Creating a Logo for Your Law Firm

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By Omnizant Team
Law Firm Marketing Agency

A logo is an essential part of any company’s brand. However, it’s often overlooked as a fancy graphic for business cards and letterheads. Know better, do better!

In reality, a professional logo can and should work hard for your firm. This graphic can represent your practice’s expertise, establish your commitment to excellence, or reinforce your dedication to your clients. That’s a lot of heavy lifting!

If your firm is working to develop a logo in the year ahead, here are some key pointers for creating an effective law firm logo.

Make sure your logo is unique.

Seriously, do not look at other local firms for inspiration. Your logo must be memorable and unique.

To find a unique design concept that fits your firm, think long and hard about what sets your firm apart—and then develop a graphic that indicates these core principles. 

You can (and should) hire a graphic designer to help you identify representative, abstract images. But you can’t hire someone without giving them a clear idea of what you’re all about and how you want to be perceived by the world. This could be a document with mood images, principles, shapes and words. As a bonus, brand awareness becomes a lot easier once you know who you are, too.

Don’t be afraid to embrace visual tension as you brainstorm ideas and review designs.

Elements might be off-center, overlapping, cut-off or in various unusual shapes. So long as they fit your overall firm’s story and speak to your target audience, unique design attributes can make a logo highly memorable.

Avoid overly intricate designs.

When developing your logo, keep it simple. 

A complex logo isn’t necessarily more memorable—in fact, the opposite may be true.

Think of some of the most well-known brands, like McDonald’s, Apple and Nike. These logos are all incredibly simple. 

As you review potential logo designs, make it a point to view the logo in a very small size (like you would see on a business card) and view the logo in a much larger size (what you might see on a sign in the reception area, for example). In doing this, you will find out whether detail will be lost at any size.

Make sure it looks good in color AND black and white.

The truth is that you cannot always control whether or not your logo appears in color. Think photo copies, directories or other third-party situations.

From time to time, your logo might appear in black and white—so ensure it works in grayscale and color

Remind your graphic designer of this fact to ensure you develop a logo that makes a powerful impression whether it’s in black and white or full color. As an example, gradients don’t always translate well into grayscale, or to embossing textured business cards. 

One option is to develop an adaptation of your logo that works for B&W situations. But understand that you can’t control 100% of the applications. Will your logo still be memorable if it’s printed on the worst, most inconsistent printer in the world?

Align the design with your other marketing collateral—or plan to scrap it all.

Have you already invested in a website design that you already love? What about a marketing brochure that you give to all clients?

If you love what you’ve already got, align your logo design with existing visual materials.

You may already have locked into a certain color scheme, a font, tagline or other visual direction in other areas of your marketing. If so, a brand new logo with zero consideration for your existing assets could look very out of place. 

Otherwise, prepare to change all your marketing materials to include the new graphic once it’s finalized.

Pro Tip: Don’t forget to ask for your logo in a wide array of different formats up front (JPEG, EPS, AI, PDF, etc) and in both color and black and white. This way, you’re ready for a variety of marketing opportunities without having to reach back out to your designer last minute.

Review and next steps

Logos are a powerful marketing asset—but they don’t replace branding. Make sure you know who you are before you attempt to encapsulate your firm in a single graphic.

Research logo concepts on your own, but then work with expert designers to achieve a professional finalized logo. Even better, work with designers who are also experienced in the legal industry.
A logo is just one part of your marketing toolkit. Want to establish a comprehensive digital presence that will resonate and generate revenue? Book your consultation now and elevate your firm to the next level, like these case studies in our portfolio.

Last Updated: July 29, 2024

About the Author
Since 2006, Omnizant's team of digital marketing experts, designers, developers and writers has helped over 2,000 law firms develop powerful websites that drive business growth.