Finished Work: Mels-Vida - Logo Design for a Hair Salon

We love going back to our roots and get our teeth into a branding project. Melanie has been a hair stylist for almost 20 years and this year she opened her own salon. And we got to dig in and create a new identity for her business. A well-crafted logo and cohesive branding can significantly impact the success of a business. It builds brand recognition, and creates a sense of trust.

Logo design and branding are crucial elements of a business’s identity. They go hand in hand to create a cohesive, recognizable presence in the market and communicate the values, mission, and personality of a company. We created a brand new logo for her business and created various graphic designs. The inspiration for her logo came from her two biggest passions in life: travel & hair. We wanted to make a cute and inviting visual, complementing her radiant character. Fun, playful, and creative. We also created a surface pattern for her give-aways & business related product line.

Need a logo for your business too?
A logo is a visual symbol or graphic that represents a brand. It is the first point of contact between a business and its audience and serves as the foundation for the overall brand identity. If you are also looking for a logo designer who can create a strong visual identity? Reach out and send us a message. Let's get to know each other!

Finished work: Days of Gold - Day Care in the Woods - Logo Design

Rainbows & Sprinkles has been one of our long term clients. We created hundreds of prints for Lucy’s sportswear brand. Last year we created a logo for her basic line of sports pieces before she decided to change course and sell her business. While creating designs we discussed our mutual love for animals and her biggest dream was to be surrounded by animals all day. In the summer of 2023 she found a large plot of land with stables, horses, right up the hills and surrounded with woods. She decided to change everything and start a Day Care. A place to grow up and play surrounded by nature and animals. 

We were so sad to see her leave Rainbows and Sprinkles, but she’s such an inspiration. She turned her life around and has worked on opening up her day care for months. For her new business we created a brand new logo design reflecting the surroundings of her new Nature day care: Days of Gold. We created some really crisp clean cut designs, freehand logo’s and some designs with badges reminding us of the scouts. Did you join them when you were a kid?

As a kid I grew up in the country side with lots of space to play. Take care of animals, build bridges over streams and little huts. So this logo was a fun piece to create. Something I could personally relate to. Here we’ll explain the logo designing process, so you can have a little insight on how we work. In case you need something for your branding swell.

Step 1: The Business Before we start we want to know everything about the business. Is it already ‘out there’ as an established brand? What are the core values. Some insight about the philosophy is key to create something that really connects. A logo should reflect your brand in a flash. What makes you different than others in your branch. We ask all the questions before even making a quote. For Days of Gold it was a smooth process since we know Lucy personally. This step was quickly taken. But most people we create logo’s for need some time figuring this out first. And we are happy to guide and assist when you still need to find out your business identity. It’s all part of the branding.

Step 2: Who’s your customer For Days of Gold we knew it would not be attracting the usual parent. Playing outside in the mud all day is a little different than your usual day care. Knowing your customer is really important. You have to understand what it is they’re looking for and what connects them to your brand.

Step 3: The Quote We have several packages for logo design and branding. Some of our customers just look for a catchy visual that sticks. Some want the whole shebang with a website and all the graphic elements attached to branding. This particular job was reduced to a logo design only to start with.

Step 4: The Design process When we have a clear agreement and laid down the basics above we start the design process. Usually this starts with a brainstorm and a free sketch routine in which shapes, notes and illustrations are put down on paper. For some designs we create everything by hand on paper. So did we for the first drafts. From there we translate those sketched onto the computed and create new vector sketches in Adorable Illustrator. For every logo design process we create a minimum of 3 design options, and branding directions, to choose from.

Step 5: The first presentation In our first presentation we put all sketches we made and create a story on how the design was developed. And how it involved during the process. Resulting into three proposals that are ready to use. We create some mock-ups and color versions for each proposal and explain why we made certain design decisions. Because it’s not all drawing. A logo design has an entire philosophy attached that will lift up your business. And normally you can’t see that in a blink. So we create a little guidance so a design makes sense for everyone.

Step 6: An hour of tweaks In our pricing we include an hour of changes after the first presentation. Usually it only takes some small tweaks. For Lucy, it was almost an immediate go on the first draft. She chose the circular logo. Easy to use as a badge on clothing and versatile. the premises also has a glamping on it, so with this shape we could also expand to logo versions per business. For this project we didn’t even need that extra hours but for some projects we need some more time to tweak and adjust.

Step 7: Payment In case you haven’t worked with us before. We never send out any finished artwork before we get paid. After we receive our payment in full we wrap things up.

Step 8: Finishing Up The last step is creating files that are workable for our clients. We have clients that need different types of files and versions. We all include those. Logo files for web. Logo files in high resolution for print. And Pantone colors. If you work on an entire branding project with us this is the moment we can go further and talk website & graphic items.

Need a logo for your new start-up or project? Or does your business need a re-vamp? We would love to take on your branding. Check our website for more info & rates. You can contact us there directly by filling out the contact form.

How to create a logo for your business // 5 tips for new business owners // love your branding

written by Maaike Boot / Founder Little Smilemakers Studio
Since Little Smilemakers Studio started we mainly focussed on creating surface pattern designs. But every now and then we love to create a logo for fellow entrepreneurs and creatives. And since we notice a logo is always a struggle, we wanted to give you 5 tips to get this process started and make it a smooth one. Hopefully this will give you some insight.

I am a big fan of hiring the right peep for the job instead of choosing cheap or quantity over quality. And when I stared my business I didn’t have to worry about the logo, branding and other graphic elements; I could do these all myself. I studied graphic design and worked in the industry for a couple of years before starting my own business, and back in the day I made a bunch of logos. I think my style was already the same mix of minimal quirky as it is right now. But since I have worked with so many new businesses on their logo. I do have a broad experience you might be able to learn something about my experiences.

1 // A logo as a reflection of both you and your business
What is a logo? And what should a logo do for you? Logo’s in business can be a way to catch a quick glimpse of what you’re doing. They usually contain a small visual element, mixed with text. You can also create a full typographic logo of course and skip the illustration. Or go non-text. That's all up to you. An illustration might be a fun way to hide a message. A strong visual speaks louder than any text. A good example it the Nike logo. But if you are not as 'famous' yet. Text might come in handy.
The first question you’d like to ask yourself is simple, who am I? If you start a small business this is a great way to start showing the world what you are doing. Who are you? What is your style? Do you enjoy new trends? Or are you more a contemporary style kind of girl? Do you love a rainbow of colors or would you choose a crisp black and white over color? Try to implement all of you into your business and logo. If you are working with a skilled designer they will filter any color doubt or color mayhem overkill to create something professional.

2 // Make a list
What used to be very helpful for me as a designer to start the logo design process, and I still ask this to new clients when I start custom projects on surface pattern designs: lists. Make a list of the things you really don’t like. Colors you have, fonts that make you go iek. Making a list of what doesn’t work is a great way to tackle any drafts that would never work for you personally. This makes the process a whole lot easier, faster and more cost-effective.

3 // How to find a pro
Ask yourself what is important for you and your business? Does your logo have to tell a story? Consider thinking about your branding and marketing, should your logo be a main visual for this? If you are running a product-based business the product is usually the thing to sell. But a logo can be the start of an entirely new branding strategy and visual language. if you want to set up your business as a whole, considering hiring a designer that knows about marketing and positioning. Look out for the way they present their logo designs: is it just a logo, or do they have advertising, folders, web included in their portfolio? If they have a range of graphical elements and they are coherent: this might be your designer to plan your visual strategy with. They most likely have thought about how to implement your logo and style into more than just the right corner of your website. They’ve done research on you and your customer, have the insight and knowledge how to use image, type & color for your target group. Look for the logo designers that hide a message in the logo, or tell a story.



4 // Logo on a budget
I understand most businesses that start out might not have the resources to splurge on too pricy things. Oh I sure didn’t when I started out. But I did do my research and set up a financial plan in order to have a little bit of an idea of how much I would spend the first year: webdesign, software, fonts. Don’t be too quick to save on a logo though. I do want you to consider saving up a little, even if you don’t have much cash, there’s always a way to not buy that pair of jeans or skip some lattes to save up for the future. Your business is worth it. Because outsourcing a logo is one of the best investments to building your future for you and your company. There are a lot of ways to create something. Even if you are on a tight budget. You can use an app like Canva to create something yourself, or put your job on the 99designs website and let designers pitch designs to you. But if you are willing to look beyond the logo, let a pro handle your visuals. Just to have an idea about the costs; our logo design process is around €1200. Including of course the logo design process, implementing the design on 4 graphical elements and building a branding language to use for your socials etc. This strategy is presented in a report. You can call it a little branding manual.

5 // Definite don’ts
Make sure to tackle these rookie mistakes. If you are creating a logo yourself keep in mind the legals! If you are using stock vectors: most stock websites don’t allow logos to be made from their images. So make sure your ‘images’ used to create your logo are originals and ask permission to use these for your design. Stay away from the competitor, and don’t copy something because you just like it. Don’t be ugly! The grass is not greener on the other side. Do your own work and trust your own way to success. Don’t just copy. Up until today, I have to explain this to my clients too when they tell me ‘we want a print design like this.’ If you like to copy something that’s already there, use an illustration or font: ask the original creator for permission. Be chic! You don’t want your logo to say: I stole this but please trust my business anyway. Trust is everything.

New Work: Sova Learning - Logo Collection

As you might know already our studio doesn’t only make print designs. We do mainly create print designs but we started our making corporate folders, flyers, magazines and branding strategies including logo designs. We love making logos. It’s still something that gets me personally very excited when a logo job comes in. I love thinking about all the design solutions on graphic items. Finding a voice to reflect a business in just one image. Connecting the image with typography.

We’ve been working for Sova Learning for a little while now and we’ve made a series of designs, both logos, and other graphic items, for this company that focusses on educational tools for teachers and children. With those two target groups in mind, and all the various products Sova offers, we wanted to create a versatile logo that could be extended easily when the company would grow. Time to post a little pieces about this series of logo designs.

The Visual
As a metaphor the owl is seen as a wise creature and we loved the fact it’s popped up in various storybooks. We used this symbol as the main visual for the Sova Learning brand. But the main brand has more under its wing. We created a primary logo, and from there we created two visual images for Sova’s Podcast series and Genius Journals. For the Podcast series, Sova Tales, we made a minimalist microphone and placed this shape in front of the owl. The shape is created from three simple elements. For the Genius Journals logo we wanted to avoid drawing attention away from the name, the Genius Journals have been around for a while and we wanted to make sure the typography was easy to read. So we place the small shape reflecting the journals on top ow the owls head. This way both secondary logos have their own little icon within the logo.

The Colors
We wanted to keep the colors light and bright. For the main Sova Learning logo we choose a smart blue that is both fresh and joyful, but also toned down enough to reflect both target groups.
Orange is the color of communication, for the Podcast logo orange seemed the perfect fit. We choose a muted shade that gives the logo a tad more sophistication avoiding cheap bright color shades. For the third logo we wanted to add a greenish shade to balance out the palette. A neutral tone that's versatile and chique.

More info
We love working for Karen, who runs the Sova Learning company. She’s a creative by heart and is rapidly growing here business. if you’re interested to know more about Karen and her business, visit her website. If you’re interested in having a logo made by our studio you can just send us a quick message. We’d love to hear from you.