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A good cafe owner puts all of their time and energy into mastering their flavor, but a great cafe owner puts even more time into their marketing and branding. Wait what? Yes, you read that correctly! In today’s world, cafe owners who take time to really think about their marketing strategies are the most successful. Many people can follow a recipe but what does it take to build more than just a recipe? What’s the first step to a successful marketing campaign? Designing a cafe logo. A cafe logo can turn your business from a small town hole in the wall to a destination-sensation! The logo is the face of your brand and will be what your customers see in their minds when they think of your brand. Depending on how your customers react to your logo, it can go viral within seconds throughout all forms of social media from Facebook to Instagram, and nowadays even Tik Tok. In most cities throughout the world, consumers have multiple different options to what cafe they should go to and it takes strong branding and marketing to bring people in. Who knew the importance of a logo can hold over the success of a company? Don’t worry, you’re in the right place. Keep reading to hear about 10 things to think about when designing your cafe logo! Nike sketches Delusion MFG 1. What Makes You Unique? Start at the bottom: What does your business stand for? Are you fair-trade? Are you for giving back to the communities in which you run your business? What is your “vibe” that makes you different from your competitors? If you were to create a mission statement for your business, what would it be? What makes people stick around? @sakabistrobar 2. Keep it Simple A great logo doesn’t need to be super intricate. The busier the logo, the messier it will look, which will ultimately make it harder to place on items like apparel or even custom coffee cups. Keep it simple! Take a look at some of the most well known logos out there: Nike, Twitter, McDonald’s. These three logos have very few elements but are recognizable and memorable by hundreds of thousands of people. They've been able to build so much brand equity that these logos and their brands will be considered the logos you learn about in design books! @edwardtanujayaa 3. Research What Works It’s important to figure out the key elements that your cafe has. Are you a breakfast joint specializing in omelettes? An avocado toast enthusiast? Do you sell a wide array of coffees? To even begin thinking of shapes, sizes, symbols, or font; one must do thorough research to make sure the vision that he or she has in their head matches what they want to do with their logo. Researching both direct competitors and non-competitors will help you understand why certain elements in a logo works. For example, many psychology research shows that red makes you hungry, no wonder McDonald's incorporates red somewhere! @bluishhhhhh 4. Symbols The name of your business is unique, so play around with it. For example if your business name is “Sunrise Cafe” then it makes perfect sense to have a sun incorporated. On the contrary, it would not make much sense to play around with an elephant in the logo. Symbolism has to be consistent throughout each branding element to make for a cohesive story behind your company, cafe or brand. @thecoffeemat 5. The Font Is the font important? Of course it is! Try picking a font that is easy to read, but will still grab the attention of the reader. It should be aesthetically pleasing, tasteful, and above all legible! If you have great handwriting, we suggest writing out your own handwritten logo to keep it unique and fresh to your brand. Sometimes what you scribble down one day can actually be a very memorable font style. Modern vs Vintage logos @niko_dola 6. Color Palette Choose a color palette that matches. Ideally, choosing between one to three colors makes for a good balanced brand aesthetic. Once more than three colors are intertwined in the logo it becomes messy and too noisy. Like we mentioned before, it's difficult to brand something well when you have a bad foundation to begin with like a messy logo. @richardshanyota 7. Symmetry Whether you’re using your name or a symbol or both in your logo, it’s important to make sure that there is symmetry. The logo itself needs to be aesthetically pleasing and it needs to flow well together. If part of the logo just “doesn’t seem right” it can break the logo completely, making it look a mess. You don't want someone questioning whether your logo is lob-sided do you? @cafetyo 8. Where Will It Be? Will your logo just be seen online? On business cards and pamphlets? In front of your business? It’s important to design a logo that will look good digitally and printed out. To be sure of this, we suggest consulting with a professional to make sure that your logo will work in every different outlet. Different outlets your cafe logo can be used @don.bacon 9. Don’t Buy Into “Fads” Trends change every single day so it’s important to not make your business just a “trend”. Keep in mind that your logo will be with your business for many years to come so it needs to be timeless. Make sure that your logo captures the fundamental values of your business and what it stands for, not just what’s going on right now. You can follow trends a different way @jellieats 10. Have Fun! Creating your logo doesn’t have to be stressful! This is an exciting time in the life of your business so have some fun with it! Play around with colors, fonts and symbols! Even ask your friends and family for their advice. Business’s logos are the face of the company, so it’s important that you get it right. Already have a logo, but want to change it up after reading this? Don’t worry! Some of the biggest businesses in today’s world have even changed their own logos at one point in time. McDonald’s, Lego, and even Nintendo have changed their logos, so don’t fret! Phases of a logo @sumeshbhas Let us know how these steps have helped you shaped your cafe logo making process. Did it make it easier and less difficult to understand what aspects you need to think of when making a cafe logo? Let us know, we can even create custom branded products for your cafe too! Brand My Cafe helps small & medium-sized businesses, cafes and foodservice brands grow their identity through custom coffee cups, coffee sleeves & more. Join our exclusive Facebook group Restaurant Brand Builders to brainstorm ideas with passionate other passionate owners!