How To Create Construction Logos The Professional Way

Importance Of Construction Logo Design For Branding

Logos are important for a few different reasons, chief among them that your logo is the main identifier of your construction company.

Logos help your construction business to stand out from the crowd — and considering how many construction companies are in existence, ranging from small to large, that’s certainly a necessity! Some sources cite some 700,000 construction companies in the US, and that isn’t even including smaller freelance businesses that center around construction, such as architecture, excavating, carpentry, and supply.

In fact, you could count engineering and energy logos, auto and transportation logos, and even road construction logos as belonging to the same basic category as a home improvement logo.

Ultimately, the difference is generally to be found in the style and graphic choice for your logo — but we’ll get into that a bit more later on.

Your business logo is an important piece of communication with your target audience. Not only does it tell them your name and communicate your area of business, it can also highlight your specialty, skills, and even the personality that exemplifies your brand.

A company logo also often shows up on other materials, including marketing materials like business cards and company-branded products for employees, like t-shirts and sweatshirts.

So if you’re thinking ahead to finding free handyman logos for your business card design, or a place to design construction shirts with logos on them, remember that your logo needs to be versatile!

Logos aren’t the only element of branding, but they are an important piece of the puzzle. Branding includes every point of contact between you and your potential customer, from their first awareness of your company straight through to your follow-up after a sale and good customer service, and communication via letterhead design and envelopes.

But more often than not, the logo is the very first contact that you have with your target audience.

Why is it important to keep that in mind?

Difference Between Construction And Handyman Logos

A construction company is vastly different from a handyman contractor. As the owner or manager of one or the other, you know this, of course!

But your audience may not be entirely clear on which one they’re looking for. If they’re doing a small renovation on their house, they may think, “I need a construction company to do the work for me!”

If you’re a large company that specializes in building from the ground up, however, your bid for a small job like that would likely be over the homeowner’s budget — if you even put in a bid at all. It would be much more appropriate for them to look into a smaller company or even a handyman.

But if the homeowner doesn’t have much experience in this area, how can they tell without calling the companies and asking directly?

Logos actually play a part in this. The area in which a company specializes is a pretty basic piece of information, and it can easily be communicated by the design choices that are made.

For example, a building construction logo for a company that specializes in large-scale construction such as commercial buildings could use a graphic element like a simple line drawing of a commercial building, or a graphic of an excavator or a crane. These graphic choices would immediately and simply communicate the type of business.

A home improvement logo or handyman logo, on the other hand, might center the graphic on something smaller, like a farmhouse logo, or a hammer symbol, wrench, or other tool that suits the business.

The same type of logic would, of course, apply for other niches, such as logo for roofing construction company — a roof graphic would be accurate — or construction supply — a truck or van logo would work, or a wood or timber graphic for carpentry logo would accurately reflect the type of logo.

The main point of paying attention to this is that your construction logo symbol is an excellent opportunity to tell your audience about your company simply by the design choices you make. It’s marketing without marketing.

With that baseline, the next question is how to design a construction logo.

Let’s get into some specifics.

Step One: Do Your Research

This research is vital. Construction companies of all shapes and sizes face a hefty amount of competition in the marketplace, so it’s very important to ensure that your construction logo isn’t a copycat. It needs to stand out from the crowd, and you can’t afford to create a logo that looks too much like the logo of your competitors.

Before you start making design decisions, look up local competition and analyze their logo designs and overall branding. Make note of color choice, font choice, graphic style, and overall look.

You will likely notice a trend or two. That’s normal within marketplaces, as well as within logo design as a whole. It’s up to you whether you want to follow a particular trend or not, but it’s worth noting that too much bandwagon-jumping is likely to result in a logo that looks like every other logo out there.

If you want to follow a particular trend — such as a hammer and nails graphic, or a roof for a roofing construction company logo — try to give the designs an unusual twist, such as a hand-drawn variant on a classic graphic.

Now that you’ve got step one out of the way and you’ve done your research, what other elements go into making a great construction logo?

if you want to follow a particular trend — such as a hammer and nails graphic, or a roof for a roofing construction company logo — try to give the designs an unusual twist, such as a hand-drawn variant on a classic graphic.

Now that you’ve got step one out of the way and you’ve done your research, what other elements go into making a great construction logo?

Step Two: What Color Palette To Use In A Construction Firm Logo

What comes to mind when you think of a construction zone? Likely you think of brilliant highlighter colors, like orange cones and fluorescent green t-shirts.

Since those are the traditional colors for construction, it’s probably not too surprising that bright, bold colors are very popular among construction logos.

In terms of what is trending and why, here’s a basic breakdown of often-seen colors in the realm of construction.

Orange

Think of a construction supply company like Home Depot. Orange is an attention-getter because it’s a bright, strong color; but it isn’t quite as in-your-face as red. Orange is typically seen as a little softer and friendlier; at the same time, it definitely draws the attention and is symbolic of energy and vitality. This color works for home remodeling logos as well as construction supplies such as wood logos.

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Yellow

Yellow is also a little less intense than red, but has a lot of the same qualities as orange. It’s bright, sunny, attention-getting, and is a friendly color, which is excellent for smaller construction companies like contractor logos, and handyman logos as well as large ones like the CAT brand logo. However, it requires a careful choice of background or contrast to ensure that it shows up well enough to be seen legibly.

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Blue

Blue is a cool tone rather than a warm one, but it’s still often seen in home improvement, property management logos, and both residential and commercial construction. Blue is a soothing, calming color that encourages trust. Typically, the blues that are seen in the construction realm are quite bright, rather than dark or pale, which means that it still fits the “bold colors” trend like in the DPR logo.

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This is an example of a trend that is helpful to the company. Bold colors get the attention of the audience, and they’re also so commonly seen in this marketplace that they’re practically expected.

So if you choose to follow this trend, it could work out very well for the effectiveness of your logo. Just make sure to choose a tone or shade that isn’t identical to your competition’s color palette, and try to combine it with other, more unusual design elements.

Step Four: Choose Construction Logo Style

The next item on the agenda is choosing the style of logo that you want to end up with.

There are several different types of logos, but for the purposes of creating a construction logo, it boils down to just a few broad types.

• Name only
• Graphic only
• Name and graphic

Typically, a combination mark (name and graphic) is more commonly seen in the construction realm. This is a practical choice, since it helps to build name recognition while also including messaging about your brand personality and area of skill.

Name only logos, also known as logotypes or wordmarks, aren’t quite as popular, but they can still be used effectively.

Graphic only logos are more rare for this marketplace, and are not generally as effective at promoting the memorability of the company name.

Within these different types, of course, are subtypes that are seen by the way that individual elements come together cohesively to present a certain style.

A good example of this is a classic or retro logo.

Step Six: Editing And Finalizing Your Construction Logo

Now that you have the first draft of your logo ready to test, it’s time to take it out for a spin. Present it to unbiased friends and family for feedback and opinions.

Once you’ve had someone take a look at it for you and make suggestions, try it out on the public.

Be aware that you may get negative feedback, and you may need to take the opinions of your target audience into account in order to appeal to them. If your logo design is simple, it shouldn’t be too hard to make little tweaks and changes here and there.

Above all, ensure that your finished logo design is:

• Legible
• Unique
• Memorable
• Versatile
• On-message
• True to brand

If you’ve got those keys covered, your logo design will almost certainly be a success!