a letter mark with a symbol.
Dynamic Logos
Dynamic logos can change text, colors, or even images while maintaining a brand’s recognition. A perfect example is the daily Google logo change on the Google Search page.
eSports Logos
These are gaming logos that are usually complicated Combo Logos with a 3D design.
Choosing the right colors for your logo
Did you know colors inspire different emotions? That’s right, colors are associated with everything from Love to Death? What type of emotions do you want to spark with your logo’s colors? This does not mean a black logo will always mean death, but it is but one of many, factors to consider when designing a logo. Here’s a list of colors and their associations.
Red
Love, Energy, Strength, Anger, War, Passion, Desire, Power
Pink
Caring, Tenderness, Acceptance
Orange
Energy, Warmth, Balance, Attention, Flamboyant, Enthusiasm
Yellow
Friendship, Joy, Happiness, Hope, Imagination, Optimism
Green
Health, Nature, Environment, Youth, Fertility, Spring, Good Luck, Renewal
Turquoise
Sophistication, Water
Blue
Cold, Tranquility, Harmony, Truth, Unity, Security, Order, Loyalty, Calm, Healing
Navy Blue
Knowledge, Integrity, Seriousness, Professionalism
Lavender
Femininity, Elegance, Grace
Purple
Royalty, Wisdom, Transformation, Enlightenment, Spirituality, Nobility
Brown
Earth, Nature, Outdoors, Comfort, Stability
Beige
Unification, Calm, Simplicity
Ivory
Pleasantness, Quietness
White
Purity, Birth, Cleanliness, Humility, Innocence, Winter, Youth, Simplicity
Gray
Intelligence, Dignity, Security, Elderly, Reliability, Maturity
Black
Death, Power, Formality, Evil, Anonymity, Mourning, Sexuality
Practical Use
Also think about how the logo will look in different sizes and loctions.
- Will is look okay on both light and dark backgrounds on my website?
- Will I need to make different color variations?
- Does it look good everywhere it’s placed?
- Will you still be able to ready it when its smaller?
- How will this look in a large sign?
What is my target audience?
Knowing who your target audience is imperative when designing a logo. For example, if you are planning on wholesaling your CBD products to chiropractic offices and wellness clinics, you’d want to pick something simple that is associated with medical and wellness instead of a guy smoking a joint. Align your logo with your target audience. If you have more than one target audience, go with a universal and simple logo.
Now that you’ve done the research let’s start gathering ideas. This will give you visuals to light up your imagination and hopefully, give you some fresh ideas you may not have thought of yourself. We are not copying these images as your logo needs to be unique, just gathering ideas. Then, we can take one or more images and “bring it to the next level” and “make it your own”, as my art teacher Steven Frank taught me in high school.
Step #2. Gather Logo Ideas
Find Visuals by Searching Google Images
First, create a folder on your desktop called “Logo Ideas” where you’ll save all of these images.
Next, go to Google Images.
Start Searching words that are in your brand name, associated with your industry or products, and the goal of your products. Combine each search separately with these terms: “logo” and “vector”.
For example, if I was creating a logo for Hemp Lively, I would search google images for the following:
- Hemp Logo Vector
- Lively Logo Vector
- CBD Logo Vector
- Health Logo Vector
- Wellness Logo Vector
As you search each of these terms, start saving the pictures and images that you like, even if you only like part of it or the color. Save it anyway. Create an image pool of at least 100 images.
Try Online Logo Generators
Online Logo Makers can easily generate a ton of great logo ideas. They can even generate finished logos for a fee. Either way, they are a great place to get ideas that you may not have thought of. These will especially help visualize some of the different logo types. Most of these logo generators are extremely easy to use. Simply type in your Company or Brand Name, a Tag Line, and select the industry you’re in. And that’s it. Thousands of logos are instantly generated.
A few tips on gathering these logo ideas. Some of these sites won’t allow you to download the images or will put a watermark on them. You don’t want that. You should not steal any of these images if they require a fee to use them, but that’s not what we plan to do. The goal is to simply download them and then modify them and “make them your own”. So, if you do run across this situation, here’s how to download these logo ideas. Put them in the same folder as the other images.
- Option 1: Right click and select Save As
- Option 2: Press and Hold these three keys in this order: Windows + Shift + S. This will allow you to copy anything on the screen then save it, or you can click Control + V to paste it into Windows Paint.
Here are some online Logo Generators that I use to get ideas for logos. Although these websites advertise Free Online Logo Design, they do charge for downloading the logos. I use these solely to get ideas and then save or clip the images from the screen into my idea folder.
A few tips on gathering these logo ideas. Some of these sites won’t allow you to download the images or will put a watermark on them. You don’t want that. You should not steal any of these images if they require a fee to use them, but that’s not what we plan to do. The goal is to simply download them and then modify them and “make them your own”. So, if you do run across this situation, here’s how to download these logo ideas. Put them in the same folder as the other images.
Create Color Palettes
Lastly, make several potential Color Palettes. A color Palette is a group of colors, some of which you’ll use on your final logo. Make 4-5 of these and save them.
An easy place to do this is by using Canva’s Free Color Palette Generator.
Simply upload any of the pictures or images from a recent download, and Canva will give you the color palette with the color codes you’ll need to use later. Here’s what it will look like from an uploaded photo.
Step #3. Design a Logo Yourself
There are 2 incredible online design tools that I highly recommend and use almost daily for every aspect of my business. These two online Mega Design Centers allow unlimited usage and unlimited downloads, all for around $30 per month. I use both for social media, logo design, GIFs, Video Intros, Banner Ads, Stock Images, Stock Videos, 3D Digital Image Templates, and much more. The two tools we’ll be using today are Canva and Envato.
Canva
Canva is completely free to use and has an option to upgrade to a Premium Subscription. Envato is an entire suite of marketing tools broken up into several websites.
Envato Elements & Placeit
The Envato Online Design Suite consists of 5 different assets. The main two are Envato Elements and Placeit.
Elements
Envato Elements, on the other hand, is full of every creative asset you’d ever need from Stock Images and Videos to editable Photoshop Graphic Templates for things like flyers, logos, and social media posts.
Placeit
Placeit has a ton of quick and easy templates including logo design templates as well as 3D mockups which are amazing. All templates are editable with unlimited use. Envato offers a free trial which includes Placeit.
Step #4. Pick Your Favorites
Now that you’ve been able to search images and logo ideas on Google, collected autogenerated logos from Free Online Logo Generators, and used online Logo Design Tools like Canva and Placeit, it’s time to pick your favorites. Choose 3-5 Concepts you like. Make sure you follow step 5 and let’s start back tomorrow.
Step #5. Clear Your Head & Sleep On It
By the time you complete Step #4, you’ve most likely now looked at hundreds, if not thousands, of images and logo concepts. It’s my experience that this can lead to both exhaustion and cloudy judgment. What you like today, may not be your favorite tomorrow. It’s my strong advice that you take your time and stop for the day and sleep on it. Put your top choices in a new folder and tomorrow, once you are up and around, have had your coffee, and have had time to rejuvenate, take a second look at your favorites with a fresh set of eyes.
Step #6. Choose a Final Logo Concept
It’s now time to choose a final logo concept. This isn’t the final logo, just the final concept. In a moment you’ll take this concept, put any missing pieces on it, and make dozens of color and text variations.
Step #7. Make Color and Text Variations
Here are the steps to finalizing your favorite logo concept. You can use software like photoshop or Canva to do this.
- Make Several Color Variatons
- Make 10-20 different Font options
- Print these colors and fonts out or put them in one folder for easy viewing.
- Spread them out on a table or view them on one screen to compare them to each other.
- Make sure it will look good on both a light or a dark background. Making two color variations is okay to accomplish this.
If it’s hard to decide when looking at all of them together, compare two logos at a time and discard the one you like least. This should leave you with just one choice. As you did in Step #5, clear your head and sleep on it. Tomorrow you’ll decide if this is the Final Logo.
Step #9. Choose a Final Logo Design
Choose a final logo design. When you look at it, how does it make you feel? Can you live with it forever? Will is speak to your target audience? At this stage, there should be no doubt. If there is, go back or start over.
If you are confident this is the logo for your new cannabis or CBD company, then you’re almost done. There’s only one more step.
Step #10. Make Final Logo Variations
At this point, you’ll want to make several logo variations. Make sure, if needed, you have both a light and dark version. Also, create multiple sizes for use in different areas of your website and a high-resolution logo for printing. Some recommended widths to save are 150px, 300px, and 600px.
Conclusion
When it comes down to creating a killer cannabis company logo, there really is no need for expensive designer fees or complicated software packages. All it takes is some creativity and dedication plus a few free online tools and free trials of some amazing design assets. With these ten steps outlined above, I’m sure anyone reading this blog post will have no problem crafting their perfect cannabis logo for their new CBD Brand in no time. Good luck!
Author
David McGinnis
David McGinnis, Co-Owner of Hemp Lively, is also an Entreprenuer, Web Designer, Graphic Designer, and Cannabis Business Consultant. In his spare time, David enjoys learning, writing, and spending time with his fiance Melanie and his two miniature schnauzers, Gatsby and Daisy.
To contact David about Hemp Lively's Products, Wholesale Program, Private Label Services, Bulk Gummy Manufacturing, Affiliate Program, Cannabis Web Design, Product Label Design, or just to say Hi, please call (850) 299-9624.
