Most graphic designers know that logo designs are very important for a business because they represent the business’s brand(s) or identity. A business’s logo must reflect its mission, the services that it provides, and accurately reflect the image the business wants to present. Because of this, it is important that a graphic designer have the necessary tools to design a business’s logo.

When creating logos, graphic designers should use a vector-based software application to ensure flexibility for the logos’ reuse in various print and web-based mediums. The industry standard for creating vector-based logo designs is Adobe Illustrator.

When creating logos with Illustrator, graphic designers can create logos that are simple, creative, and meaningful or logos that are more complicated with enhanced visual effects, such as 3D. Whatever the design aesthetic, graphic designers need to take the time to learn how to use the software application; and, as the old saying goes, “practice makes perfect.”

The following are hand-picked tutorials intended to provide graphic designers with the necessary tools to get started creating logos with Illustrator.

Creating Logos with Illustrator: Beginner Logos

This tutorial walks you through the basic steps to create a professional looking logo in Adobe Illustrator. Some concepts covered include stroke color, reflective effects, and gradients. The author points out the similarities between Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop so for those graphic designers experienced in Photoshop, this tutorial may make you feel more confident poking around in Illustrator on your own. Note that although the volume of this tutorial is low, the message is clear.

Creating Logos with Illustrator: Intermediate Logos

This tutorial walks you through a more complicated logo design that uses a lot of artistic techniques with the Pen Tool. The tutorial begins with a sketch of a logo the author made and shows how the sketch was transformed into a professional looking logo in Adobe Illustrator.

Creating Logos with Illustrator: Text Logos

This tutorial walks you through creating a simple text logo. Though the video is informal, brief, and to-the-point, the basic message the author is trying to convey comes across clearly demonstrating how simple text can be manipulated into a logo using the various tools available in Illustrator.

Creating Logos with Illustrator: Business Logos

This tutorial walks you through the actual steps taken to design a logo for a client scenario. In this tutorial, the author uses a photograph to create the logo. The author also explains the creative workflow process behind making some design decisions.

Creating Logos with Illustrator: 3D Logos

This tutorial demonstrates the basic steps to creating a logo in 3D. Though there is no author to speak about the steps, the video provides you with enough information to get you started with designing logos in Illustrator. Note that you may get distracted by the music in the tutorial. Try turning the volume down a bit to avoid this distraction.

There have been hundreds of tutorials created on this topic that are widely available via the Internet. Several more like the ones provided here, can be found on YouTube. After reviewing the ones provided here, take some time to search for more tutorials and remember practice makes perfect when learning new software applications. Trial and error is the best approach to becoming experienced when creating logos with Illustrator.

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Robyn’s Comment
One technique I like to use when creating logos with Illustrator is to do a little research. I keep a collection of logos that I have seen and really liked. Then I try to breakdown why I like them and how I can convey this feeling or style in my new logo.