How To Create A Logo For YouTube

July 15, 2022
Contents

What do you think of when you see this?

What instantly comes to your mind is the brand McDonald’s! You see the logo, and you suddenly connect it with the brand.  A logo is an identifier of a business. 

While YouTube may be a video-sharing platform, having an impressive YouTube logo will help you catch your audience’s attention faster.

If you are wondering How to create a logo for YouTube? Then we have the answer for you. 

Why Do I Need A New Logo For My YouTube Business?

If you're starting a new YouTube channel, you need a professional logo that will help make an impact right out of the gate.

Here are some reasons why new YouTubers should consider investing in a new logo for their business:

It Catches The Audience's Attention

Three seconds: That's how long it takes for someone to decide whether or not they like something. If you want people to continue watching your videos, it's essential to catch their attention immediately.

Your logo needs to be memorable because that will make people take notice in the first place.

It Creates Brand Identity

A brand is more than just the name of your business; it's also its look and feel (including colors, fonts, etc.).

By creating an identifiable style that appears consistently throughout all aspects of your business (such as social media), customers will immediately recognize it as something they've seen before. 

It Sets You Apart From Other Channels

Your logo should set you apart from other channels by having a unique look that belongs only to you. 

Many channels have similar logos, so make yours stand out by designing something unique!

 It Will Be Used In All Your Videos As A Watermark

You'll use your logo in every one of your videos as a watermark (it will appear at the bottom left corner of every video), so make sure that it looks good, small, and large (and everything in between).

You will also use it to create banners for social media posts, such as Facebook and Twitter, so make sure it looks good in different sizes!

It Enhances Audience Memory

The logo should be simple and memorable so that people can identify it at a glance. It should also reflect the overall look and feel of your channel.

Your YouTube channel is a valuable asset that demonstrates your brand and the content you create.

If you're just starting, it's essential to get this right from the start so that people can easily recognize your videos even if they don't subscribe to them yet!

What To Consider When Designing A Logo For A YouTube Profile

Your YouTube logo will be used as your profile picture and a watermark, and it will also appear when people search for your channel. So, there are a few things you need to consider before designing a logo for your YouTube channel:

The Shape of The Logo

Did you know that the YouTube channel image is uploaded in a square format but appears in a circle format throughout the platform? 

When designing a logo, keep this in mind and make sure that it crops to communicate your image, logo, or brand.

The Size of The logo

Your YouTube channel logo is not just going to be your profile picture but also your watermark. So, deciding the size is tricky.

The ideal size for your channel profile image is 800px by 800px (a 1:1 aspect ratio). YouTube will automatically resize your profile image to be displayed at 98px by 98px.

And the ideal size for a watermark is 150x150 pixels. You can create one logo(use it as a channel image) and later decrease the size of the image(use it as a watermark) without losing the quality.

Use Photoshop to customize the logo size using Image Size Dialog. 

Image Credit: Quora

The Format of The Image

When downloading the designed logo, choose the accepted image format set by YouTube. Accepted file types include JPG, GIF, BMP, or PNG. 

Make A Separate Gmail Account For The YouTube Channel

Many people use their personal Gmail accounts to open a YouTube channel, but there is a catch.

If your channel is connected with a Google Account, changing your YouTube channel profile image will automatically change your Google Account profile image.

So, unless you want a brand logo as your personal Gmail profile image, we recommend using a professional email id for your YouTube channel. 

You need to keep in mind some technical aspects when designing a logo.

How Do I Make A Logo For My YouTube Channel?

Creating a logo may seem like an easy task, but it is an essential step in building your brand on YouTube. So, you need to plan it carefully. 

Make A Mood Board Of Your Ideas

The first step to creating your logo is to get inspired. The best way to do this is by looking at other logos in your niche, but don't copy them directly. Instead, think about why you like them and what they do well.

Collect all the ideas you can and note them on your mood board. You can also brainstorm with your team and develop logo ideas for your channel. 

You can check out our article on How to Create the Perfect Logo for Your Brand to learn more. 

Do Your Research

Once you've got some ideas, it's time to dig. Research what kind of branding fits with your personality and content. Are you going for casual or professional?

Are there any colors or styles that would work better than others? This will help you develop your own YouTube logo relevant to your brand. 

TIP: You can also look at logos from other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. These are good places because they're all designed around similar concepts, which means their logos all follow similar trends. 

Build Your Brand Identity

A brand identity is how you want people to perceive your business or channel. It should be consistent across your marketing materials and social media platforms.

Before creating your logo, you need to decide what kind of brand you want to make? Design your logo around your brand identity.

If you want your viewers to perceive your channel as fun, you can use bright colors in the YouTube logo design. It all depends on how you define your brand. 

Choose Your Logo Type

Whether you want to create your YouTube logo or design a logo for your brand, you need to know the different types of logos. There are typically 7 types of logos to choose from. 

Lettermarks

Lettermarks are logos created with brand initials. If you have a long channel name, you should choose this type of logo. Examples- NASA, IBM, NYT, CNN, BBC, etc.

Wordmarks

 While lettermarks use brand initials, wordmarks are made of brand words(name). It is best to use a wordmark when you have a catchy & short brand name that you want to promote. Some wordmark examples- are Coca-Cola, Google, etc. 

Pictorial marks

 These are logo images. When you use icons or graphic logos rather than brand names to create logos, it is called pictorial marks. For example- Twitter, Apple, Instagram, etc. 

Abstract logo marks

While pictorial marks are a close, literal translation of your brand name, abstract logo marks are abstract icons that represent your brand. For example, Pepsi, Nike, Adidas, etc. 

Mascots

It is a fun logotype that involves illustrated characters like KFC or Kool-Aid man. You can use yourself as an illustrated character for the YouTube channel logo and use your channel name to create a cool logo. 

The combination type

When you use a wordmark, lettermark, pictorial mark, abstract mark, and mascot to create a logo, it's a combination. It may be a wordmark stacked on a mascot or a lettermark below a pictorial mark. It can be a combination of many logotypes. 

The emblem

This is the most luxurious kind of logo. Best to use it if you want to cater to a high-end audience. The emblem logotype is a font inside a symbol or an icon, like the logo of Starbucks. 

Text-only logos are great if you don't have much experience with graphic design or don't want to spend money on someone else's skill set. Text with an icon is a little more complicated but can be more visually appealing because it conveys more information than text alone.

Choose Your Logo Colors

After you have decided the type of logo you want, you need to choose your logo colors.

Your primary color palette should be based on the dominant colors in your channel art, but also consider how well different shades work together when used for both text and icons. 

Your secondary palette should consist primarily of complementary colors (those opposite each other on the color wheel) since they tend to stand out better against one another than do complementary hues.

The third color should be neutral enough to work in most situations without impacting legibility too much. 

Select typography

Selecting the right font type for your logo is essential to establishing an effective brand.

You can use any font that you want or like, but make sure that it fits in with the rest of your branding or style guide and doesn’t look too out of place or mismatched with other channel elements.

TIP:  Some free fonts include: Font Squirrel and DaFont, which have thousands of free fonts available for download. You can also purchase fonts from MyFonts or Adobe Fonts if you prefer more professional-looking designs and don’t mind paying for them. Before choosing a font family, it's essential to consider how legible your text will be on various media and devices.

Create Your Logo (Use A Logo Maker)

Once you've decided on the font or image you want for your logo, it's time to design it! There is plenty of logo creator that will help make this process easier; some even offer templates so that all you have to do is choose and customize them.

Try using Logo Maker, Canva, Free Logo Design, or Adobe Spark because they're free and easy to use! Moreover, they have ready-made YouTube logo designs.

Upload your logo 

Once you have created your logo, you can download it and share it on your channel. You can change your YouTube channel display picture to your new logo. Or you can add your logo as a watermark when uploading great video content for your channel. To add your logo as a display picture.

  • Open YouTube
  • Click on your Profile icon at the top right side of the screen.
  • Choose “Your channel.”
  • Click on your profile image (on the camera icon)
  • It will guide you to the YouTube studio. 
  • Under Channel Customization, Click “Change” for Image
  • Select the logo you have created and upload it. 

You are done. Ensure the picture is at least 98 x 98 pixels and 4MB or less. Use a PNG or GIF (no animations) file. However, if you want to add exciting animated intros to your YouTube videos, we can help you out. 

Every popular YouTube channel has a distinctive intro video that aligns with the channel. You can also create animated YouTube intros using Offeo. 

  • Login to Offeo
  • Click on “New Design” in the dashboard.
  • Then select “Full Creative Control” (if you want to create YouTube intros)
  • Click on “Designer templates” then “YouTube.”
  • Select a template of your liking
  • Add your logo, and Turn on “One-click animation.”
  • Customize your template the way you want and save it.  
  • Finally, Download it. 

You can use these short, snappy, animated intro videos at the start of your YouTube videos. 

YouTube Logo Best Practices

  • The logo is the face of your brand, so it needs to be memorable and easily identifiable. Make sure it can scale well in any size or format and that it’s easily recognizable from far away.
  • Don’t use complicated shapes or gradients — stick with solid colors that contrast nicely with each other. 
  • Avoid logo trends or overused styles. Don’t use trendy fonts or styles that have already become overused by other brands, especially if they have nothing to do with your industry!
  • You should also avoid using logos from other brands in your designs; this includes letters or numbers similar to existing logos or trademarks.
  • Make sure the logo is unforgettable. You want people who see your logo to remember it for years to come — so avoid using images or colors that are too common in other brands' logos. 

If you want to learn more about logo design, here are the best logo design tips you can check out. 

What Elements Make A Beautiful YouTube Logo?

The logo is the critical element representing your brand when it comes to branding. It is a visual representation of your business, and it needs to be created with care and attention.

If you want to create an appealing logo that will make your business stand out from the crowd, there are some elements that you need to keep in mind.

Logo colors

Your logo should be easy on the eyes, but it also needs to make an impression. You can use bright colors or dark ones; it all depends on what message you want to convey. Choose one that resonates with your target audience.

It's best to use a combination of two or three of the most common colors in your brand. The color palette you choose should also reflect your brand identity. 

Logo font

The font used in the logo should be simple and easy to read at any size. If you create a logo with a font, you need to make sure it is bold and legible. You don't want your viewers squinting to read it! Also, Try using a font from your website or social media accounts so that everything blends in smoothly and there is brand consistency. 

Logotype

The type of logo you choose for your YouTube logo will depend on what kind of business you run and how you want your audience to perceive you.  When designing logos for YouTube channels, you should never forget that they are usually used as channel badges or avatars, which means you will have limited space to work with when creating them. Choose a logotype that accentuates your brand message. 

FAQs: How To Create A Logo For YouTube

What app do YouTubers use to make their logos?

YouTubers generally use Adobe Express to make their logos. It is the best option out there. 

What sorts of Graphics and Icons should I add to my YouTube logo?

You can use plenty of icons in your YouTube logo, but we recommend something that goes with your brand. If you are opening a makeup channel, maybe use a lipstick icon, or if you are opening a gaming channel, perhaps you can use a console icon. It all depends on the type of channel you want to start. Some of the most used icons are the play button, tv screen, movie reel, or microphone.

Why should I use YouTube logo makers instead of hiring a designer?

Using YouTube logo makers gives you complete control over logo design and creation. You can create a logo instantly in just a few clicks. Moreover, many logo makers are free. Logo makers give you complete creative control, save time, and are way cheaper than designers. 

What layout works best for youtube logos?

The best layout for the YouTube logo is using an emblem, icon, wordmark, or lettermark on a transparent background. A transparent logo makes it easy to add logos as watermarks on videos. 

Conclusion: How To Create A Logo For YouTube

A YouTube channel logo should be simple, memorable, and even brave in its approach. So it will be wise of you if you end up designing something creative to stand out from many brands. The logo need not cost a fortune, though, and the best way to do that is doing it yourself. We hope this article helps you to create your own YouTube channel logo. 

Written By
Ankita

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