AI has radically changed how we approach design.
From image generators that can create intricate illustrations in a snap to video makers that can create a virtual “human” actor for you, AI has definitely made design faster, easier, and more accessible than ever.
The same goes for logo creation. Instead of creating a design from scratch (or hiring a designer to do so for you), one just needs to enter a short prompt in AI logo generators to get dozens of logo samples tailored to your needs.
But here’s one teeny problem: not every AI-generated logo will feel like you.
That’s because AI doesn’t automatically understand what your brand’s vibe is. It doesn’t have the human nuance to see the emotion, story, or personality your brand has to design accordingly. They are limited to what you tell them, AKA what you write on your prompt.
So if you want AI to design logos that capture your personality, you need to tell it what that personality is. Here’s our guide on how to write well-written prompts that capture your brand personality to get designs that go beyond just “ok” to one that is 100% on-brand.
Why Your Brand’s Personality Matters in Logo Design
Before we dive into better prompt writing, let’s first understand why getting your logo right matters.
You see, your logo isn’t just an aesthetic symbol.
Think of them as your brand’s handshake or first impression to people. Your logo tells your audience who you are, what you value, and what they can expect from you. That’s why getting the right vibe is crucial. If it’s off it can repel your target audience, but if it’s great, then it can capture their attention and trust in just one glance.
Some examples are:
- Nike’s iconic swoosh that feels fast, dynamic, and inspirational
- Apple’s logo conveys sleekness, innovation, and high technology
- Ben & Jerry’s signals fun, playfulness, and quirkiness
Your logo’s vibe comes from strategic design choices in your color palette, typography, layout, spacing, illustration style, and more. Even simple things like using soft rounded shapes vs strong angular shapes can influence people’s perception of you.
This distinction is especially important for AI-generated logos. Let’s say you’re a wellness brand. If the AI tool has the right data, it can know that using rounded shapes is better since it conveys approachability and softness. But it doesn’t have the innate judgement that using oblong shapes is better compared to just circles for your brand.
AI can also replicate styles and produce polished designs quickly. But it has no understanding of your brand personality. They will not automatically know that you want a minimalist style or a chic wordmark. Without clear guidance, it may create logos that are aesthetically nice but emotionally disconnected from your brand.
How to Teach AI to Design Logos That Match Your Brand’s Personality
Now that you know why capturing your brand’s personality in your logos is essential, let’s explore practical ways to teach AI to reflect it in their outputs.
- Identify your brand’s personality
The first step is to have a clear understanding of what your brand personality is. The clearer you are about your brand’s traits, the easier it will be to write prompts that produce logos that actually feel right.
Ask yourself the following:
- How would I describe my brand if they were a person?
- What are three adjectives that sum up my brand?
- Who is your target audience?
- What emotions do I want my logo to evoke?
If you’re still unsure, try looking at popular brands for reference. Coca-Cola can be described as friendly and playful. Chanel can be seen as elegant and luxurious. Meanwhile, Patagonia can be summed up as outdoorsy and nature-loving.
You can also look at the brand personality framework by Jennifer Aaker for a better understanding of your brand traits.
These traits will then serve as visual direction cues for your AI logo generator. “Playful” for example can draw out round shapes and bright colors while “luxurious” will give you outputs that lean toward refined typography and muted palettes.
- Use descriptive language
AI can’t read between the lines, unlike humans. That’s why you need to tell them literally what you need by using descriptive language.
Avoid vague prompts like “Design a cool logo for a clothing brand”. Instead, try using “Design a logo for a streetwear brand that feels edgy, confident, and urban.”
See the difference? The second prompt has given the AI clearer creative direction on what personality, mood, or tone they want to see, which usually leads to better results.
- Add visual structure and design cues
You can also specify what kind of structure or elements you want to see in the output for more accurate results.
Some examples are:
- Shapes: circular, geometric, abstract, flat, to more specific ones like heart or shield
- Typography: serif, sans-serif, handwritten, cursive
- Color palette: natural, pastel, monochrome, vibrant
- Format: wordmark, emblem, mascot, icon
Prompts like “A circular logo with a leaf symbol and uses sans-serif typography” can give the AI a clearer picture compared to just “A logo for an organic brand”.
- Reference design styles or eras
Have a particular aesthetic or style in mind? Mention it in your prompt. AI generators have knowledge of them in their data so they can use that as a reference for your design.
Some examples include:
- mid-century modern
- Bauhaus-inspired
- minimalist Scandinavian design
- 90s tech startup vibe
- cyberpunk style
Your prompt can then be “Create a minimalist, Bauhaus-inspired logo for a furniture studio called Forma. Use black, white, and red colors with clean geometric shapes.” This should help the AI align with the style that you want to emulate.
- Give brand-defining context
Another tip is to give the AI enough context about your business to guide it to more tailor-made outputs. Instead of just using your business name, try adding your audience, mission, brand messaging, or products.
So a good prompt could be “Design a logo for Pure Glow, an eco-friendly skincare brand that uses natural ingredients. The design should feel pure, clean, and sustainable with soft green tones and simple icons.”
Contextual details like “natural ingredients” and “sustainable” can steer the AI to more appropriate elements like leaves or flowers instead of just generic beauty symbols like lipstick or mirror.
- Add what you don’t want to see
If you don’t want to see any particular design elements in your logo, you can also say so directly.
For example, “Create a minimalist logo for a professional architectural firm called Northline Architects. Use neutral tones and simple geometry. Avoid cursive fonts, bright colors, or cartoonish icons.”
This should help you eliminate any mismatched or inappropriate styles in the results. That also means less time for refinement and editing since most of the outputs should already be suitable for what you need.
- Write comprehensive prompts
Now that you know what to include in your prompts, it’s time to put them all together.
Your prompt should ideally include:
- Brand details: business name, brand context, tagline, etc.
- Style and personality: keywords to describe your brand, like “warm and friendly” or “nurturing and caring”
- Visual direction: color palette, typography, shape, design style
This should give you something like “Create a cozy, hand-drawn logo for a small coffee shop called Morning Nest. Use warm brown tones, soft typography, and an illustration of a coffee mug or nest to convey friendliness and comfort.”
Another good prompt is “Design a sleek and luxurious logo for a perfume brand called Maison Nara. Use thin serif typography, gold accents, and a minimal icon to express elegance and exclusivity.”
Being this detailed and comprehensive can help the AI create a more accurate output for you as opposed to just some vague directions like “Make me a modern logo”.
However, don’t overload the prompts with too much information. This can just confuse the AI. Stick to the important ones that you need to see in the logo.
Don’t mix opposing instructions either. A “playful and minimalist” logo is contradictory, and will just give you inaccurate results.
- Refine and fine-tune
Logo is not perfect on the first try? Don’t worry. You can teach and train the AI on what you want to see by having it “edit” each output.
Let’s say you are looking for a clean and understated logo for a financial company. However, the designs still come off as too colorful and poppy for your taste. You can have the AI redo it by saying, “Refine the design with a more serious tone. Use darker blues and grays, geometric shapes, and a simple monogram to emphasize trust and professionalism.”
AI learns from your input. If you reiterate what you want in the chat (or do thumbs-up/thumbs-down responses like in some AI generators), the AI will then automatically adjust its subsequent response to outputs that are more relevant to what you are looking for.
Final Thoughts
Creating dozens and dozens of finished, high-quality logo designs in one click was just a faraway dream back then, but it’s now possible through the power of AI logo generators.
However, it’s still not perfect. They are not mind-readers either. They can only be as creative and accurate as the person who is using the tool. So the more thoughtfully you describe your brand, the more on-brand and inspiring the logo outputs will be.
Think of your prompts as your creative brief to a human designer. The more detailed and comprehensive they are, the better the results, right? So skip the generic “Make me a cool logo” prompts and follow our tips above instead. This should help you get logos that aren’t just aesthetically pleasing but also convey the very essence of your brand.
