How to Create a Logo in Photoshop

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word ‘Coca-Cola’ or KFC or even Google? You see the Google homepage fill with its blue and yellow and red colors. That is the power of logos. A great logo tells a story. Designing a logo is the first step in building a business. Here, you will learn how to design a simple logo.

At first, open a new document. Select the appropriate width and height for your design. Then, create the effect that you want. You can use the ‘Pen’ tool to create our shapes. Now create a new layer. Name it Shape 1. Select the pen tool, select ‘shape’ in the tool properties at the top. Choose the color for filling. It is useful to switch on the grid while drawing. Go to View> Show> Grid to do that. For the second shape, instead of drawing it from scratch, we can simply duplicate the Shape 1 layer and flip it horizontally. Select the current shape in the layers window on the right. Right click on it and select ‘Duplicate Layer’. Name the new layer Shape 2 as you like. Now select the duplicate layer and go to Edit> Transform Path> Flip Horizontal. Drag it over to the right so that it overlaps the first shape perfectly. Next, make one of the shape layers slightly darker in color to give the impression of depth. Double-click on the Shape 2 thumbnail in the Layers window. The color selection panel should pop-up. Choose the color a bit darker this time. While you are at it, drag the Shape 1 layer on top of the Shape 2 layer in the Layers window as well, in such a way that Shape 2 appears to be behind Shape 1.

Duplicate the Shape 1 layer as described above. Name it as ‘Shadow Layer’ and change the color of this new layer. Go to Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur. Choose a radius that suits your image. Now drag the Shadow Layer underneath Shape 1 in the Layers window. Right click on Shadow Layer and select ‘Create Clipping Mask.’ Your image logo should now have the nice shadow effect. If a logo needs text, then you can follow the next steps. If not, that ends the process. Once you have selected the font, go to the ‘Type’ tool in the toolbox and add your text with the necessary font size. Place the text on the logo. For a bit of extra effect, add a drop shadow to the text. Right-click on the text layer, select ‘Blending Options and choose ‘Drop Shadow.’ Make necessary adjustments for your image. You can add a ‘Background Gradient’ to give our logo a bit of dramatic flair. Click the ‘Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer’ button at the bottom of the Layers Window and choose ‘Gradient,’ select ‘Radial’ under Style and make sure to check the ‘Reverse’ option at the bottom. Now, double click on the gradient color in the window and play around with the colors and settings for a while until you are satisfied. Lastly, drag your gradient layer below all the other layers in the Layers window. Your logo is now complete.

I hope this tutorial has helped you get the idea of how to create a logo design in Photoshop. Hopefully, you can now make a logo design on your own with confidence.