Creating a Custom Logo on Procreate for Beginners
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Creating a Custom Logo post disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links to products I love! If you choose to buy something from a link, I will receive a small compensation at no extra cost to you!
Well, here it is! This is my first ever custom logo created on iPad Pro with Procreate and my Apple Pencil!
I decided to create a tutorial about creating a custom logo for others!
Before this logo, I had only ever created my own, and it’s simple–just lettering. I created it the old-fashioned way with pencil and paper before I started using Procreate.
I wrote the lettering on paper with a soft felt pen, scanned it, then opened it in Photoshop and removed the background the best I could.
Procreate was much easier! You just draw, press a button to save, and send where ever you want! You don’t have to worry about removing the paper’s texture or turning the letters uniformly black!
I’m just starting to learn Procreate, so this will be a very basic tutorial and definitely for beginners!
I hope you find it helpful!
Find Out What the Client Wants before Creating a Custom Logo
My friend Destiny runs Bramlett Photography, and she’s been taking a lot of pictures for me!
When she decided she wanted a new logo, she asked if she could trade me photos for a custom logo.
I was excited to try it!
This is my journey creating a custom logo for her!
Destiny said she wanted something that would stand out, and she thought she might want a camera in the logo.
I loved the idea of a camera in the logo because the logo would instantly say “photographer” even if you didn’t read it.
I suggested adding flowers.
I showed Destiny these VERY ROUGH doodles and explained what I was thinking.
She liked the “Bramlett” in lettering and the “photography” in text and liked the idea of a camera and flowers.
Then I drew this (equally rough) doodle with a little more detail combining the flowers and camera.
I went with a simple line drawing of a camera with a little whimsy to fit in with the flowers!
I wanted to make the “Bramlett” strong enough to stand out even in a small format. So I made it thick enough to read even on a mobile screen!
Destiny loved it! She saw its potential, so I moved forward with creating a custom logo for her!
Creating a Custom Logo on Procreate
Creating the custom logo digitally on Procreate was super easy! And it came out cleaner than I ever could have made it on paper!
I created the artwork, changed the artwork around, and saved it all in one place!
Mistakes are no big deal on Procreate!
Instead of starting over, you just press the back button! And you can keep trying until you perfect each brushstroke!
Tutorial: Creating a Custom Logo
Step 1: Setting Up a Canvas
The lettering is the center of the logo, so I started with it and built everything else around it!
1. Create your project.
Click the plus in the top right corner of the gallery. (I used a screen size canvas.)
2. Turn on your drawing guide (guidelines).
Click the wrench for your actions and turn on the drawing guide.
This will help you keep everything centered and straight while creating a custom logo! (Don’t you wish you could turn these on and off on paper!?)
Step 2: Lettering
I do a lot of modern calligraphy projects and love the look of it!
Luckily, Destiny loves it too!
We wanted to make sure I used it in this project!
1. Choose your brush.
Click the brush.
I chose the “Script” brush because I wanted the word to be easy to read!
2. Customize your brush.
Click on the brush you chose, and it will pull up your “Brush Studio.”
I only changed was the “StreamLine” setting.
StreamLine takes the shakiness out of the line and makes it easier to create perfect strokes. I turned it up to 100% because I need all the help I can get!
Procreate comes with tons of preloaded brushes, and you can customize each one. The possibilities are endless!
You can also buy brushes created by other artists, but I haven’t tried that yet!
3. Set your brush’s opacity and size.
The brush size and opacity controls are on the left side of the screen. The top is size, and the bottom is opacity.
Adjust the controls until you find the size and opacity you like!
The undo and redo controls are here as well!
I chose 100% capacity for easy reading.
4. Do your lettering!
Here are some basic modern calligraphy/iPad lettering tips to get you started!
The only real rule is: heavy on the downstrokes and light on the upstrokes! (This will give your lettering that calligraphy look!)
Pick your pencil up between each letter!
Slow is best! Be careful, and don’t get in a hurry!
Step 3: Adding Text
I chose to write “photography” in text.
First, I liked the look of the text and l lettering combination. But more importantly than that, it’s easy to read!
When creating a logo, it must be easy to read! You want people to glance at it quickly and immediately know what it says and what it means!
Lettering can be hard to read, so I tried to go bold!
Long words can be especially hard to read in lettering! Putting “photography” in text solved this problem!
1. To add text in Procreate, click the wrench again for your “Actions.”
Click “Add.”
Then click “Add text.”
2. Your keyboard will pull up, and you just type your text!
Click the blue “Edit Style” button to edit the text.
3. After clicking your “Edit Text” button, the above screen will pull up. You can choose your font and edit your text!
Tip: Using Layers
Let’s pause for a second and talk about using Layers in Procreate.
You want to create a layer for each individual element. Then you can simply turn layers on and off to create different versions of your logo or remove the background!
You simply click that plus to add more and check the boxes to turn them on and off!
Tip: Moving Elements
Another important Procreate skill is knowing how to move elements around to center elements and tweak placement!
Just select the layer containing the element you want to move. Then click the arrow in the top left bar. You will be able to select your element!
Here I’ve selected the layer with my lettering and then selected my lettering!
Step 4: Add Your Drawing
I created several versions of this logo for different uses.
I wanted to make a circular design for profile pictures and a rectangular design for things like Facebook cover photos.
I also made a simple design for Destiny to use as her watermark on her photos.
1. You’ll need a different brush for drawing.
I chose an “Inking” brush called “Studio Pen” because it’s very clean.
I turned the Streamline down to 32%.
2. I changed my brush color for the first time to create a guide to keep my logo circular!
Click the circle at the top right corner of the project and choose a color!
Tip: You can also drag that circle onto areas of your project to change the color of elements or fill in areas.
3. I added a round guide in a different color to help me keep the logo circular.
It’s fine that I have a weird, messy, pink circle in the middle of my logo because I can just hide that layer later on!
I created a Smart Object so that I got a perfect circle!
Remember: Each drawing element I’m about to show you is in its own layer, so I can hide them in my different versions of the logo!
Tip: Creating a Smart Object
Smart Objects are super useful in Procreate!
To create one, you roughly draw the line or shape how you want it to look. Then hold the tip of your pencil down until it jumps into that shape.
From there, new controls will pop up to let you edit the object.
Then you can use your pointer control to move it around like any other element!
4. I created a cute little camera line drawing next.
I wanted it to be fun enough to blend with flowers.
5. I added the branches next. (These are each on separate layers.)
6. Then I added the flowers!
This was the most fun part!
7. Here’s the finished circular logo!
Step 5: Create a Rectangular Logo
I also wanted to create a rectangular logo to be used if the circular version just didn’t fit!
1. Turn off all those layers you just worked so hard on!
I decided to keep the lettering, text, and camera.
2. Then in just a few seconds, I added some flowers!
Here’s the finished product!
I also decided to create a simpler logo with only the camera.
Last, I saved a logo with text only.
Step 6: Create a White Version
I wanted to create a white version of each of these logo variations for Destiny to put on a dark photograph or background.
1. Turn your background color off. Then turn on all your layers. Then create a duplicate of each.
To create a duplicate layer, swipe left on your layer label and select duplicate.
Tip: This is also how you lock a layer in place and delete an entire layer too!
Tip: You can also reorder layers by holding the label down and dragging it in place!
2. At this point, I was starting to rack up quite a few layers, and things were getting confusing. I decided to rename each layer as “white” or “black.”
To rename a layer, just click it. Then a bar will pop up with options including renaming the layer.
Note: The text layer works differently. You won’t rename it because the label is actually the text to be used in the project.
3. After duplicating and renaming each layer, I turned on the alpha lock feature on all the layers I wanted to make white.
The alpha lock feature allows you to color over the parts of the project that already have color with a different color.
This works well for solid areas like the black lines in this project!
Just select each layer you want to turn white and color it white with your pencil!
Since you’re working on duplicate layers, you’ll still have your black logo!
Note: The text layer is different again. You simply select and edit your text. While your text is selected, click your color circle and choose a color.
Here is the white version (with all the layers on) with the white background turned off.
Step 7: Saving Your Logos
Since I’ve created all these layers, all I have to do to save different versions of the logo is turn them on and off!
To save your Procreate images, select the layers you want to show up and click your “Actions” wrench.
Then click the “Share” symbol.
Next select the format you want to save your project in.
Then Procreate will allow you to choose if you want to share your project text, email, Airdrop, etc.
If you want to create an image with a transparent background, simply hide the background! (You must save this version as a PNG to preserve the transparency.)
Tip: This is how you create a watermark with no background for a photographer to use on top of a photograph.
I chose to save my projects as PNGs. PNG files are useful for simple images with text and preserve transparency.
How to Save Your Logo for Different Uses
I use Photoshop to save my files in the correct size and format, but you could use your free app or whatever you usually use to do it!
Facebook Image Sizes
- profile picture: 180 x 180
- cover photo: 820 x 462
- link image: 1200 x 630
- image post: 1200 x 630
- event image size: 1920 x 1080
- ad: 1200 x 628
- group cover: 1640 x 922
- messenger image ad: 1200 x 628
I found these sizes here.
Instagram Image Sizes
- profile picture: 110 x 110
- photo: 1080 x 1080 (square), 1080 x 566 (landscape), 1080 x 1350 (portrait)
- Stories : 1080 x 1920
- ad: 500 pixels wide
- thumbnails: 161 x 161
I found these sizes here.
Pinterest Image Sizes
- profile picture: 165 x 165
- board Display: 222 x 150
- standard Pin: Vertical images 1000 x 1500
I found these sizes here.
Here are all the versions of the logo!
Creating a custom logo was such a fun project! And it was so much easier using Procreate than paper and pen!
Destiny loved her logo, and that was the best part!
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- Bramlett Photography Logo
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- Bramlett Photography Logo
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- Bramlett Photography Logo
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- Bramlett Photography Logo
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- Bramlett Photography Logo
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- Bramlett Photography Logo
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- Bramlett Photography Logo
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- Bramlett Photography Logo
I hope you enjoyed seeing my artwork in the form of a custom logo and reading about creating a custom logo of your own!
This is such an easy project! You don’t have to spend money to create a fantastic logo! And creating a custom logo of your own will make the logo incredibly special and unique to you!
Some Helpful Links:
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