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If you’re a photographer, you need a logo—it’s that simple. From business cards to social and online portfolios, having a custom photography logo will help you build your brand.

But you already know that, that’s why you’re here!

In an industry like photography, there’s a lot of competition, and you need to find ways to make your business stand out. Whether that’s with the type of photo and video services you sell, or how you’re promoting your business online, having a stellar brand is just one more way to garner that much-needed attention.

In this blog, you’ll learn all about the four most popular photographer logo styles, where photographers commonly use their logos, and a few quick tips to help you create your own.

First, let’s take a look at some different photography company logo styles to help inspire your design.

Photography Logo Style #1: Cursive or Signature

This style, when used as a watermark, can almost resemble a signature—sort of like how artists write their initials or name on their work. Since photographers are artists, and their work is unique to them and their talents, it’s clear to see why this style is so popular.

If you think this style will work for your photographer logo, just be careful when choosing fonts, as you need the line weight to be bold enough to stand out. Below are two examples that take a similar approach, but with their color and font differences, are both very unique.

TIP: It’s also smart to have a short or compressed version, which includes your initials or monogram for more flexibility of use. You would likely use the monogram version of your logo on places like your Instagram profile picture.

Photography Logo Style #2: Whimsical or Outdoorsy

Though this style often uses cursive or handwritten fonts as well, it has a much more exaggerated and boho feel. Overall, it incorporates more design elements that work together to tell a story about the photographer’s style and personality.

The choice of fonts, symbols, and decorative touches in this style closely resemble those used in many wedding printables, such as invites and menus.

Due to this close association with weddings, it makes sense that many photographers who use this style are in fact, wedding photographers. There is an element of romance that can come through with the use of florals and soft tones.

On the other end of the spectrum, some photographers take a more outdoorsy approach, using wilderness imagery, feathers, or even line patterns.

TIP: Though this style is great, make sure you are thinking to the future when deciding on your logo design. Ask yourself: Will I love this style of logo five years from now? Does it allow me to scale and expand my business?

Photography Logo Style #3: Camera Themed

The name says it all. This theme is all about making a connection to the service at hand: photography (or video).

This tactic is used to help quickly associate the company/photographer to their business. If you see a logo with a camera, flash, or shutter symbol, it’s hard to mistake it for anything but a photographer’s logo.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with going this route. Just keep in mind that it’s a popular one, and it may be difficult to find a camera-related symbol that is entirely unique.

TIP: When using this style, search for a symbol that you haven’t seen before, and that really speaks to you and your business. And remember, just because you’re a photographer, doesn’t mean your logo has to be literal—abstract symbols work, too!

Photography Logo Style #4: Container or Border

This style includes adding a container around the core logo design, tying everything together into one package. The rest of the logo elements can have varying themes (such as any of the above mentioned), making this style very flexible.

The border can be circular, square, oval, or more stylized, but it often ends up having a cool stamp effect that looks great on business cards or prints.

As you can see from the examples above, many photographers use their own name or initials as the company name, and their service (like wedding or event photography) as their slogan. This works well because photographers are often selling themselves as their service.

TIP: If you’re planning on expanding your business in the future to bring on more photographers, editors, or even a team to execute on shoots, then it could be useful to create a made-up company name that allows you to scale. Like, “Birch Productions,” or “Alcove Visuals”.

Where To Use Your New Logo

A logo is your company’s main identifier, and you should be using it wherever possible. Here are some of the most common places that photographers showcase their logos:

1. Website navigation and favicon
2. Social media profile images
3. Email signature
4. Business cards
5. Advertisements
6. Watermark on images
7. End screen on videos

As you can tell, it’s pretty darn important to create a logo that you not only love, but that you are also proud to display in an array of verticals and mediums.

Quick Logo Tips for Photographers

Creating a logo for your business can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be! Here are a few quick tips to keep in mind:

-Think about where you will be using your logo the most, and tailor your overall design towards that.
-Make sure that you have both a white and black version of your final logo for flexibility of use.
-Ensure that your logo scales well—from a watermark on the bottom corner of a photo, to your social media profile images. Test before you finalize!
-Don’t be afraid to be unique. The logo styles mentioned above are a great starting point for any photographer, but are not the only styles that can be explored.

Hopefully, by now, you’ve got a better idea as to which style of photography logo you want to create for your business. If not, don’t worry, there’s tons of inspiration out there to give you some creative ideas.

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