Adobe Illustrator is not the first step in creating a strong logo. You’re thinking about it. You must first sketch up your brand identity and then use Adobe Illustrator to design the logo. Unbelievably, creating a logo in Illustrator is the simplest stage once you have all the components and concepts together.

This post will teach you how to use Adobe Illustrator to create a logo. Along with the guide, I’ll offer some helpful logo design advice based on my more than nine years of branding experience.

There are three to seven different kinds of logos, depending on how you classify and label them. Since the design idea is essentially the same, I won’t go over each one here. You can build any type of logo after you know how to make the text and logo mark.

I’ll briefly go over the many kinds of logos before we get started, focusing on combination and text logos.

A Combination Logo: 

The two main components of a classic logo are shape and text. The two components of this kind of logo, which is also known as a combo logo, can be utilized either together or independently. Because font-based logos are more identifiable, many businesses adopt them

A logo that incorporates both is called a combo logo.

What is a Text Logo? 

No, a text logo isn’t a typeface. There’s more to it. 

A text logo can be called a wordmark or a letter mark. Basically, it’s a logo that shows the company name or initials. 

Logos like Google, eBay, Coca-Cola, Calvin Klein, etc that show the name of the company are wordmark logos. Letter mark logos are usually a company’s initials or other short letters, such as P&G, CNN, NASA, etc. 

Make sure you double-check the font licensing before using a font for commercial purposes. I’d say Adobe Fonts is a safe go-to because, with your Creative Cloud subscription, you can use the fonts for free. 

For example, I chose a font called Dejanire Headline. 

Note: Once you outline your text, you can’t change the font anymore, so if you’re not 100% sure about the font, duplicate the text a couple of times just in case you change your mind. 

Step 4: Ungroup the outlined text so that you can edit each letter individually, and start modifying the text. 

Honestly, there’s no rule for how to modify the text. You can use any tools you like. For example, I’m going to use the Eraser and Direction Selection Tool to touch up the edges of the font and slice part of the text. 

Step 5: Add color to your logo, or keep it black and white. 

A quick tip: It’s important to choose the right color because the color(s) should represent the brand and attract your target group. Statistics show that color improves brand recognition by up to 80%. 

For example, if you’re making a logo for a kids’ brand, black and white only might not work great. On the other hand, if you’re designing a logo for elegant wear, simple black and white can be a great choice.

Since I’m making a text logo for a holiday fashion brand, I’d use some colors that represent a vacation – the color of the sea. 

You can also distort the text. For example, I’m using the Envelop Distort to warp the text and make it wavier 

This is a lazy solution but honestly, as long as you get the result you want, why not? 

If you feel like it’s missing something and want to add a shape to your logo, keep reading. 

How to Make a Combination Logo in Adobe Illustrator

A combination logo has text and brand marks. You can use the method above to create a text logo, and in this section, I’ll show you how to create a vector shape as your logo mark. 

Creating a vector logo mark is basically creating a shape, but it’s not only about making a good-looking shape, you also need to think about how can the shape impact a business or a brand. 

Instead of the technical steps of logo design, I’ll share with you how to come up with an idea for a logo design in the steps below.

Step 1: Brainstorming. Think about what the logo is for? And what can represent the industry? For example, let’s create a logo for a cocktail bar. So the elements that relate to the brand can be cocktail glasses, fruits, cocktail shakers, etc. 

Step 2: Sketch your ideas on paper, or directly in Adobe Illustrator. If you don’t know where to start, you can start by tracing images with the elements. 

Step 3: Create shapes in Adobe Illustrator. You can use the shape tools to create basic shapes, and then use the Pathfinder tools or Shape Builder Tool to combine shapes and create a new shape.  

For example, I used the Rectangle tool, and the Ellipse tool to make an outline of a martini glass. 

I’ll use Pathfinder’s Unite tool to combine the shapes. 

See, now we have a basic shape. You can add as many details as you like. 

You can also use the pen tool to trace your sketch or if you decide to use an image, then trace the image. 

It all depends on the style of logo you’re making. Or you can even turn a photo into an illustration and make a logo from an image. 

Tip: It’s highly recommended to use grids and guides when you design a logo. 

Tip: If you really can’t come up with a good idea, you can use the logo templates from Adobe.

Step 4: Make the text logo part following the method above. For example, I’m going to name the bar “sip n chill”. Remember, the choice of font should be consistent with the shape. If you’re making a line logo, try to avoid using really thick fonts.

Step 5: Choose colors for the logo. If you want to keep it as a line logo, simply change the fill color to stroke. 

Step 6: Decide the positions of the text and shape. Generally, a combination logo has two versions, the shape above the text, and the shape next to the text. But as I said, there’s no strict rule.

Step 7: Save the logo! 

Tip: If you find it too challenging to design a logo from scratch, you can always get some inspiration from logo maker or logo generator tools and then recreate your own.