Adobe Illustrator: Creating a logo - a quick start guide

In this practical tip we will show you how you can create your own logo using Adobe Illustrator and how you can optimize it for later use.

Creating a logo in Illustrator: preparation

First, think about what your logo should look like.

The easiest way is to first put your specific logo idea on paper and scan it. You can embed the scanned image as background graphics and draw along it. You can optimize the graphics later.
Open Adobe Illustrator and create a new document. The size is initially irrelevant for the pure design of the logo, since you create a vector graphic. These can be enlarged later without loss. However, if you reach a certain size of the logo yourself, it makes sense to adapt the document to the specifications in order not to make the logo too tall or too wide later.
Select the color space for your logo. If you want to decorate your website with the logo, but it remains on the PC, select the RGB color mode. However, if your logo could also be used to print flyers, business cards or similar, you should create your document in the CMYK color space.
You can simply drag and drop your background graphic into your newly created working document. You can now move and scale them as you like. It makes sense to lock layers so that you cannot accidentally move or change them. You can do this by clicking on the free field next to the eye symbol in the level overview or by clicking on "Object" and then on "Lock".

Now start drawing your logo in Illustrator.

Select the path tool with the [P] key or in the menu. Draw the contours of your logo design. It is advisable to set the surface color to transparent by clicking on the white square with a diagonally running red line when selecting the color on the left.
For rounded places, draw a Bézier curve by holding down the left mouse button and dragging a point. Illustrator will then show you the curve in blue that the contour will run later.
However, you should just click corners to create a certain hardness. You can still use the direct selection tool to round off a corner later if it looks too hard.
You can draw certain geometric shapes directly with the respective shape tool. To do this, right-click on the currently selected mold tool in the toolbar. By holding the [Shift] key you can keep the proportions and create a perfect circle or square.
If you want to integrate text into your logo, it is advisable to integrate this directly into the logo. This way, it looks the same in every application. To do this, select the text tool and write your text. When you are satisfied with the text, right click on the text field and convert your text into paths. You can then no longer change the text as such, but you no longer need the font and can open the file on any PC.
You can subtract an object from another object by dragging the object to be removed in the layer hierarchy over the background object and clicking on "Object", "Path" and finally on "Split underlying objects".

In order to be able to use your logo later on a website or on a flyer, you have to make a few settings.

First set the line width and color again. To do this, click on the affected areas with the selection tool on the [V] key. Multiple selections are possible in order to provide several objects with the same settings. Now set the color, contour color and thickness in the bar at the top.
Keep your Illustrator file neat. Group related elements together and name them.
Depending on the application, you can export your logo in various formats. For printing, it is advisable to export the classic logo as a PDF. For the web application select the SVG format. This is supported by most browsers and still offers all the advantages of vector graphics. Of course, you can also save your logo in a grid size as a JPG. However, always save additionally as an Illustrator file so that you can edit the logo afterwards.

We will show you in our next practical tip how you can vectorize images with the help of Adobe Illustrator.