How to Create a Great Logo for Your Tour or Activity Business

Your logo design represents your company in its simplest form by using a combination of fonts, symbols, and colors unique to your brand. And since it’s the first impression of your tour and activity business – make it a good one! 

This handy guide aims to help you create a logo that defines your brand and captures attention. From exploring the most helpful design tips and tools to finding inspiration, we cover everything for you. 

By the time you finish reading, you’ll know how to evaluate good logo designs (if you outsource logo creation) or even create it in-house.

So whether you’re starting up or just need a fresh look, follow our advice to create the perfect logo for your tour and activity business!

A strong logo is your chance to stand out in the marketplace. It’s the starting point of further development of your brand’s image. It tells existing and potential customers who you are and what you value.

By using the appropriate combination of shapes and colors, a good logo has the power to engage the right target audience and leave a memorable impression in your customer’s mind.

Now let’s find out what makes a good logo and how to design one.

1. Simplicity

Bold and simple design is the key to creating a distinctive logo that’s immediately recognizable and draws attention. The cleaner the logo, the more timeless it will be. 

So remember not to overcomplicate your design and avoid unnecessary elements that often change focus. You can’t always find room for all the brand details you’d like to show off, so it’s best to keep it clean and compact.

2. Memorability 

In addition to having a logo that is easy to understand, you also need one that is recognizable. A witty, creative symbol, impactful details, or bold colors are the best way to achieve that. 

You should be looking for a logo that’s simple enough to recall and unique enough to stick in people’s minds.

3. Timelessness

According to designers, a good logo design must be good enough to last at least 15 years without requiring any changes. If you don’t invest in a good, timeless logo from the getgo, you might be wasting resources and effort because sooner or later, you’ll want to change your brand’s image.

Stay away from crazy colors and shapes that aren’t aligned with your brand’s personality. Trends come and go – just because something’s popular now, it doesn’t mean it will fit your message. 

4. Originality

Along with all other essential characteristics of the successful logo comes originality. You need to stand out from the competition and be easy to identify. Similarly to memorability, to achieve this, you need to include some unique features in your design.

If you’re getting help from a graphic designer, get them as familiar as possible with your business and what you stand for. An image speaks louder than a thousand words, and symbols were created to generate an emotion or a reaction of some sort.

Make sure to avoid copying your competitors. You’re likely to trigger some unwanted brand associations and look like a cheap replica instead.

5. Balance

Sticking to some basic design principles is always a good idea. Balance is the distribution of the visual weight of objects, colors, texture, and space. It ensures that the elements of a design are stable when scaling. 

Balance could be symmetrical, asymmetrical, and radial. There is no right or wrong choice of balance type, as long as you implement it. Remember that humans recognize balanced images as beautiful. Leverage this fact to make your logo more appealing to the target audience.

6. Contrast and color

Pleasant contrast and color are essential for an eye-catching logo design. Contrast allows the right elements to take center stage. Complementary colors, on the other hand, can enhance design elements or set a tone. 

Bright colors make a statement, but be careful to use them sparingly. Muted colors often have a more elegant look against white or black. Don’t forget to enhance colors in such a way that your logo text is easily readable. 

Want to generate beautiful color palettes automatically and for free? Check out Coolors.

7. Personality

What is your tour and activity company like? Do you offer bold and exciting experiences? Or do you focus on serene relaxation instead? Your brand’s personality should shine through your logo and tell the audience what you’re all about at first glance.

Whether you choose your logo to be minimal or busy, bustling with colors or light, it should represent precisely what your company is about.

8. Versatility

A logo is used for a wide variety of purposes – from clothes, stationery, and promotional materials to business cards, social media, and web design. Your logo has to maintain its integrity across all platforms and formats. 

So try to go for a composition that will be adaptable and flexible. Another route you can take is creating a few different but consistent variants of the same logo, each designed especially for the most common purposes.

9. Scalability

This principle is closely related to the one of versatility we just talked about. A logo needs to be scalable to all sorts of sizes and effective without color. This will make it responsive on various devices and screen sizes for optimized readability and impact. The use of too many elements and too much text can seriously compromise quality on a smaller screen or print design (for example, on a pen or business card). 

10. Informative

Do you have a tagline that communicates a message about your tour or activity company? Then you should think of a way to make it part of the final design. 

Taglines are dramatic phrases that sum up the tone and premise of a brand. They can be a powerful tool to capture your target audience. Again, avoid using too much text as it can be impossible to read when used in a smaller size. 

Bonus tip: understand the main design elements of a logo

The main design elements of a logo are:

  • Colors
  • Font
  • Line
  • Shape
  • Negative space
  • Graphics
  • Layout
  • Icons

Use them wisely in the logo design to achieve your goals and the vision that you like. Also, be sure to use a font that aligns with the personality you’re trying to create. Aside from being aesthetically pleasing, a good font will be compatible and consistent across all digital platforms and channels that you utilize.

Once you reach this stage of the logo design process, there are two possible routes you can take, assuming you’re handing this in-house.

Option 1: Use a vector graphic design software   

Adobe Illustrator is the industry-standard design software for creating and editing vector graphics. It is the tool most likely to be used by professionals to design a logo. So if you go for this option, you will need to hire a designer to bring your idea to life, or perhaps spend some time to learn the software yourself.

What are the pros and cons of Adobe Illustrator?

Pros: Vectors logos are easier to manipulate and scale without losing any quality. They are known to have “infinite” resolution and are lightweight. This is because vector graphic is artwork made up of points, lines, and curves based on mathematical equations rather than solid colored square pixels.  

Cons: Among the few disadvantages of Adobe illustrator are the cost of the software, and the long time it takes to learn it.

Option 2: Use a free logo design tool

If you have little to no experience with creative software, you can use one of the many free logo-making online tools. Here are the most popular options: 

Pros: Using one of these tools is the fastest way to create a logo that still looks professional and follows your brand guidelines. Most of them offer a wide variety of pre-made logo layouts in case you lack any inspiration. Some of these tools can be accessed through the browser or a mobile app so that you can design anytime and anywhere!

Cons: Keep in mind that while these tools are free, you may have to pay to download certain formats. Also, you are at risk of sacrificing originality, especially when using a pre-made layout.

Cool logo examples

Let’s look at some great logo examples for extra inspiration! 

Airbnb

This logo is the all-time winner when it comes to uniqueness and originality. They named the logo the Bélo and described it as the symbol of “belonging.”

I ❤ NY

Although designed decades ago in 1976 by the graphic designer Milton Glaser, few logos are as memorable and nostalgic as this one. The design was first launched in 1977 along with a song both used for an advertising campaign promoting tourism in the state of New York. The unique font and iconic red heart give this logo a distinctive personality that keeps it forever modern. 

WWF 

WWF is another timeless design that everyone can recognize and recall. The inspiration for the WWF logo came from Chi-Chi, a giant panda living at the London Zoo in 1961. This was also the year when WWF was created. The simplicity and originality of this design, combined with the thought put into its creation, make it a true masterpiece. 

Conclusion

Having a great logo can make a huge difference to your tour and activity business. It’s an essential part of your brand identity and requires time and effort. So get inspired and come up with a clear idea before starting to design. Perhaps, use a pen and paper to draft it if you can. Finally, take as long as you need to create a design that perfectly represents your vision, and you are genuinely happy with. 

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