A well-conceived logo is an essential component of a business’s brand, and health coaching is no exception. You want to give prospective clients a good first impression and a great logo coupled with a great business name will give you an immediate advantage over your competition.
An excellent health coaching logo is memorable, conveys professionalism and requires no explanation. Many people judge by appearances, and a logo will create a visual symbol of you and your practice, so it has to look good (not like an amateur Etch-A-Sketch doodle!)
There are many examples where established corporate giants have taken a hit from bad logo designs, so just think what it could do to your business. To avoid that from happening, here are some tips to design a health coaching logo that telegraphs a positive brand association.
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What Makes a Good Health Coaching Logo?
Did you know there’s a psychology to creating a logo? Shapes, colors, and text affect the subconscious, which dictates emotions and behaviors. Knowing this, you can select specific design elements to influence the way people react to your health coaching business. Here are the components of a logo and what they represent:
Icons
An icon is any symbol that powerfully identifies your brand and connects with clients. For it to work, it should be:
- Simple – Say a lot with very little.
- Meaningful – Resonate with your target audience.
- Good-looking – Well-balanced and well-designed.
Some of the best icons are the ones you can recognize even if you remove the brand name, including Nike swoosh, NBC peacock, and MasterCard.
Shapes
The aesthetic of shapes triggers the emotions and associations you want to generate. Here are a few commonly used shapes in logos and what they connote psychologically:
- Circles – Eternity, universe, mystery.
- Squares and rectangles – Discipline, strength, reliability.
- Triangles – Upright triangle: stability, balance; Upside-down triangle: risk, energy, danger.
Colors
Like shapes, colors also convey meanings and trigger emotions. Here are six colors commonly used in logos and what they represent. (Although some are noted as being more commonly used in the health and wellness field than other colors, feel free to go with what resonates with you):
- Red – Red is an intense, high-impact color that commands attention. It may not, however, be compatible with a health services organization.
- Examples: Target and CVS Pharmacy.
- Yellow – Yellow is a buoyant color that conveys warmth and joy.
- Examples: Best Buy and Ferrari.
- Orange – Orange conveys a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
- Examples: Home Depot and Harley-Davidson.
- Green – Green conveys health and harmony. It can also symbolize money and ambition.
- Examples: John Deere and Whole Foods.
- Blue – Blue is a color that calms, soothes and projects trustworthiness and dependability. Blue would work very nicely for health and wellness logos.
- Examples: Twitter and AT&T.
- Purple – Purple represents royalty and sophistication. It’s an excellent choice for businesses in the health sector.
- Examples: Yahoo and Hallmark.
Fonts
Fonts are typefaces used to create various effects. Like colors and shapes, fonts have a strong psychological impact. Fonts fall into four basic categories:
- Serif – Serifs are small embellishments at the end of each character. Serif fonts communicate tradition, trust, and reliability. Popular serif fonts include Times New Roman and Georgia.
- Sans serif – Lacking the small embellishments characteristic of serif fonts, sans serif fonts convey stability and practicality. Helvetica and Futura are popular examples.
- Script – Script fonts look like calligraphy, and represent elegance and creativity. Script fonts include Alex Brush Script and Blackjack.
- Modern – Modern fonts imply decisiveness and strength. Well-known modern fonts include Century Gothic and ITC Avant Garde.
When creating your logo, limit yourself to two fonts. Anything more than that will look too cluttered. Typically, the name of your business will be in one font and your tagline in another. Also, when combining fonts, it’s good practice to choose two dissimilar ones.
Health Coach Logo Ideas
Need help getting the creative juices flowing? Here are six examples of good health coaching logos and what makes them effective:
Eat Innovations’ logo uses rich brown and green hues, suggesting their foods are fresh and natural. The top line’s soft, rounded font is nicely offset by the subtly angular tagline. The optical illusion of a cloud, spoon, and raindrop is a clever surprise.
The burst of festive colors in this logo exudes happiness and energy. The optical illusion of a fork is a clever visual element. Her signature’s arc is also a great design element as it subtly follows the shape of the tree.
This logo’s woodsy brown and green colors and fresh, graceful seedlings indicate nature, newness, and growth. The slightly rounded font used in Beth’s name looks friendly and open. The tagline’s font is almost identical but just different enough to create a subtly impactful contrast.
Linda’s logo bursts with welcoming color and movement. These shades are happy and complementary, and the cool white signature is relaxed and inviting. For her name, Linda chose a slender font that doesn’t compete with the illustration’s high energy. Clients will associate this logo with joy and fulfillment.
The elements of Aurelie’s exquisite logo all underscore the theme of honesty and trust. Its cool palette is soothing and relaxing. The softly rhythmic lines flow smoothly and peacefully. The flower’s gentle, watercolor wash is another soothing element, and its vertical bloom evokes feelings of hope and progress.
The vibrancy of the fruits and vegetables in this logo create a positive association with the company’s healthy services. The tagline has a pleasant rhythm and rhyme and looks like a personal note. The slender, airy font of Farm-A-Sea carries on the theme of lightness and freshness.
Now, if you still doubt your ability to create a logo as captivating as these examples, no problem. That’s where a logo maker can help…
Best Logo Makers for Health Coaches
A logo maker is an affordable alternative to hiring a professional graphic artist. It’s an online image generator that allows you to design a logo from scratch. Here are three to consider for moving your creative process along:
Looka
Looka offers 475 premium fonts, 5.5 thousand color presets, 550 thousand premium symbols and six layouts. Looka uses artificial intelligence to simulate working with a real designer. The user interface is simple and intuitive. While geared toward people with no previous design experience, Looka enables you to build a slick and modern logo in no time at all.
Looka’s monthly pricing for a basic subscription is $20 a month, which lets you download a large PNG file of your logo with a colored background. If you only plan on using the service once to create your logo, you can opt to cancel your subscription immediately afterward.
Designhill
Designhill has one-on-one designers on call and also offers a do-it-yourself logo maker. It uses artificial intelligence to compile your desired colors, fonts and graphics, allowing you to turn your concept into a great-looking, cohesive logo in less than one minute.
Their basic $20 plan is a great price. However, you’ll only be able to create a one-time low-resolution logo file. For a $64 Premium package, you’ll get more flexibility: high-resolution logo files for your website, print packaging, and branding.
Canva
Canva has an exceptionally organized user interface. Instead of shuttling you from page to page to build your logo, Canva allows you to assemble everything from one stationary screen. With a few clicks, you can drill down to effects such as brightness and saturation for uploaded photos. Canva’s Free Forever plan provides 1 GB storage, access to over 8,000 templates and millions of photos starting at one dollar.
We use Canva all the time to create our Pinterest pins, so we’re obviously fans. 🙂 (Read our overview of Canva.)
Now, what if you don’t feel confident creating your own logo with one of these image generators or you simply don’t want to? Well, here are a couple of alternatives…
Fiverr
Fiverr is an online marketing platform that offers services for as little as $5 a pop. All you have to do is set up a free account and search for the service you need. Next, you’ll buy that service and deal directly with the seller. A quick search for “logo design” results in tons of designers to choose from, many of whom are quite talented.
48 Hours Logo
48 Hours Logo is THE standout company among web-based logo design services. It works by connecting you with professional designers who will design a logo to your specifications within a 48-hour window.
Basically, you initiate a contest in which professional designers vie for your project by submitting logo concepts. Contest prizes are paid by you, divided into Minimum ($99), Standard ($148) and Gold ($198) denominations. Bigger prizes command better work. Included are unlimited revisions and exclusive copyright ownership.
48 Hours Logo is the service we used to create the logo for Everything Health Coach (interested in seeing an archive of all our design submissions? This is what they looked like).
If you don’t have design experience and/or don’t want the hassle of creating your own logo, 48 Hours Logo is definitely the way to go. You’ll receive quality work from professional graphic designers at an affordable price within a reasonable time frame. It’s also super easy to use.
Conclusion
A logo is more than a picture, it’s a branding tool. It’s important that you design a health coaching logo that does the talking for you. After all, the Nike swoosh isn’t just a checkmark, the bitten apple isn’t just a fruit, and the Playboy Bunny sure isn’t just a rabbit!
So, what are your thoughts about designing a health coaching logo? Leave your comments below!
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Hi Debbie,
I found this article on designing a logo that’s tailored to your brand to be fascinating. The psychology behind creating a great design is useful information for any business owner. Naturally, we want something relevant and pleasing to the eye. But in the end, something that evokes trust seems most important. Wouldn’t you agree? I love the examples you provided and I think your readers will get some great tips. Thanks for the useful info!
Yup, for sure! Thanks for reading Linda.
I loved this information. Not only does this benefit health coaches, but really anyone building their own brand. According to your color and shape recommendations, I think I fared pretty well with my design (even though I’m more of a mental and spiritual coach).
I see a lot of websites without any logo at all, and I think these site owners sell themselves short as a result. People need a way to remember you after all. Thanks for your tips.
Thanks Sara.
This is a very eye-opening post. I didn’t know that designing a logo required such detailed consideration, this post has been very informative, thank you. It makes sense though that shapes, colours, fonts and certain nature elements invoke certain feeling with people. I wonder if these associations are similar in all people? Are there any individuals who could be mismatches to the effects of these listed elements of building your icon?
I have just started using Canva, so I will be sure to try designing a logo using the pointers you outline in your post.
I like that you point out that: A logo is more than a picture, it’s a branding tool. It makes me think of the way farmers used to brand their livestock and that branding was basically a way to identify their livestock no matter where they landed in the fields or mountains. So a logo is what sets the company apart from all others…
Thanks for a great post.
Thanks for chiming in Kimberleigh.