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How to Create your Perfect Logo for your Instagram Business Profile

Published: 2020-07-21
It probably feels like everybody you know is on Instagram. And maybe they are. And because so many people spend their days scrolling through Instagram feeds (1 billion monthly active users as of 2018), companies in every industry have followed suit and created accounts too. 
 
To put it simply, if your potential customers are on Instagram, you should be too. Still not convinced? Here’s a few more Instagram stats from 2019 that’ll change your mind:
 
 
There are more than 25 million brand accounts on Instagram
80 percent of Instagram users follow at least one brand
60 percent of Instagram users discover new products through the platform
Users’ engagement with brands is 10 times higher on Instagram than it is on Facebook, and more than 80 times higher than it is on Twitter
 
 
When you bring your brand to Instagram, you need an eye-catching logo. It’s easy to get lost in that sea of tens of millions of brand accounts, so you’ve got to make your profile stand out and connect with your target audience. There are lots of strategies you can use to drive traffic from your intended audience on Instagram, and one of them is having a great-looking logo that perfectly sums up who you are as a brand. 
 
Instagram logo
 
 
 
If your brand isn’t on Instagram yet, make it a priority to change that. Not quite sure how to do that? Here’s everything you need to know about designing the perfect Instagram logo and getting your stuff in front of a whole new audience. 
 
 

Instagram Logos vs Other Logos

 
 
The main difference between how your logo looks on Instagram versus how it looks on other platforms is this: on Instagram, it’s tiny. Specifically, your profile picture is only 110 by 110 pixels on Instagram – so you don’t have a ton of room to work with, and you definitely don’t have the space for tiny text or an intricate design made up of lots of little parts. 
 
 
Instagram profile mock up
 
 
But here’s the upside: Instagram is meant for phones. You can use it on a tablet, but the overwhelming majority of people looking at your brand’s Instagram are looking at it from their phones. So you don’t have to worry about making your logo work with different-sized screens – optimize it for Instagram’s 110 by 100. 
 
 

Here’s a few rules for using your logo on Instagram:

 
 
You can’t have an animated image as a profile picture. If you have an animated version of your logo, you can certainly post it as a video or make it part of your Instagram story – but it can’t be your profile pic
It’s very easy for an image to look crowded on a small screen. Keep it simple
Contrast is eye-catching. When you’re choosing a color palette, make sure your colors have a clear contrast
Don’t use a lot of text. Text is hard to read when it’s in a 110x110 spot. Save the text for your page’s bio
 
 
You can set a JPEG or a PNG file as your Instagram profile picture. When you create your logo, save it in one of these file types to ensure you can use it on Instagram. 
 
 

Adapting vs Starting New

 
 
If you don’t already have a logo, you’ll likely have an easier time creating one for Instagram than somebody who needs to adapt a logo they’re already working with. If you’re starting new, you’re starting with a blank canvas and you have the freedom to create anything to represent your brand. 
 
 
When you’re designing your logo for Instagram, follow the same design principles you’d follow if you were designing a logo to use on any other platform. This means creating a logo that accurately communicates your brand through its color palette, font choice, shape and imagery choice. Not sure exactly how to communicate your brand’s persona through design elements like these? Check out a few of our previous blog posts on branding your logo:
 
 
 
 
In Logogenie’s logo maker, creating a logo from scratch is easy. There are a ton of different fonts and images to choose from, and you can make as many logos as you’d like – for free – and compare them against each other until you find the perfect logo for your brand. 
 
 

But I already have a logo

 
 
If you already have a logo, using it on Instagram might be as simple as uploading it to your profile. Brands with simple logos, like McDonald’s, can do this easily. 
 
 
Instagram profile macdonalds
 
 
But if you’ve got a more complex logo, you might need to simplify it to make it work on Instagram. Determine if you need to adapt your existing logo by uploading it to your profile right now and taking a look at it. Can you see the whole thing clearly on your phone screen? Can you make out all the shapes and letters in the logo? And perhaps most importantly...does it pop?
 
Scaling your logo down to Instagram size can be a challenge, and the most effective way to do it depends largely on what type of logo you have.
 
If you have a wordmark logo, a logo that’s just your brand’s name, one way to make it smaller and simpler for Instagram is to change it to a lettermark logo. A lettermark logo is a logo that’s made up of a brand’s initials.
 
Pinterest logo
 
Another way to turn a complex logo Instagram-friendly is to take a key element of the logo and use it as a standalone image. The Walt Disney logo’s most notable feature is its unique font, particularly the capital “D” in Disney. When the Walt Disney company needed a smaller version of the logo to use in spots where a large logo doesn’t fit, they turned the D into its own standalone logo. The D is recognizable enough that anybody who sees it immediately knows it’s Disney. The mirror image C insignia in the Chanel logo is similarly recognizable, which made it a no-brainer choice for Chanel’s small version logo.
 
Instagram logo formats
 
If you’ve got a badge or mascot logo, scaling it down to Instagram size should be pretty simple. If you find the logo’s not working at the smaller size, try creating a more streamlined version by eliminating details that aren’t crucial to your branding, like texture details or fine lines. 
 
 

What NOT to do when you’re Designing for Instagram

 
 
When you’re designing a logo for Instagram, it’s just as important to familiarize yourself with what not to do as it is to familiarize yourself with what you should do. 
 
Most Instagram design don’t’s are just general design don’t’s, like don’t use too many colors, don’t make it so detailed it’s distracting and above all, don’t be generic. When it comes to designing specifically for Instagram, a few key pointers to keep in mind are:
 
 

Don’t include a tagline in the logo

 
 
We’re not saying your brand shouldn’t have a tagline, but that your tagline shouldn’t be in the version of your logo you use on Instagram. Why? 
 
Because the space is just too small to make the text fit and be legible. Instead, list your tagline in your profile bio and if you create posts or stories showcasing your logo, include it in those. 
 
 

Don’t forget to check out your competition

 
 
Before you design your logo, look at the logos brands similar to yours are using on Instagram. You don’t want to get lost among your many competitors on the platform, and even worse, you don’t want your audience to assume you’re a ripoff or knockoff of another brand. Create a logo that’s unique to you while accurately communicating your brand. 
 
 

Don’t use colors that are very similar to each other

 
 
Your logo needs to catch lots of viewers’ eyes and hold onto their attention. When you’re picking a color palette for your instagram logo, make it a point to pick colors that have a lot of contrast. A palette of black and white, orange and blue, green and gold or pink and olive is much catchier than a palette of pink and beige or red and orange.
 
That’s not to say colors in the same family can’t work together in your logo, but if you choose to go that route, make sure there’s enough visual difference between them that they don’t wash each other out. 
 
 

Don’t be a careless resizer

 
 
Ideally, you’ll create your logo on a canvas that’s already the right size for Instagram. That way, you won’t have to size it down to make it fit your profile picture. But this isn’t always feasible. 
 
 
When you make a large image file smaller, it can get distorted – if it’s a JPEG. If your file’s a PNG, it should fare better. Still, make sure your logo still looks alright at the small Instagram size and if not, rework it until it does. Obvious carelessness, like a blurry or pixelated logo, will make your brand look sloppy and turn potential followers off. 
 

Design a logo with the perfect colors for yourself

 
Logogenie's logo maker
 
 
If you don’t have spare cash in your budget for a logo, don’t despair. While in the past you may have had limited options, nowadays technology has advanced so that virtually anyone can design their own logo using an online logo design tool like logogenie
 
In our digital era, design software is less about the technical skill of your hands and more about your creative ideas. You don’t need to master your brush strokes or pencil shading — you don’t even need steady hands. With digital logo makers, all you need is an idea.
 
Logogenie, and other online design tools, use templates to make design fast and easy, even for first timers. First, you select your industry from the dropdown menu. 
 
 
We’ve categorized our templates by the needs and demands of the top industries, so finding yours is the first step. Our algorithm will then generate the top choices for your industry. 
 
 
 
Simply choose the one you like and start editing. You can customize each template however you want, personalizing your choices for: 
 
- Main images
- Company name and slogan
- Font and typography
- Color schemes
- Text and picture sizes
- Text and picture placement
- Adding new icons
- Layering (putting some images behind or in front of others)
 
You can choose from our internal library of over 200 icons. A quick glance shows that there are plenty of the intellectual imagery we mentioned above, including trees with rainbow leaves, shield crests, books, graduation caps, and more. 
 
 
 
Using a DIY logo maker like logogenie, you can create a professional-tier logo in just minutes. When you’re done, you can buy all permissions and commercial licensing for $24.90, which grants you your logo forever. 
 
While the template-style of design works well for first-timers, you’ll get better results if you bone up on some graphic design basics beforehand. Keep reading our blog for special design tips, straight from expert designers. 
 
 

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