If you want to sell successfully in the real estate industry you need a professional logo and branding strategy in place. Whether you are a realtor, starting a real estate property investment company or property management service your logo needs to effectively convey your business and its values.
In this guide I'll walk you through the real estate logo design process, provide you with helpful tips, a list of resources and some of the best real estate logo design samples for realtor branding, independent real estate agencies, commercial real estate, luxury real estate and more. By the time you are done reading this guide you'll be ready to tackle your design with confidence by using our logo maker, hire a branding agency or freelance designer. We don't just offer beautiful options for a real estate logo but other branding like construction logo and photography logo as well.
How to Create a Real Estate Logo Whether you are going to design your own logo or hire a professional you should fill out a creative brief. This will guide the design process and help you develop a logo that's relevant to your industry and accurately represents you and your business to potential clients and partners. Completing a creative brief will help you make stylistic choices that are well informed and based on your criteria. Are you going for elegant, classy, high-end, simple, vintage, luxury, modern, clever, creative or minimalist? Once you complete this step you can move on and begin with the design process. To get started make a decision on each of the following points: 1. If you don't already have one choose a business name 2. Decide whether you want to include a slogan 3. Choose a suitable color scheme 4. Make a decision on a logo graphic 5. Pick a font for your business name and/or slogan
Choose a Business Name When you choose your business name do so with your target client in mind. Are you selling commercial real estate, luxury real estate, modern units or operate a property investment and management company? Each of those sectors requires a different name and overall branding strategy. Of course, to keep things simple you could apply the classic real estate name formula: Your Last Name + Realty Your Name + Partners Name(s) + Realty If you are looking for something a bit more creative you can also use a business name generator to get your brainstorming session going. If a business name generator isn't your thing or find the suggestions a bit too random you could always hire professional help to come up with a catchy business name for your real estate venture.
Decide Whether You Want to Include a Slogan If you are going to include a slogan in your design make sure it's concise. Incorporating a lengthy sentence can be problematic as it can throw things off visually due to imbalance. Ideally you'll keep your slogan to just a few words or alternatively choose small font sizing so the slogan still fits nicely with the company name and graphic. One option to consider is to use a short slogan in your logo and use a longer slogan, similar to an elevator pitch, on all of your other branding assets such as your websites, business cards and promotional material.
Did you decide on a slogan already? Great. If not here are 117 real estate branding slogans to get you going. If none of these catch your eye and you're still stuck brainstorming you can always hire a professional to come up with your company slogan.
Choose a Suitable Color Scheme
Choosing the colors for your logo shouldn't be done hastily. Don't just go with your favorite color but consider your industry, competitors and core demographic. Each color conveys a different message so make sure it matches your business values and positions your company in the right light.
Blue: Calm and Logical (loyalty, stability, peacefulness)
Teal: Trustworthy and Reliable (devotion, stability, independence)
Purple: Wise and Luxurious (royalty, wealth, success)
Green: Youthful and Earth-Friendly (health, growth, freshness)
Pink: Feminine and Sweet (femininity, compassion, energy)
Red: Powerful and Passionate (confidence, energy, ambition)
Yellow: Fun and Friendly (happiness, warmth, optimism)
Orange: Playful and Enthusiastic (excitement, joy, creativity)
Grayscale: Elegant and Formal (power, elegance, maturity)
Make a Decision on a Logo Graphic You'll have to make a decision whether your logo will be text-based only or include a graphic. Including a graphic has the advantage that it can be used separate from the text or logo as a whole. The graphic you choose can make or break your logo. It should be easy to remember, timeless, look great at any scale and in color or black and white. This of course is true for your logo in general.
If you are going the graphic route you have the option to go with an abstract design or something more specific to your industry and business. Popular choices for independent realtors, real estate agencies and mortgage providers are designs of a key, house, roof, home, mountain, etc. A mistake some entrepreneurs and small businesses owners make is going with a graphic that is too busy and/or too literal. You can get creative here as long as your logo still captures the essence of your company, it doesn't have to be limited to real estate logos with keys or roofs in the design for example. Whether you are going with a real estate logo creator, real estate branding company or freelance designer make sure you have access to cool real estate logo graphics that don't come across as generic or clipart.
Pick a Font for Your Business Name And/or Slogan Choosing the right font is another important decision that will impact how your logo and business are perceived. Once you have made a firm decision on your company name and slogan you should spend some time to find the right font(s).
Keep in mind, different fonts tell different stories. For example a serif font is traditional and timeless whereas sans serif is a better choice if you are going for a modern and neutral look. A script font on the other hand has an elegant and fancy personality. If you are going to include a slogan you also have to be mindful of font pairing. Your company name and slogan font choices have to work together in harmony and can't clash.
What Not To Do When Designing Your Realtor Logo
So far we have covered a lot of best practices when it comes to real estate logo design and branding. It's just as important to understand what not to do. When you see a badly designed real estate logo design, or any logo for that matter, it generally violates one of the following rules.
Choose a relevant and concise business name
If you are going to incorporate a slogan keep it short
Choose a professional looking font (as a rule of thumb stay away from cartoony styles)
Stick to two, maximum three colors
Choose a simple, memorable and relevant graphic (generally the simpler the better)
Of course rules are meant to be broken. It requires an advanced designer to pull off breaking these rules successfully while still delivering a professional looking design. Having said that this is your logo so express yourself freely. After all you need to love it and be proud to show it off.
List of Real Estate Logo Design Resources There is no shortage of resources when it comes to getting real estate team logos designed. The options range from free logo makers to logo contest sites, hiring freelancers, agencies or even designing your own if you have access to a program like Illustrator. Making a decision comes down to your budget, deadline, design experience and whether you want a unique logo that you can copyright. Best Real Estate Logo Makers There are a lot of real estate logo creators and generators available on the web, some better than others. When you choose your logo application make sure it offers professionally designed graphics along with sophisticated yet intuitive editing features. Going the logo maker route is an affordable option and gives you the opportunity to try lots of different and cool real estate logos until you land on something you and your team absolutely love. Real Estate Branding Agencies Choosing the right agency will come down to your budget. The big name agencies will require a bigger investment than a smaller boutique shop. You arena/t confined to a local design shop however. Creative briefs and concepts can easily be discussed over the phone or video conferencing. To get started do a quick Google search to find real estate branding companies that offer quality services and logo design packages. Make sure to ask any agency you are considering to provide you with real estate branding logos they have done in the past. Freelancers If you are working on a budget and want quick turn around time you can hire a local freelancer or use one of the many freelancing sites. You simply post your project brief online and you'll receive bids in minutes. Make sure to do your due your due diligence on any freelancer you hire before committing. Contest Sites Logo contest sites have grown in popularity over the last ten years and are certainly an option to consider if you love custom work and lots of options. Most of them work the same way: 1. Post your project (there's generally a project posting fee) 2. Receive concepts 3. Pick the winning design and pay the designer Marketplace or Logo Templates Another option is to purchase a predesigned real estate logo template and then have it customized. Some marketplaces offer amazing real estate logos for sale that can be customized with their web editor while others have their designers make the custom changes for you. If you are going that route it's important to find out if those templates have been sold multiple times or if these are exclusive purchases. Your Overall Real Estate Branding Strategy Coming up with a professional logo design for your venture is just the starting point. The logo sets the tone and direction of your branding strategy. Its colors, font choices and graphic will inform potential clients, partners and employees what your business stands for. Your logo will be used on business cards, website, social media channels, T-shirts and much more. Investing in a brand guideline early on is a worthwhile pursuit. A brand guideline sets rules around color palettes, typography, the logo design itself and even photography. Smaller companies often don't have brand guidelines in place resulting in inconsistent use of the logo and imagery. If you define clear guidelines in how your logo is to be used your team of employees, partner and press will know how to implement it correctly, giving your brand a professional, consistent and polished look. Business Cards Once you have your logo in place you'll want to tackle business cards next. You'll have the option to use a business card maker or get a custom business card that matches your logo. Whichever route you go make sure your business card isn't overcrowded with information and busy design. The real estate industry still heavily relies on business cards so make sure you stand out. Web Presence Once you decide on your business name you should ensure matching domain and social media handles are available. There are lots of one-stop shopping options that allow you to easily set up, host and manage your website. In addition you should also consider setting up business accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Use this free graphic design tool to create fresh and visually appealing content for your social media channels. Print Whether at an open house or networking event you'll want to have some leave behinds like flyers, brochures or pitch decks handy. To ensure your branding is consistent use the same colors across your logo, web and print. Shop your local print shops or try one of the big players online for your printing needs. File Formats Needed For Proper Branding Implementation Whether you use a real estate logo generator, hire an agency or freelancer make sure you receive the file formats listed below. This should cover you for most uses on the web and in print. Using the wrong file format and sizing can result in a blurry or skewed logo. JPG The JPG file is often used on the web because it is compressed. It's ideal for use on your website, social media channels and another other web based marketing tools. Note that the JPG format comes with a white background. PNG The PNG file is the transparent version of your logo. This is the format you want to use any time your logo is placed against a background other than white. For example if your website or flyer has a blue background use a real estate logo PNG file. This way your logo will blend in nicely with the blue background and not show the white background you would see with the use of a JPG file. Source It's crucial you receive your real estate logo vector or other source file format. Any of these source file formats are acceptable: SVG, A, EPS, PSD. The reason why you need a source file is that it allows you to scale the logo to any size without losing quality and that any designer can alter the design through a program like Illustrator. In addition to JPG, PNG and source files there are other formats available. Should you run into a situation where a different format is required you can ask your designer or logo application service to provide those. There are also online resources that allow you to convert files into different format. You have to be careful not to lose quality during those conversions. How To Implement Your Logo Files? Wherever you are placing your logo it's important you find out what the specific file type and size requirements are. If you don't meet those standards the logo will often look blurry or result in an upload error. A quick tip is to find out the file type and size requirements for your most used communication channels ahead of time and have them saved and organized for easy access. For example reformat your logo for your Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, website, business cards, email signature, etc. When it comes to time to implement it or make a change this will be a quick and easy process. Adding your logo to your website or social media is fairly easy. Here are a few comprehensive guides to help you adding it to your email signature, presentation and sharable video. We even have a guide in case you are stuck on how to unzip your logo.
Conclusion
You have a lot of options available when it comes to designing your real estate logo and brand assets. The advantage of using a tool like a real estate company logo creator is that you can try unlimited concepts, share with your business partners and friends for feedback before deciding on a winning concept. Whichever resource you choose for your logo design make sure you don't rush the creative process. Study your industry and competitors and write up a creative brief. Carefully choose your business name, fonts, graphics and color scheme. Landing on the perfect logo will make the rest of your branding strategy much easier.