How To Design A Logo That’s Just As Successful As Your Restaurant Business
Chad Faith
Director of Content
Imagine trying a medium-rare steak at five different restaurants. It just happens that none of the establishments have any signs, logos, or names. How could you possibly tell the steaks apart? Would you even be able to recall what you loved or hated about each restaurant? Yes, you should continue making great food to maintain a successful restaurant. However, you should also focus on making your restaurant the easy choice, especially if you are competing with one or more businesses selling similar food or designing a website for your restaurant business. In today’s time, you need to have an attractive restaurant logo to attract new business and strengthen customer loyalty.
Keep Things Simple and Establish Positive Associations
A good restaurant logo requires time to make, but make sure the final design is simple. You need to edit your logos until all unnecessary elements are eliminated. Just be cautious not to water down the design. Next, your logo should not send negative vibes. No diner wants to eat in places with bad associations, e.g. Dirty Bird’s phallic logo. Consider creating a logo that features an upbeat design and fits your restaurant branding. Make sure you are catering to a loyal and distinct audience.
Leave Some Space Between Design Elements
In many cases, you are not required to fill in every inch of the design space. It is fine to leave some white space between design elements. You will be able to give your viewers’ eyes a break while drawing attention to secondary shapes. By being strategic with negative space, you can also achieve a more refined and crisp look. You can try making your lettering “float” in the white space or breaking up bold colored stripes with a white background.
Shape and Color Symmetry
If you want a clean logo design, strong symmetry is required. You need to control the amount of space utilized throughout the design. Do note that symmetry does not mean both sides of the logo need to look the same. Let’s say that your logo comprises two triangles pointing in opposite directions. As long as you can fit the entire design within an invisible frame—the upper points of each shape will touch the corners of the rectangle—you are doing fine.
Don’t forget about color symmetry. You need to make your chosen logo colors work together. It is recommended that restaurant logos feature no more than two colors. Yes, you can add more but it gets more difficult to keep them balanced. Make sure to brainstorm a list of traits that represent your business to pick the right hues for your logo. Is your restaurant business associated with specific cultures? Is your restaurant running on a casual and fun theme?
Tell a Story
The goal is to make it easy for diners to match your logo to your restaurant. Start thinking about who your main customers are and why they are interested in what you have to offer. Are you innovative, high-end, authentic, traditional, or family-friendly? Is your food artistic, healthy, fusion, or customizable? Let’s say that your restaurant business was passed down from several generations. Your new logo may capture the quaint history, depicting an individual standing beside a suitable prop, at an old storefront.
Use a Typeface that Pops
You do not have to always use symbols for your restaurant logo to leave a strong impression. As you can see, Subway, Denny’s, and Ihop use letters without a logomark. Hence, don’t be afraid to try creating unique lettering that makes your restaurant name pop. Being creative does not require you to be over the top. The chosen font or typeface should reflect the tone of your business.